1. Funerary inscription of Aurelia Aminia
[Ego Aur]elia Aminia po/[sui] titulum viro me[o] / [F]l(avio) Sancto ex n(umero) Iov(ianorum) pr(o)tec(tori) / bene meritus qui vixit / ann(os) pl(us) m(inus) L qui est defunc/tus civit(ate) Aquileia titulum / posuit ad beatu(m) Syneroti(m) ma/rture(m) et infante(m) filiam / suam nomine Ursicina / qui vixit annis n(umero) III
‘I Aurelia Aminia set up this memorial inscription (titulus) for my husband, Flavius Sanctus, protector of great merit from the unit of the Ioviani, who lived more or less 50 years and died at the city of Aquileia. (The memorial was placed) next to the blessed martyr Syneros and to her infant daughter named Ursicina, who lived 3 years.’
Publications: CIL 03.10232; ILS 9205; ILCV 2182.
Images: http://www.ubi-erat-lupa.org/monument.php?id=4349
2. Funerary inscription of Artemidora
A(lpha) - Christogram - O(mega) / Ego Artemidora fe/ci viva me memori/am ad dom(i)num / Synerotem inte/r antem ad dexte/ram inter Fortuna/t{ane}m et Disiderium / A(lpha) - Christogramm - O(mega)
'I Artemidora during my lifetime made this tombstone at the lord Syneros, between the right anta and [the tombs of] Fortunatus and Desiderius.'
Publications: CIL 03.10233; ILCV 2181
Evidence ID
E06682Saint Name
Serenus, gardener martyr of Sirmium : S01882Saint Name in Source
SynerosType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptionsEvidence not before
350Evidence not after
450Activity not before
350Activity not after
450Place of Evidence - Region
Dalmatia, Pannonia and the Upper DanubePlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
SirmiumPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Sirmium
Epidauros
Ἐπίδαυρος
Epidauros
Epidaurus
CavtatCult activities - Places
Cult building - unspecifiedCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Burial ad sanctosCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Women
Children
SoldiersSource
Inscription of Aurelia Aminia
Material: marble
Dimensions: height 74 cm, width 77 cm, depth 7.5 cm
Ancient find spot: Sirmium (Pannonia)
Modern find spot, date of find: Sremska Mitrovica, 1875
Museum: Archaeological museum of Zagreb
Publications: CIL 03.10232; ILS 9205; ILCV 2182.
Inscription of Artemidora
Material: marble
Dimensions: height 55 cm, width 58 cm, depth 6 cm
Ancient find spot: Sirmium (Pannonia)
Modern find spot, date of find: Sremska Mitrovica, 1875
Museum: Archaeological museum of Zagreb
Publications: CIL 03.10233; ILCV 2181Discussion
For the hagiography and cult of Syneros/Serenus, see E05830.
These inscriptions are the only epigraphic attestations of a shrine dedicated to the martyr Syneros in ancient Sirmium. They preserve the martyr’s name in Greek form, which again appears in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum but not in the Martyrdom of Serenus (E05830). Both memorials were erected by women of high social status, especially Aurelia Aminia, whose husband belonged to an imperial guard unit, the Jovians. Together with the inscription mentioning the basilica of the martyr Irenaeus of Sirmium (E###), they present a rare attestation of the existence of Pannonian cults of martyrs as well as the social status of Pannonian Christians.
The discovery of the inscriptions in the 19th century instigated an archaeological campaign in search for the shrine. In 1882-1883, Adolf Hytrek of the National museum of Zagreb conducted excavations and discovered an extramural necropolis, located between the northern and western Roman roads leading to the city. According to Hytrek’s reports, a single-naved basilica with semicircular apse to the West was discovered, dating from the 4th century. Hytrek identified the building as Syneros’ Basilica and proposed a its reconstruction as a monumental building measuring 19.30 х 30.30 m., with an 11 m. wide apse, and approx. 1.5 m. thick walls. The excavated remains disappeared over the following decades.
Hytrek’s contemporaries raised serious objections against his methods and the validity of his conclusions. A joint Yugoslav-American campaign in 1969-1970 rediscovered the scarce remains of the structure, but the long-term devastations of the site made a full reconstruction of the building’s ground plan impossible. The only certain conclusions of the last campaign were that the central structure had a surrounding porch of free-standing pillars (1 x 1 m. thick and at 2 m. distance) on the western and eastern side ending with pilasters (antae), where one of the inscriptions mentioning the basilica was probably found. The entire superstructure was built of brick and lime mortar, while the foundations were of crushed material with mortar. The position of the apse is impossible to determine.
The fate of Pannonian early Christian cult places is linked to the dissolution of the Middle Danube Limes. The changes that occurred in the 4th century caused Pannonian cult places to be destroyed and a number of Pannonian martyrs to be forgotten until the second wave of Christianisation in the 9th century. The memory of Pannonian martyrs was only preserved if there had been a strong literary or relic tradition that had spread to other Christian centres that did not have such a violent and abrupt break with ancient tradition. Thus the necropolis around the basilica of Syneros went out of use in the first half of the 5th century, due to barbarian invasions and subsequent devastations, and the memory of the saint’s martyrdom survived only in literary tradition.Bibliography
Text:
Aurelia Aminia: CIL 03.10232; ILS 9205; ILCV 2182.
Artemidora: CIL 03.10233; ILCV 2181.
Further reading
Farlati, D., and Coleti, J., Illyricum sacrum, T. VII (Venice, 1817), 497-507.
Hytrek A., “Starokršansko grobište sv. Sinerota u Sriemu,” Ephemeris Salonitana I (1894, Jaderae), 1-6.
Ljubić, Š., “Bazilika sv. Synerotesa u Mitrovici,“ Viestnik hrvatskoga Arheologičkoga družtva 5/1 (1883, Zagreb), 19.
Ljubić, Š., “O groblju sv. Sinerota u Mitrovici,“ Viestnik hrvatskoga Arheologičkoga družtva 8/4 (1886, Zagreb), 97-105.
Јеремић, М., „Култне грађевине хришћанског Сирмијума“, in Д. Познановић (ed.), Sirmium и на небу и на земљи (1700 година од страдaња хришћанских мученика) (Sremska Mitrovica, 2004), 49-51.
