Latin dedicatory inscription in single pentameter verse, probably to *Felicitas (martyr of Rome, S00525). Now lost, but probably displayed at the Cemetery of Felicitas/the Cemetery of Maximus on the via Salaria, Rome. Probably 5th c. or later [provisional entry]
Evidence ID
E07504
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Literary - Poems
Babilla votum debitum reddo tibi.
'To thee, I, Babilla, discharge a due vow.'
Text: ICVR, n.s., VIII, no. 23396 = EDB19974.
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
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
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Vow
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Cult Related ObjectsEx-votos
Source
The text is preserved by the codex Vaticanus Palatinus 833 f. 60 of the Sylloge Laureshamensis. First edition was offered by Jan Gruter in 1602.The sylloge does not ascribe this text to any precise location, but places it among the inscriptions of the Cemetery of Felicitas/Cemetery of Maximus on the via Nomentana. Hence the attribution usually given in modern works.
The poem is composed as a single pentameter verse, which is unusual, and in the manuscript immediately follows the last hexameter of E07504 (a praise of a female martyr, certainly Felicitas). Gruter and de Rossi, however, separated it from the former work, and considered as a separate piece of poetry probably because they believed that the other poem was authored by Pope Damasus, and this one credits an otherwise unknown woman as the benefactress. It may be in fact part of yet another larger poem, now lost.
Discussion
Given the fact that Felicitas was the primary saint venerated in this cemetery, and the inscription is addressed to an individual, we can assume that she was the recipient of the donation. The fact that the dedication is made by woman to a female saint is remarkable.It is possible that the inscription was set up in the surface basilica where the body of Felicitas lay in a tomb adorned by Pope Boniface I (418-422). Hence, the inscription could date to the 5th c. or later. The date is not discussed by Ferrua or de Rossi.
Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB19974.
see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/19974
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. 23396 (with further bibliography).
De Rossi, G. B., Inscriptiones christianae Urbis Romae septimo saeculo antiquiores 2.1 (Rome: Ex Officina Libraria Pontificia, 1857-1888), 102, no. 25.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
30/03/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00525 | Felicitas, martyr of Rome, with her sons, buried on the via Salaria | Certain |
|---|
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Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E07504 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07504