Very fragmentary epitaph, possibly mentioning a saint whose name is lost (possibly Di[- - -]). Found in a cemetery on the via Ardeatina, Rome. Probably second half of the 4th c.
Evidence ID
E04800
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
Archaeological and architectural - Internal cult fixtures (crypts, ciboria, etc.)
[- - -] Felix viv[us - - -]
[- - -].ci SMAS[- - -]
[ - - -]IC Θ
[ - - -] s(an)c̅(t)is DI (a monogram)
'[- - -] Felix, when he was alive [- - -] of saint Di[- - -]. (a monogram)'
Text: ICVR, n.s., IV, no. 12357a = EDB3744.
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Places Named after Saint
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - unspecified
Places Named after SaintOther
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Source
Four conjoining fragment of a marble plaque. H. 0.36 m; W. 0.44 m. Letter height 0.04-0.05 m.First recorded by Antonio Ferrua in 1962, in a staircase in area F15 of a cemetery on the Via Ardeatina, and published by him in 1964, in a drawing, but with no transcription. A transcription is offered by Marida Pierno in the Epigraphic Database Bari.
The cemetery was found by Giovanni Battista de Rossi, already in 1867, and later explored by Henry Stevenson in 1880-1881. Between 1958 and 1961 it was excavated by Antonio Ferrua. The stone is now in cubiculum Fk in that cemetery.
Discussion
The inscription is clearly an epitaph stating that Felix prepared a tomb for himself while still living. Line 4 may contain a reference to a saint, but if so, it is not clear which saint was mentioned, and why.Ferrua was unable to explain the meaning of the monogram in line 4.
Dating: Marida Pierno (EDB) places the inscription in the second half of the 4th c.
Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, nos. EDB3744, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/3744
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. 12357a.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
31/01/2018
| 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, E04800 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04800