Lost Latin inscription recording the names of the popes, buried in the 'Crypt of the Popes,' and elsewhere in the Cemetery of Callixtus, via Appia, Rome. Erected by pope Xystus/Sixtus III (432-440). The text hypothetically reconstructed by Giovanni Battista de Rossi.
E04721
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
As is made clear from the discussion below, these two reconstructions of this lost text are entirely hypothetical.
De Rossi's version:
Nomina episcoporum, martyrum et confessorum
qui depositi sunt in coemeterio Callisti
Xystus Dionysius Stephanus Urbanus
Cornelius Felix Lucius Manno
Pontianus Eutychianus Anteros Numidianus
Fabianus Gaius Laudiceus Iulianus
Eusebius Miltiades Polycarpus Optatus
horum primus sanctus Xystus
passus cum Agapito felicissimo et aliis numero XI
'The names of the bishops, martyrs, and confessors, who were buried in the Cemetery of Callistus.
Xystus, Cornelius, Pontianus, Fabianus, Eusebius, Dionysius, Felix, Eutychianus, Gaius, Militiades, Stephanus, Lucius, Anteros, Laudiceus, Polucarpus, Urbanus, Manno, Numidianus, Iulianus, Optatus.
Of whom the first was saint Xystus, martyred with Agapitus, the most blessed, and with others to the number of 11.'
Text: de Rossi 1867, 48.
Ferrrua's version:
Xystus Dionysius Stephanus Urbanus
Cornelius Felix Lucius Manno
Pontianus Eutychianus Anteros Numidianus
Fabianus Gaius Laudiceus Iulianus
Eusebius Miltiades Polycarpus Optatus
Text: ICVR, n.s., IV, no. 9516.
Service for the saint
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Burial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb
Non Liturgical ActivityRenovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Visiting graves and shrines
Pilgrimage
Ceremonies at burial of a saint
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - Popes
Source
Marble plaque. H. 1 m; W. 2.55 m. Once mounted on the wall above a doorway in cubiculum Aa in the 'Crypt of the Popes', in the Cemetery of Callixtus.The inscription itself is now lost, but the framing of the plaque is still visible on the wall. The text was restored by de Rossi based on a handwritten copy of an inscription with a list of popes preserved in the Sylloge Turonensis, and his knowledge of major manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum. In 1964 the inscription was republished by Antonio Ferrua with slight adjustments (see below). The inscription is sometimes wrongly presented as ‘Damasan’ or ‘Philocalian’.
Discussion
The erection of this plaque is ascribed to pope Xystus/Sixtus III (432-440) by the Liber Pontificalis, written in Latin in Rome in the 530s, and re-edited before 546 (see E01295): Fecit autem (...) et platoma in cymiterio Calisti ubi commemorans nomina episcoporum / 'He built ... and a tablet in the cemetery of Callixtus on which he recorded the names of the bishops.' (trans. R. Davis). Inspired by the fact that the framing of this plaque was still visible in the 'Crypt of the Popes', Giovanni Battista de Rossi published a restored text, using a list of popes and probably non-Roman bishops recorded in the 7th c. collection of inscriptions, the Sylloge Turnonensis, which reads: 'Systi, Dionisii, Cornelii, Felicis, Pontiani, Fabiani, Gai, Eusebii, Melciadis, Stephani, Urbani, Luci, Mannos, Anteros, Numidiani, Ladicei, Iuliani, Policarpi, Optati'. That inscription is not labelled as a work of Xystus/Sixtus III but it is placed in the manuscript next to another text from the 'Crypt of the Popes' ($EXXXX), so the connection seemed plausible to de Rossi. Nonetheless, he reached a text which he himself considered partly hypothetical especially regarding the two introductory, and the two closing lines. He also expected that the name of Xystus III must have been included somewhere in the inscription as that of the benefactor. Based on his knowledge of major manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hiernoymianum de Rossi argued that the list of the popes and martyrs was included there on 9 August, and his restoration of the inscription of Xystus/Sixtus III was later used by Hippolyte Delehaye to restore the text of the entry for this day in his edition of the Martyrologium Hieronymianym (E04914). This restoration is, however, poorly supported by manuscripts.De Rossi's reconstruction was well received by other scholars, for example Louis Duchesne who reprinted it in his commentary to the Liber Pontificalis. Even Antonio Ferrua, often sceptical about de Rossi's restorations, reproduced it, saying that 'nomina composuit de Rossi satis probabiliter,' though he decided to drop the introductory and closing sections. We should note, however, that the Liber Pontificalis refers only to a plaque with the names of the bishops of Rome, while de Rossi added the names of all the martyrs and confessors that he believed were buried here.
Dating: If the Liber Pontificalis correctly attributed this inscription to pope Xystus/Sixtus III, it must be placed within the timeframe of his pontificate, 432-440.
Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB19479, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/19479
De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.) Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 4: Coemeteria inter Vias Appiam et Ardeatinam (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1964), no. 9516.
Diehl, E., Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres, vol. 1 (Berlin: Apud Weidmannos, 1925), no. 976.
De Rossi, G. B., Inscriptiones christianae Urbis Romae septimo saeculo antiquiores 2.1 (Rome: Ex Officina Libraria Pontificia, 1888), 66, no. 23a.
De Rossi, G.B., La Roma sotterranea cristiana, vol. 2 (Rome: Cromo-litografia pontificia, 1867), 33-48 (text on p. 48), 226.
Further reading:
Duchesne, L., Le Liber pontificalis, vol. 1 (Paris: E. Thorin, 1886), 234 (mentioned) with de Rossi’s text printed on p. 236, in comments to line 16.
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum, 9 August (ed. Quentin - Delehaye, p. 427).