Fragmentary Greek epitaph recording a burial ‘with the saints’. Found in the lower part of the Cemetery of Callixtus, via Appia, Rome. Probably late 3rd c.
Evidence ID
E04737
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
Archaeological and architectural - Internal cult fixtures (crypts, ciboria, etc.)
[- - - Ἀ]λέξανδρος ὃς κὲ Ἐρύθρις
[μετὰ] τῶν ἁγίων
'[- - -] Alexandros, also called Erythrios, [with] the saints.'
Text: ICVR, n.s., IV, no. 10552 = EDB3724.
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Non Liturgical Activity
Burial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Burial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb
Non Liturgical ActivityBurial ad sanctos
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Source
Right-hand fragment of a large marble plaque. Broken into three conjoining fragments. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.37 m; W. 0.96 m; Th. 0.055 m. Letter height 0.04 m.First recorded by Joseph Wilpert in cubiculum Ci in the lower part of the cemetery of Callixtus. Published by Wilpert in 1910. Revisited by Antonio Ferrua and republished by him in 1964.
Discussion
The inscription is an epitaph which says that the deceased was buried 'with the saints.' These saints may be the general community of all the redeemed Christian. On the other hand, the inscription may refer to the closeness of martyrs' burials.Dating: Antonio Felle (in EDB) dates the inscriptions to the last quarter of the 3rd c.
Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB3724, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/3724
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. 10552 and Tab. XIIIb 4.
Wilpert, J., La Cripta dei Papi e la cappella di Sainta Cecilia ne cimetero di Callisto (Rome: Desclée & C., 1910), 63, fig. 40.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
27/01/2018
ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | ἅγιοι | Certain | S00518 | Saints, unnamed | ἅγιοι | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E04737 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04737