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E05296: Fragmentary Latin epitaph with a poem for an archdeacon and psalmist, recording his burial in a church dedicated to *Laurence/Laurentius (deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037) in the ager Veranus, on the via Tiburtina, Rome, presenting considerations about the actual uselessness of burials ad sanctos compared with the true merits of the pious life, and probably naming Laurence as a martyr and priest. Probably 5th c.
online resource
posted on 2018-04-09, 00:00 authored by pnowakowskiSepulcrum Sabini archidiaconi.
Altaris primus per tempora multa minister
elegi sancti ianitor esse loci,
4 nam terram repetens quae nostra probatur origo
hic tumulor muta membra Sabinus humo.
Nil iuvat immo gravat tumulis haerere piorum;
sanctorum meritis optima vita prope est;
8 [co]rpore non opus est, anima tendamus ad illos,
[q]uae bene salva potest corporis esse salus.
[Ille eg]o qui voce psalmos modulatus et arte
[div]ersis cecini, verba sacrata sonis,
12 [ossibus] hic posui sedes in limine primo.
[Iudi]cii tempus certus adesse cit[o],
[ut dulci sonitu r]esonans tuba caelitu[s artus]
[cum vocet e terra ad] castra super[na pios]
16 [- - - ma]rtyr lev{v}it[a - - -]
[- - - t]unc quoq[ue - - -]
'Tomb of Sabinus, archdeacon. For a long time the first servant of the altar, I chose to become the doorkeeper of (this) holy place, because, returning to the earth, which proves to be our origin, I, Sabinus, am buried here, having given my silent limbs to the soil. Clinging to the tombs of the holy ones does not help, but rather increases the burden; (it is) a good life that is close to the merits of the saints; not through the body do we reach them, but by the soul which, if safe, can be the salvation of the body. I, who recited psalms, and skilfully sang the holy word with different sounds, here made the resting place for [my bones], at the first threshold. It is certain that the time of judgement is fast approaching, like a trumpet of power sounding with a sweet sound from heaven, when it summons the pious from the earth to the heavenly fortress [- - -] the martyr and priest (levita) [- - -]'
Text: ICVR, n.s., VII, no. 18017 = EDB30595. Translation: P. Nowakowski.
Altaris primus per tempora multa minister
elegi sancti ianitor esse loci,
4 nam terram repetens quae nostra probatur origo
hic tumulor muta membra Sabinus humo.
Nil iuvat immo gravat tumulis haerere piorum;
sanctorum meritis optima vita prope est;
8 [co]rpore non opus est, anima tendamus ad illos,
[q]uae bene salva potest corporis esse salus.
[Ille eg]o qui voce psalmos modulatus et arte
[div]ersis cecini, verba sacrata sonis,
12 [ossibus] hic posui sedes in limine primo.
[Iudi]cii tempus certus adesse cit[o],
[ut dulci sonitu r]esonans tuba caelitu[s artus]
[cum vocet e terra ad] castra super[na pios]
16 [- - - ma]rtyr lev{v}it[a - - -]
[- - - t]unc quoq[ue - - -]
'Tomb of Sabinus, archdeacon. For a long time the first servant of the altar, I chose to become the doorkeeper of (this) holy place, because, returning to the earth, which proves to be our origin, I, Sabinus, am buried here, having given my silent limbs to the soil. Clinging to the tombs of the holy ones does not help, but rather increases the burden; (it is) a good life that is close to the merits of the saints; not through the body do we reach them, but by the soul which, if safe, can be the salvation of the body. I, who recited psalms, and skilfully sang the holy word with different sounds, here made the resting place for [my bones], at the first threshold. It is certain that the time of judgement is fast approaching, like a trumpet of power sounding with a sweet sound from heaven, when it summons the pious from the earth to the heavenly fortress [- - -] the martyr and priest (levita) [- - -]'
Text: ICVR, n.s., VII, no. 18017 = EDB30595. Translation: P. Nowakowski.
History
Evidence ID
E05296Saint Name
Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome : S00037Related Saint Records
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions Literary - PoemsLanguage
- Latin
