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E07518: Very small fragments of probably two Damasan inscriptions, possibly referring to martyrs whose names are lost. Found in the Catacombs of the Jordani (Catacomba dei Giordani) on the via Salaria, Rome. Probably 366-384. [provisional entry]

online resource

posted on 2019-04-06, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

As far as we can say, the fragments were first published by Antonio Ferrua and Danilo Mazzoleni in the 9th volume of ICVR, and do not feature in the reference collections of the Damasan inscriptions.

Ferrua and Mazzoleni offer just a drawing of the letters on the extant pieces. The restorations are by Antonio Felle from the Epigraphic Database Bari (see the bibliography):

Piece A:

[- - -] ma[rtyr- - -?]
[- - -] cru[deli? - - -]

'martyr (?) ... cruel (?)'

Piece B:

[- - -]si[- - -]
[- - -]dit s[- - -]

Piece C:

[- - - m]eritu[m - - -]
[- - -]a[- - -]

'merits'

Piece D (probably from another text, as the thickness differs from that of Pieces A-C):

[- - - mere?]nti [- - -]

'merited one'

Piece A' (probably from an ordinary inscription, on the reverse of piece A):

[- - -]un[- - -]

Text: ICVR, n.s., IX, no. 24311.

History

Evidence ID

E07518

Saint Name

Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Martyrs_unnamed_or_name_lost/13729267

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.) Literary - Poems

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

366

Evidence not after

384

Activity not before

366

Activity not after

384

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

Major author/Major anonymous work

Damasan and pseudo-Damasan poems

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 - Popes

Source

Four pieces of a marble plaque (including a total of six fragments, some of them conjoining) with very fine Philocalian lettering. Dimensions: Piece A: H. 0.16 m; W. 0.12 m; Th. 0.017 m. Letter height 0.047 m. The reverse of this piece is also inscribed (insc. a' - in ordinary letters; letter height 0.04 m). Piece B: H. 0.30 m; W. 0.11 m; Th. 0.017 m. Letter height 0.047 m. Piece C: H. 0.19 m; W. 0.12 m; Th. 0.017 m. Letter height 0.047 m. Piece D: H. 0.155 m; W. 0.165 m; Th. 0.035 m - hence probably from a different plaque. Found in the Catacombs of the Jordani (Catacomba dei Giordani). Pieced A, C, and D are now in area F4. Piece B is in the corridor leading to cubiculum Fc.

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB7348, EDB7349, EDB7350, EDB7351, EDB14410. see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/7347 see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/7348 see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/7349 see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/7350 see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/14410 Trout, D., Damasus of Rome: The Epigraphic Poetry. Introduction, Texts, Translations, and Commentary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 161, no. 64* (pieces A-D, no restorations). De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A., Mazzoleni, D. (eds.), Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 9: Coemeteria viae Salariae reliqua (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1985), no. 24311 (with further bibliography). Further reading: Février, P.-A., Guyon, J., "Septimus ex numero fratrum: A propos de sept frères martyrs et de leur mère, quelques réflexions sur Damase et l'hagiographie de son temps", in: Memoriam sanctorum venerantes: Miscellanea in onore di Monsignor Victor Saxer (Vatican: Pontifico Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, 1992), 384.