University of Oxford
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

E05308: Fragmentary Latin epitaph with an invocation of a female saint whose name is lost, and possibly of unnamed martyrs, asked to accept the soul of the deceased. Found in the ager Veranus, via Tiburtina, Rome. Probably from the cemetery of Cyriaca. Probably late 4th – early 5th c.

online resource
posted on 2018-04-11, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
beata [Maria et]
beati m[artyres Christi]
bos peti[mus acceptum]
abeatis Kai[- - -]

'O blessed [Mary, and] the blessed [martyrs of Christ], we ask you [to accept] Kai[- - -]!'

Text: ICVR, n.s., VII, no. 18966 = EDB29817.

History

Evidence ID

E05308

Saint Name

Mary, Mother of Christ : S00033 Saints, name lost or very partially preserved : S01744 Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060 Saints, unnamed : S00518

Saint Name in Source

beati martyres beati martyres beati martyres

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions Archaeological and architectural - Internal cult fixtures (crypts, ciboria, etc.)

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

350

Evidence not after

450

Activity not before

350

Activity not after

450

Place of Evidence - Region

Rome and region

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Suburban catacombs and cemeteries

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Suburban catacombs and cemeteries Rome Rome Roma Ῥώμη Rhōmē

Cult activities - Places

Burial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people

Source

Two conjoining fragments of the left-hand part of a marble plaque. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.23 m; W. 0.27 m; Th. 0.025 m. Letter height 0.04 m. Found in the ager Veranus, and stored in the Musei Capitolini. A transcription and a squeeze are recorded in de Rossi's archive. First published by Antonio Ferrua in 1980, from the squeeze. The editors of the Epigraphic Database Bari say that the inscription is now lost.

Discussion

The inscription invokes the aid of a female saint on behalf of the deceased. Antonio Ferrua tentatively restored her name as Mary, Mother of Christ, but other completions are also possible. This invocation is followed by another one, addressed probably to unnamed martyrs (here the first letter of the word martyres is preserved). Dating: The editors of the Epigraphic Database Bari date the inscription to the late 4th or early 5th c.

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, nos. EDB29817, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/29817 De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.), Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 7: Coemeteria via Tiburtinae (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1980), no. 18966.

Usage metrics

    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S00033S01744S00060S00518History

    Licence

    CC0

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC