Fragmentary Latin inscription commemorating a dedication to *Alexander and most probably Eventius (bishop and priest, martyrs of Rome, S00127). Found in the cemetery of Saint Alexander on the via Nomentana, Rome. Probably early 5th c. [provisional entry]
E07470
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements
Archaeological and architectural - Altars with relics
Archaeological and architectural - Internal cult fixtures (crypts, ciboria, etc.)
[sanctis martyrib(us) Euentio] et Alexandro Delicatus voto posuit +
dedi-
can-
te + ae-
pis-
cop(o) +
Urs[o]
'Delicatus erected (this) as a vow [to the holy martyrs Eventius] and Alexander. + Bishop Ursus performed the dedication.'
Text: ICVR, n.s., VIII, no. 22958 = EDB41547.
Ceremony of dedication
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Burial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Burial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb
Altar
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Vow
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Other lay individuals/ people
Cult Related ObjectsEx-votos
Source
Letter height 3.5 cm. The text is written on the upper (90 cm long) and right-hand (33 cm x 13.5 cm) edge of a latticework screen. The stone was retrieved in pieces from the cemetery’s basilica, and its fragments, reassembled, are displayed at the saints’ altar in the cemetery. According to Antonio Ferrua, the letters POSVI from line 1, are now lost.Discussion
The Epigraphic Database Bari wrongly identifies the object as a sepulchral monument, and dates it to the 6th c. In fact, this is an inscription commemorating the embellishment of a cultic installation, and bishop Ursus mentioned in the text is, as argued by Antonio Ferrua, almost certainly Ursus, bishop of Nomentum/Mentana, who also appears in ICVR, n.s., VIII, no. 22962 (as 'Christi signifer Ursus'), and in a letter of pope Innocentius I to Florentius, bishop of Tibur, reproaching Florentius for depriving Ursus of his see. Hence, the inscription is roughly contemporary with the pontificate of Innocentius (401-417).Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB41547.
see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/41547
De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.) Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 8: Coemeteria viarum Nomentanae et Salariae (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1983), no. 22958 (with further bibliography).
Paweł Nowakowski
24/03/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00127 | Alexander, Eventius and Theodolus, bishop, priest and deacon, martyrs of Rome | Alexandrus | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E07470 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07470