Fragmentary Latin inscription, probably an epitaph for an acolyte of the titulus of a female saint whose name is lost, and referring to one more (?) female saint. Found in the upper part of the Cemetery of Callixtus, via Appia, Rome. Probably 6th c.
Evidence ID
E04745
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
[- - -]+ acolotus
[- - - titu]ḷi s̅(an)c̅(t)e̅
[- - -]as
[- - -] s̅(an)c̅(t)e̅
[- - -]
1. ]s. acolutus Ferrua, ]+ acolotus = acoluthus (?) Pierno
'[- - -] acolyte (?) [- - -] of the titulus of saint [- - -] of saint [- - -].'
Text: ICVR, n.s., IV, no. 11520 = EDB40250.
Cult PlacesCult building - unspecified
Places Named after Saint
Cult building - unspecified
Cult building - independent (church)
Places Named after SaintOther
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Source
Fragment of a marble plaque. Preserved dimensions: H. 0.26 m; W. 0.24 m; Th. 0.045 m. Letter height 0.032 m.First published in 1864 in the Giornale di Roma, the then official paper of the Papal State, probably just in a drawing (we have been unable to consult this edition). The stone was reportedly recorded in area S11 of the Cemetery of Callixtus. Revisited and reedited by Antonio Ferrua in 1964. A very good photograph is offered in the Epigraphic Database Bari by Marida Pierno. Now in area S5.
Discussion
The inscription was probably an epitaph. Ferrua suggested that it originally came from a surface tomb, not from the upper regions of the cemetery where the fragment was found. It is possible that it mentions a deceased acolyte associated with the titulus of a female saint, and, possibly, one more person. For a similar text see $EXXXXX (titulus of Saint Anastasia, ICVR IV 12303), see also E04744.Dating: According to Ferrua the fragment was ‘much later than the 4th c.’ Marida Pierno (in EDB) dates it to the 6th c.
Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB40250, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/40250
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. 11520.
Hendrichs, F., La voce delle chiese antichissime di Roma (Rome: Desclée & C. Editori Pontifici, 1933), 149, fig. 255.
Profili, Giornale di Roma 1864, 588, no. 6 (with a drawing).
Further reading:
Wilpert, J., La Cripta dei Papi e la cappella di Sainta Cecilia ne cimetero di Callisto (Rome: Desclée & C., 1910), 112, note 2.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
29/01/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01744 | Saints, name lost or very partially preserved | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E04745 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04745