Record | The Cult of Saints

Latin dedicatory inscription of the church of *Peter the Apostle (S00036) in Antequera (southern Hispania), probably 7th c.

Evidence ID

E08332

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements

Dedicatory inscription at Antequera:

In nomine d(omi)ni hic ec(c)le//sia s(an)ct(i) Pe[t]ri fundata / a Sixerio et Wisende(!)

'In the name of the Lord this church of saint Peter is founded by Sixerius and Wisendus'

Text: CIL II2/5, 769.
Translation: M. Szada

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Non Liturgical Activity

Construction of cult buildings

Source

The inscription is on a two-metre long slab of limestone. The central field with the letters is surrounded by a decorative border. It was discovered by Amador de los Ríos at the beginning of the 20th century in the castle of Antequera where it served as a lintel (which was almost certainly also its original function).

The original location of the church from which this inscription was taken is unknown, though it very likely to have been quite close-by. The inscription is dated palaeographically and stylistically (based on its decoration) to the 7th century.

Discussion

Sixerius and Wisendus (a version of the name Vincent?) are known only from this inscription. They were probably members of the Visigothic elite.

Bibliography

Edition:
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum II2: Inscriptiones Hispaniae ed. alt. Conventus Astigitanus, no. 769
illustration: https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/bilder.php?s_language=en&bild=PH0005929

Hispania Epigraphica online, no. 3020, http://eda-bea.es/pub/record_card_1.php?refpage=%2Fpub%2Fsearch_select.php&quicksearch=sesuldus&rec=3020

Archivo epigráfico de Hispania Tardoantigua y Medieval (AETHAM), no. 2127, hesperia.ucm.es/consulta_aetham/Generalidades.php?filtrar=&valor=&ud-2162

Further reading:
Atencia, R., "Una desconocida iglesia de Antequera", Málaga 10 (1971), 26-27

González Román, C., "Sixerius", Diccionario Biográfico electrónico (DBe), https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/69423/sixerius

Gutiérrez Méndez, C., "Hallazgo de época visigoda en Antequera (Málaga)", in: Actas del II Congreso Andaluz de Estudios Clásicos, vol. 2 (Málaga 1987), 267-273

Salvador Ventura, F., Prosopografía de la Hispania meridional III. Antiguedad Tardía (Granada 1998), p. 186, no. 337

Record Created By

Marta Szada

Date of Entry

31/07/2024

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00036	Peter, the Apostle	Petrus	Certain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Marta Szada, Cult of Saints, E08332 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08332

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world