Inscription in mosaic with a Latin poem commemorating the adornment of the church of *Salsa (virgin and martyr of Tipasa, S02130) at Tipasa (Mauretania Caesariensis, western North Africa) by Potentius (probably mid-5th-century bishop of Tipasa).
E07859
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Munera quae cernis quo
sancta altaria fulgent,
[his opus l]aborq(ue) inest cura
[q(ue) ... Pot]enti, creditum
[sibi qui gau]det perficere munus. 5
Ma[rtyr] hic est Salsa dulcior
nectare semper, quae meruit
caelo semper habitare beata;
reciprocum sancto [gau]dens
[mu]nus inpertire Potentio,[m]eri- 10
tumq(ue) eius celorum regno pro[babi]t.
These are clearly seven lines of somewhat clumsily composed and laid out verse, which can be reconstructed as follows:
Munera quae cernis, quo sancta altaria fulgent,
[his opus l]aborq(ue) inest cura[q(ue) ... Pot]enti,
creditum [sibi qui gau]det perficere munus.
Ma[rtyr] hic est Salsa dulcior nectare semper,
quae meruit caelo semper habitare beata; 5
reciprocum sancto [gau]dens [mu]nus inpertire Potentio,
[m]eritumq(ue) eius celorum regno pro[babi]t.
'The offerings you see, whereby the holy altars shine,
In these is the work, labour and care of ... Potentius,
Who rejoices that he fulfilled well the task given him.
Here is the martyr Salsa, always sweeter than nectar,
Who, blessed one, earned an eternal home in heaven. 5
Rejoicing to bestow on the holy Potentius a reciprocal offering,
She will confirm his merits in the kingdom of heaven.'
Text: Duval 1982, no. 170 (after S. Gsell).
Translation: Stanisław Adamiak, aided by Duval's French translation.
Eucharist associated with cult
Cult PlacesCult building - independent (church)
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Source
A large mosaic panel (2.25 x 2.25 m, with letters 16 cm high), set slightly off-centre at the apse-end of the elaborate mosaic floor of the basilica of Salsa at Tipasa, excavated by Gsell in 1891. Duval recorded the current location of the inscription as uncertainDiscussion
This text, documenting work by a certain Potentius, confirms that the basilica discovered by Gsell was consecrated to the memory of Salsa, and line 4 of the verse states that her body was buried there (hic est / 'here is'). The wording of the inscription suggests improvements to the church (including, of course, the mosaic floor), rather than a new building.The name Potentius was not a common one, so our Potentius is generally considered to be the Mauretanian bishop mentioned in 446 by Pope Leo the Great in one of his letters (Ep. 12, 9; PL 54, 653).
Bibliography
Editions:Corpus inscriptionum latinarum 20914.
Duval, Y., Loca sanctorum Africae: Le culte des martyrs en Afrique du IVe au VIIe siècle (Rome: École Française de Rome, 1982), 358-363, no. 170.
Toutain, J., "Fouilles de M. Gsell à Tipasa: Basilique de Sainte Salsa," Mélanges de l'École française de Rome 11 (1891), 179-185.
Further reading:
Christern, J., "Basilica und Memoria der hl. Salsa in Tipasa. Ein Beitrag zum Verhältnis von Märtyregrab und Zömeterialkirche," Bulletin d'archéologie algerién 3 (1968), 193-257.
Mandouze, A., "Potentius 2," in: A. Mandouze, Prosopographie de l'Afrique Chrétienne (303-533) (Paris: CNRS 1982), 898.
Piredda, A. M., Passio Sanctae Salsae: testo critico, con introduzione e traduzione italiana (Sassari: Gallizzi, 2002).
Images
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From Toutain 1891
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From Y. Duval 1982, no. 170
Stanisław Adamiak
27/06/2020
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S02130 | Salsa, virgin and martyr of Tipasa | Salsa | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Stanisław Adamiak, Cult of Saints, E07859 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07859