E07470: Fragmentary Latin inscription commemorating a dedication to *Alexander and most probably Eventius (bishop and priest, martyrs of Rome, S00127). Found in the cemetery of Saint Alexander on the via Nomentana, Rome. Probably early 5th c. [provisional entry]

online resource

posted on 2019-03-23, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

[sanctis martyrib(us) Euentio] et Alexandro Delicatus voto posuit +
dedi-
can-
te + ae-
pis-
cop(o) +
Urs[o]

'Delicatus erected (this) as a vow [to the holy martyrs Eventius] and Alexander. + Bishop Ursus performed the dedication.'

Text: ICVR, n.s., VIII, no. 22958 = EDB41547.

History

Evidence ID

E07470

Saint Name

Alexander, Eventius and Theodolus, bishop, priest and deacon, martyrs of Rome : S00127

Saint Name in Source

Alexandrus

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Alexander_Eventius_and_Theodolus_bishop_priest_and_deacon_martyrs_of_Rome/13729462

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.) Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements Archaeological and architectural - Altars with relics Archaeological and architectural - Internal cult fixtures (crypts, ciboria, etc.)

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

401

Evidence not after

417

Activity not before

401

Activity not after

417

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 - Liturgical Activity

Ceremony of dedication

Cult activities - Places

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops Other lay individuals/ people

Cult Activities - Cult Related Objects

Ex-votos

Source

Letter height 3.5 cm. The text is written on the upper (90 cm long) and right-hand (33 cm x 13.5 cm) edge of a latticework screen. The stone was retrieved in pieces from the cemetery’s basilica, and its fragments, reassembled, are displayed at the saints’ altar in the cemetery. According to Antonio Ferrua, the letters POSVI from line 1, are now lost.

Discussion

The Epigraphic Database Bari wrongly identifies the object as a sepulchral monument, and dates it to the 6th c. In fact, this is an inscription commemorating the embellishment of a cultic installation, and bishop Ursus mentioned in the text is, as argued by Antonio Ferrua, almost certainly Ursus, bishop of Nomentum/Mentana, who also appears in ICVR, n.s., VIII, no. 22962 (as 'Christi signifer Ursus'), and in a letter of pope Innocentius I to Florentius, bishop of Tibur, reproaching Florentius for depriving Ursus of his see. Hence, the inscription is roughly contemporary with the pontificate of Innocentius (401-417).

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB41547. see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/41547 De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.) Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 8: Coemeteria viarum Nomentanae et Salariae (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1983), no. 22958 (with further bibliography).