E06335: A letter of Pope Gregory the Great (Register 2.46) of 591/592, to the sub-deacon Sabinus, mentions 'steps of saint *Sabina' (martyr of Rome, with church on the Aventine hill, S01546) in Rome. Written in Latin in Rome.
online resource
posted on 2018-09-11, 00:00authored byfrances
Pope Gregory the Great, Register of Letters 2.46
Extract from a letter to the subdeacon Sabinus about property to be given to a monastery of nuns:
Positum regione prima ante grados sanctae Sabinae.
‘It [a garden to be given to the monastery] lies in the first region before the steps of Saint Sabina.’
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Rome
Rome
Rome
Roma
Ῥώμη
Rhōmē
Major author/Major anonymous work
Gregory the Great (pope)
Cult activities - Places Named after Saint
Other
Source
A letter transmitted as part of Gregory the Great’s Register of Letters. This letter collection, organised into fourteen books, is large and contains letters to a variety of recipients, including prominent aristocrats, members of the clergy and royalty. The issues touched on in the letters are equally varied, ranging from theological considerations to mundane administrative matters. This collection of letters, which was possibly curated by Gregory, was originally much larger. The surviving Register comprises several groups of letters which were extracted at several later moments in history, the largest of which took place in the papacy of Hadrian I (772-795).
Discussion
The garden was presumably at the foot of the Aventine, by some steps leading up to the church of Santa Sabina.
Bibliography
Edition:
Norberg, D., S. Gregorii Magni, Registrum epistularum. 2 vols. (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 140-140A; Turnhout: Brepols, 1982).
English translation:
Martyn, J.R.C., The Letters of Gregory the Great, 3 vols. (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2004).
Further Reading:
Neil, B., and Dal Santo, M. (eds.), A Companion to Gregory the Great (Leiden: Brill, 2013).