Latin epitaph invoking *Hippolytus (martyr of Rome, S00509), named domnus, to aid the deceased and provide refrigerium in his afterlife. Found on the via Tiburtina, probably the cemetery of Hippolytus, Rome. Now lost. Probably 4th c.
Evidence ID
E05357
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
Archaeological and architectural - Internal cult fixtures (crypts, ciboria, etc.)
refrgeri tibi do-
mnus Ipolitus sid
The general meaning of the text is more or less clear (Saint Hippolytus is invoked to aid the deceased), the exact interpretation of the phrasing has, however, been disputed. Giovanni Battista de Rossi considered the following interpretations:
1) First suggested by Rafaele Garucci in Vetri ornati di figure in oro... (Roma: , 1858), 45, note 2: refr(i)geri(o) tibi domnus Ipolitus sit, which he probably understood as 'May the lord Hippolytus accompany you in a refreshment!'
2) First suggested by de Rossi himself, and supported by Antonio Ferrua in the ICVR series: refrigeret tibi domnus Ipolitus Sid(oni), 'May the lord Hippolytus refresh/relieve you, Sidonius (or Siddinius, etc.)!'
Text: ICVR, n.s., VII, no. 20166 = EDB21202.
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Non Liturgical ActivityPrayer/supplication/invocation
MiraclesPower over life and death
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
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
Saint as patron - of an individual
Burial ad sanctos
MiraclesPower over life and death
Miraculous protection - of people and their property
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Source
Marble plaque with a complete inscription. Seen by Antonio Bosio in a cemetery on the via Tiburtina, near the church of San Lorenzo, in a vineyard owned by Giovanni Battista Marini, possibly the cemetery of Hippolytus. First published by Bosio in 1632. The stone is now lost and all later editions are based on Bosio's text and description.Discussion
In Christian inscriptions from the Roman catacombs, refrigerium is normally a commemorative banquet held in honour of the deceased at his tomb (see, for example, E05087). Here the term is probably used to denote the general relief (refreshment) in the afterlife hoped for from saint Hippolytus who was buried in the same cemetery.Dating: Domenico Schiraldi (in EDB) dates the inscription to the 4th c.
Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, nos. EDB21202, see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/21202
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. 20166 (with further bibliography).
Diehl, E., Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres, vol. 1 (Berlin: Apud Weidmannos, 1925), comments to no. 2318.
Marucchi, O., Epigrafia cristiana. Trattato elementare con una silloge di antiche iscrizioni cristiane principalmente di Roma (Milan: U. Hoepli, 1910), 158, no. 129.
Armellini, M., Gli antichi cimeteri cristiani di Roma e d'Italia (Rome: Tipografia poliglotta, 1893), 316.
Armellini, M., Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX (Rome: Tipografia Vaticana, 1891), 877.
de Rossi, G.B., "Il cimitero di S. Ippolito: presso la via Tiburtina e la sua principale cripta storica ora dissepolta", Bullettino di archeologia cristiana 4 Ser. 1 (1882), 45.
Bosio, A., Roma sotteranea (Rome: Appresso Guglielmo Facciotti, 1632), 409.
Further reading:
de Rossi, G.B., "Insigni scoperte nel cimitero di Domitilla", Bullettino di archeologia cristiana 2 Ser. 6 (1875), 29 (mentioned).
Images
)
From: Bosio 1632, 409.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
21/04/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00509 | Hippolytus, martyr of Rome | Ipolitus | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E05357 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05357