Very small fragment of a Latin epitaph, probably mentioning ‘holy spirits’/spirita sancta. Found in the cemetery of Cyriaca ad Sanctum Laurentium, via Tiburtina, Rome. Probably second 4th c.
Evidence ID
E05313
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
Archaeological and architectural - Internal cult fixtures (crypts, ciboria, etc.)
[- - -] spirita [- - -]
'[- - -] spirits [- - -]'
Text: ICVR, n.s., VII, no. 19602B = EDB31011.
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
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 ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
Burial ad sanctos
Source
Marble plaque, now lost. Found in the 17th c. in the Cemetery of Cyriaca, and recorded under the day 13 February 1660 in the Regesta Sacrarii Pontificii.First published in 1980 by Antonio Ferrua, from the manuscript.
Discussion
Antonio Ferrua supposes that the inscription refers to the 'holy spirits'/spirita sancta, often invoked in the suburban cemeteries of Rome. These can be unnamed martyrs and saints buried in the cemetery, but also the souls of the ordinary deceased Christians.Dating: The editors of the Epigraphic Database Bari date the inscription to the 4th c.
Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, nos. EDB31011, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/31011
De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.), Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 7: Coemeteria via Tiburtinae (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1980), no. 19602b.
Regesta Sacrarii Pontificii I f. 23 (13 February 1660).
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
12/04/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | spirita sancta | Uncertain | S00518 | Saints, unnamed | spirita sancta | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E05313 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05313