Evidence ID
E07478Saint Name
Saints, name lost or very partially preserved : S01744
Saints, unnamed : S00518
Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060Saint Name in Source
sancti
sancti
sanctiType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptionsEvidence not before
200Evidence not after
300Activity not before
200Activity not after
300Place of Evidence - Region
Rome and regionPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
Suburban catacombs and cemeteriesPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Suburban catacombs and cemeteries
Rome
Rome
Roma
Ῥώμη
RhōmēCult activities - Places
Burial site of a saint - tomb/graveCult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Prayer/supplication/invocationCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Other lay individuals/ peopleSource
Left-hand fragment of a marble plaque. Preserved dimensions: H. 28 cm, W. 56 cm, Th. 2 cm. Letter height 4.5 cm. A large left-hand margin is preserved, carrying a depiction of Daniel, an Old Testament character, flanked by two lions.
The stone was offered to the Lateran Museums in 1929, reportedly as a find from the via Nomentana. Later deposited in the Museo Pio Cristiano, in the Vatican. Ferrua points out that the shape of the letters supports this claim, as they are of the 'ostrian' type, common in high quality epitaphs of the via Nomentana cemeteries.Discussion
Ferrua offers two interpretations of this text. Line 1 could contain the name of the deceased, e.g. Sancti[an]u[s]. Alternatively, this could be a reference to some Five martyrs, for example sancti V [martyres], but Ferrua does not develop on their possible identity.
The editors of the Epigraphic Database Bari dates the inscription to the third century.Bibliography
Edition:
Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB41612.
see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/41612
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. 23025 (with further bibliography).
Ferrua, A., "Incrementi epigrafici nel Museo Vaticano Pio Cristiano (1934-1970)", Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia 46 (1974), 155 and fig. 19.
