Latin dedicatory inscription with a poem imitating Damasan verse, on a plaque set up as a vow to *Alexander (martyr of Rome, one of the seven sons of St Felicitas, S00525) for miraculous healing. Found in the Cemetery of the Jordani (Catacomba dei Giordani) on the via Salaria, Rome. Probably late 4th c. [provisional entry]
Evidence ID
E07519
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Literary - Poems
Major author/Major anonymous work
Damasan and pseudo-Damasan poems
Munus Alex[a]ndro septem de fratribus uni
Marcel[lin]us ovans hunc abacum pos[ui]t.
Qui [gravibus m]orbis iactatus tempore [longo]
redd[i]tus est v[itae mar]tyiris auxil[io].
Inde memor v[oti, m]eritis pro talibu[s imp]ar,
quae potuit pauper munera parva d[e]dit.
'To Alexander, one of the seven brothers, Marcellinus set up this plaque, filled with great joy, giving him his due. Struck by [grave] afflictions, and for a long time, he was brought back [to life] through the martyr's succour. Thence, mindful of his vow, albeit helpless towards such merits, this poor man bequeathed his humble gifts doing his best.'
Text: ICVR, n.s., IX, no. 24312 = EDB14411.
Translation: P. Nowakowski.
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - crypt/ crypt with relics
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
MiraclesMiracle after death
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEx-votos
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 ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Saint as patron - of an individual
Vow
MiraclesMiracle after death
Healing diseases and disabilities
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOther lay individuals/ people
Cult Related ObjectsEx-votos
Other
Source
Fragmentary marble plaque. Broken into several fragments, many of which are now lost. Presumed original dimensions: H. 0.70 m; W. 1.50 m; Th. 0.022 m. Letter height 0.055 m. Fine lettering imitating the Philocalian script. Found near the staircase of cubiculum Ca in 1873 and published the same year by Giovanni Battista de Rossi (just a fragment of verses 1-3). Further fragments emerged between 1966 and 1971 in regions F and C of the same cemetery, and restorations of the complete text were offered by subsequent editors, in particular Styger, Fasola, and Ferrua, whose edition from the Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae we follow here.All the extant fragments are now assembled and displayed in cubiculum Fd, though two previously known small fragments are lost.
Discussion
Ferrua notes that line 1 is very close to another poem in honour of the seven son of Felicitas, authored by Pope Damasus (see our E07192). Similarly, he gives parallels for inscriptions containing dedicatory formulae with the phrases 'ovans' and 'posuit', and refers to a sentence from a letter by Paulinus of Nola (Ep. 32.5) illustrating the same terminology.As for the object of the vow, Ferrua supposes that the abacus could be the plaque of a table (mensa quadrata) for storing offerings to the martyr or for placing candles.
Dating: As the inscription imitates the works of Pope Damasus, it cannot be earlier than the late 4th c.
Bibliography
Edition:Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB14411.
see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/14411
De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A., Mazzoleni, D. (eds.), Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 9: Coemeteria viae Salariae reliqua (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1985), no. 24312 (with further bibliography).
Diehl, E., Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres (Berlin: Apud Weidmannos, 1925-1927), vol. 1, no. 1990 adn.
Ihm, M., Damasi Epigrammata: accedunt Pseudodamasiana aliaque ad Damasiana inlustranda idonea (Lipsiae: in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1895), no. 90.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
06/04/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00525 | Felicitas, martyr of Rome, with her sons, buried on the via Salaria | Alexander | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E07519 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07519