Latin inscribed epitaph of *Eutropius (bishop of Orange, ob. c. 475, S02393), partially preserved, from Orange (southern Gaul), with reference to miracles at his grave. Inscribed at Orange, some time after c. 475.
E08368
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions
Inscribed epitaph of Eutropius
Nine fragments (some conjoining) survive of this inscription, preserving rather more than half of its original lettering. The text was laid out in two columns of which the first is much better preserved than the second. We present here the Latin (with a translation) only of the first column, since not enough survives of the second to allow for a reconstruction of its sense.
Eutropium hic, Chr(ist)e, tuum uirtute probatum,
corpore conplexum, nobilis urna tegit.
Qui qua(m)qua(m) crebris ostentet maxima [si]gnis,
pandire sed tumolo carmine pauca ḍ[ecet ?],
5 Non equidem dubia, sed [g]esta insi[gnia ...],
hausit quae popu[ ...]sus a?[...],
Cumq(ue) foret sublime d[ ..........],
elegit Chr(istu)m quaerere m[ent]e, fide
Huic uictus tenuis et du[r]a cubilia somn[o]
10 et uestis tegimen hisp[i]da saeta fui[t]
We omit the scattered surviving words and letters of the second column of text.
'O Christ, here Eutropius your servant, in virtue proved, in body is enclosed, held by this noble urn. Although he manifests great things through frequent signs [i.e. miracles], it is seemly to write a little on his tomb. (5) I speak not of doubtful deeds, but of remarkable ones which the people ... . Though destined (?) for the highest honours (?), he chose to seek Christ in mind and faith. His food was meagre, his bed for sleeping hard, (10) and for clothing a rough hair shirt. ....'
Text: Gascou and Guyon 2005, 233-4, no. 210.
Translation: Bryan Ward-Perkins.
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
MiraclesMiracle after death
Unspecified miracle
Source
The fragments of this inscription were found in a suburban area of Orange where a church of Saint-Eutrope had stood until demolished in the time of Louis XIV. The inscription is on a reused slab, the reverse of an older sarcophagus cover. It is broken into many pieces of different sizes and almost half of it is lost. All of the surviving fragments, except for one in a private collection, are now in the Musée Calvet of Avignon. The original size of the slab was around 220 cm long by 66 cm high; the letters are 4 cm high.The inscription is laid out in two columns. Enough survives of the first column of text to enable a confident reading of most it. The second column, however, survives only as disjointed short pieces of text, and no coherent text can be derived from it.
Discussion
The church where these fragments were found and which came to bear Eutropius' name, Saint-Eutrope, was, according to Eutropius' Life (E06305), built by the saint as his burial church and originally dedicated to Julian/Ioulianos, the martyr venerated at Antioch (S00305).The reference to the many miracles (signa) that Eutropius was producing suggests that this might not have been his first epitaph, erected immediately after his burial, but one set up after his body had produced manifestations of his power, perhaps when his relics were re-entombed for greater veneration and effect. It is possible, but undemonstrable, that the epitaph was set up at the same time as the surviving Life of Eutropius was written (E06305).
Bibliography
Edition:Diehl, E., Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres (Berlin: Apud Weidmannos, 1925-1927), vol. 1, 206, no. 1065.
Gascou, J. and J. Guyon, La collection d'inscriptions gallo-grecques et latines du Musée Calvet (Paris, 2005), 230-238, no. 210 and plate 210. (This edition includes a fragment identified in 1975, supplying the ending of the last three lines of the first column of text; it also comes with a detailed analysis of the epitaph.)
Hirschfeld, O., Inscriptiones Galliae Narbonensis Latinae, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum XII (Berlin, 1888), 159. no. 1272.
Le Blant, E., Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule antérieures au VIIIe siècle (Paris, 1856), vol. 2, 236-7, no. 503. Supplemented by Le Blant, E., Nouveau recueil des inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule antérieures au VIIIe siècle (Paris, 1892), 169-70, no. 156.
Though Gascou and Guyon is the only edition with the fragment identified in 1975, all editions fully capture the sense of the first column of text.
Images
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Epitaph of Eutropius: the fragments whose location is currently known. From Gascou and Guyon 2005.
Bryan Ward-Perkins
05/02/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S02393 | Eutropius, bishop of Orange, ob. c. 475 | Eutropius | Certain |
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Bryan Ward-Perkins, Cult of Saints, E08368 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08368