Latin epitaph on a large marble plaque for Pantagathus, buried in a place protected by *Vincent (deacon of Zaragoza and martyr of Valencia, S00290), and the saint's companions; found at Vaison-la-Romaine (south-east Gaul), possibly dated 515.
E07659
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
Epitaph of Pantagatus, Vaison-la-Romaine
Nineteen hexameter lines:
† Inlustris titulis meritisque haut dispar auorum ∙,
Pantagatus fragilem uitae cum linquerit usum,
malluit hic propriae corpus committere terrae
quam precibus quaesisse solum ∙. Si magna patronis
5 martyribus quaerenda quies ∙, sanctissimus ecce
cum sociis paribusque suis Vincentius ambit ∙
hos aditos ∙, seruatque domum dominumque tuetur
a tenebris ∙, lumen praebens de lumine uero ∙. (ivy leaf)
Militiam si forte roges quam gesserit ille
10 prestitiritque boni positis in luce superna
quem sic Chr(ist)icolae celebrent post fata iacentem,
inuenies quod iura dedit iustissima, sanxit
arbitriis ∙; nam custus patriae recturque uocatus
a patria ∙, rexit quoniam promptissima ciues
15 libertate animi ∙; parcus sibi, largus amicis
et fidus dominis ∙, primum quod postulat ordo
uitae ∙ ei aeternum fama transmittit in orbem.
Abstulit hunc rebus decimo mors inuida lustro
namque Senatoris posuit post cingula uitam.
'Eminent in his titles and merits, in no way lesser than his ancestors, Pantagatus, when he departed this fragile state of life, preferred to commit his body here to his own earth than to solicit a place through his prayers. (4) If great rest is to be sought under the patronage of martyrs, behold the most holy Vincent, with his companions and peers, watches over access to this place, protecting this house and guarding its lord from the darkness, casting over it a ray of the true light. (9) If perhaps you ask what office this man fulfilled, and what good he bestowed on those in heavenly light, that Christians might celebrate him lying here after death, you will find that he delivered the law most justly, consecrating it with his judgements; he governed his fellow citizens with the greatest freedom of spirit; (15) sparing for himself, generous to his friends and faithful to his masters, the chief thing that good order of life demands; his fame spreads eternally through the world. Jealous death took him from these things in his tenth lustrum [i.e. aged between 45 and 49], for he left this life after the consulship of Senator [or 'after holding senatorial office'].'
Text: Gascou and Guyon 2005, no. 215.
Translation: Bryan Ward-Perkins.
Cult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityBurial ad sanctos
Saint as patron - of an individual
RelicsUnspecified relic
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesAristocrats
Source
Large marble plaque. Dimensions: H. 0.67 m; W. 1.35 m; Th. 0.16 m; letter height 0.02-0.025 m. The epigraphic field is flanked by two strips of floral decoration, and the side edges of the slab are also decorated (see Images). The bottom of the slab is damaged, but the text appears to be complete.First recorded in the cathedral in the 18th century. Since 1828 in the Musée Calvet in Avignon.
Discussion
Pantagatus, or (more correctly, given the Greek roots of the name, meaning 'all-good') Pantagathus, is known only from this epitaph. While his public spirit in office is fulsomely praised (lines 8-14), this is in terms that are so vague that it is impossible to know precisely what offices, local and/or imperial, he held.There is also uncertainty over the date of his death, and hence of his epitaph. The final line (19), 'namque Senatoris posuit post cingula uitam', can be translated as 'for he left this life [in the year] after the office [literally the belt of office] of Senator', which would suggest the year 515, Cassiodorus Senator having held the consulship, and hence given the year its name, in 514. But it is also possible to read 'senatoris' as a noun, not a name, in which case a possible translation would be 'he left this life after holding senatorial office', thereby removing the fixed date for Pantagathus' death. The two possible translations are discussed, and their various proponents listed, by Gascou and Guyon 2005 at p. 252. For our purposes what is most important, and undisputed, is that the epitaph is late antique, probably of the period 450-550.
Lines 3-8 strongly suggest that Pantagathus was buried in his own building (the propria terra / 'own earth' of line 3 and the domus / 'home' of line 7), very possibly a personal or family mausoleum or oratory. This was protected by saint Vincent (and other unnamed companion saints), suggesting the possible presence of relics.
Bibliography
Editions:Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum XII, 182, no. 1499.
Gascou, J. and J. Guyon, La collection d'inscriptions gallo-grecques et latines du Musée Calvet (Paris, 2005), 243-253, no. 210 and plate 215. With detailed commentary.
Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres, vol. 1, 52, no. 211.
Le Blant, E., Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule antérieures au VIIIe siècle (Collection de documents inédits sur l'histoire de France, Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1856), vol. 2, 218-19, no. 492.
Reynolds, P., A Comparative and Statistical Survey of the Late Antique and Early Medieval Inscriptions of South-Eastern Gaul (c. 300-750 AD) (unpublished Ph.D. diss., University of Leicester, 2000), 500-501, no. 520.
Further reading:
Février, P.-A., “Vaison,” in: N. Gauthier and J.-Ch. Picard (eds.), Topographie chrétienne des cités de la Gaule des origines au milieu du VIIIe siècle, vol. 3: Provinces ecclésiastique de Vienne et d'Arles (Viennensis et Alpes Graiae et Poeninae) (Paris: Boccard, 1986), 92-93.
Images
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Epitaph of Pantagatus, from Gascou and Guyon 2005
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Epitaph with side view, from Gascou and Guyon
Małgorzata Krawczyk and Bryan Ward-Perkins
22/03/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain | S00290 | Vincentius/Vincent, deacon of Zaragoza and martyr of Valencia | Vincentius | Certain |
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Małgorzata Krawczyk and Bryan Ward-Perkins, Cult of Saints, E07659 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07659