E05811: Agnellus of Ravenna, in his Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis, written in Latin, quotes Latin inscriptions and refers to foundations in honour of the *Vitalis (martyr of Ravenna, S02826), *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033), *Gervasius and Prostasius (martyrs of Milan, S00313), and *Nazarius (martyr of Milan, S00281) in Ravenna (northern Italy). Agnellus claims these inscriptions and foundations were made during the episcopate of Ecclesius (bishop of Ravenna, 522-532); account written in Ravenna in 830/846.

Agnellus of Ravenna, Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis 57

Ipsius temporibus ecclesia beati Vitalis martiris a Iuliano argentario una cum ipso praesule fundata est. Et hic pontifex in suae proprietatis iura aedificauit ecclesiam sanctae et semper uirginis intemeratae Mariae, quam cernitis, mira magnitudine, cameram tribunalis et frontem ex auro ornatam, et in ipsa tribunali camera effigies sanctae Dei genitricis, cui simile numquam potuit humanis oculis conspicere. Quis uir ille ausus est diutissime intuere imaginem illam, continentem ita uersus metricos sub suis pedibus, uidelicet:

Virginis aula micat, Christum quae cepit ab astris, 
Nuntius e caelis angelus ante fuit. 
Misterium! Verbi genitrix et uirgo perennis 
Auctoris que sui facta parens Domini. 
Vera, magi, claudi, caeci, mors, uita fatentur. [5]
Culmina sacra Deo dedicat Ecclesius. 

‘In his reign the church of the blessed martyr Vitalis was founded by Julian the banker together with this bishop. And this bishop on his own legal property built the church of the holy and always inviolate Virgin Mary, which you see, of wonderful size, the vault of the apse and the façade decorated with gold, and in this vault of the apse the image of the holy mother of God, the like of which can never be seen by human eyes. With these eyes, that man himself dared to contemplate the image for the longest time, which contained the metrical verses under its feet, namely:

The hall of the Virgin shines, she who received Christ from the stars, with an angel from the heavens announcing it to her beforehand. O mystery! The mother of the Word and perennial virgin, made parent of the Lord her Creator. Truth, the magi, the lame, the blind, death, life confess her [5]. Ecclesius dedicates these holy rooftops to God.’

Agnellus of Ravenna, Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis 59

Sed, sicut superius dixi, in tempore istius ecclesia beati Vitalis martiris a Iuliano argentario constructa est. Nulla in Italia ecclesia similis est in aedificiis et in mechanicis operibus. Expensas uero in praedicti martiris Vitalis ecclesia, sicut in elogio sanctae recordationis memoriae Iuliani fundatoris inuenimus, .xxvi. milia aureorum expensi sunt solidorum.

‘But, as I said above, in his reign the church of the blessed martyr Vitalis was built by Julian the banker. No church in Italy is similar in structures and in mechanical works. As for the expenses for the church of the said martyr Vitalis, as we find in the inscription of the founder Julian of blessed memory, twenty-six thousand gold solidi were spent.’

[...]

Igitur iste beatissimus obiit, sepultus est in ecclesia beati Vitalis martiris infra monasterium sancti Nazarii ante altarium, in medio loco iuxta corpus hinc beati Vrsicini antistitis et inde beati Victoris, in medio autem iste.

‘Therefore when this most blessed man [Ecclesius] died, he was buried in the church of the blessed martyr Vitalis, in the monasterium of Nazarius before the altar, in the central place, next to the bodies on the one side of blessed Bishop Ursicinus and on the other side of blessed Victor, in the middle of them.’

Agnellus of Ravenna, Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis 61

Sepultus est, ut diximus, in ecclesia sancti Vitalis. Et in atrio ipsius frontis aulae uersos metricos iussit tessellis argenteis scribere continentes ita: 

Ardua consurgunt uenerando culmine templa 
Nomine Vitalis sanctificata Deo. 
Geruasius que tenet simul hanc Protasius arcem, 
Quos genus atque fides templa que consociant. 
His genitor natis fugiens contagia mundi [5]
Exemplum fidei martirii que fuit.
Tradidit hanc primus Iuliano Ecclesius arcem, 
Qui sibi commissum mire peregit opus.
Hoc quoque perpetua mandauit lege tenendum, 
His nulli liceat condere membra locis. [10]
Sed quod pontificum constant monumenta priorum, 
Fas ibi sit tantum ponere seu simile. 

‘He was buried, as we said, in the church of San Vitale. And in the atrium at the from of this hall he ordered metrical verses to be written with silver tesserae containing the following:

The lofty temples rise to the venerable rooftop, sanctified to God in the name of Vitalis. And Gervase and Protase also hold this stronghold, whom family and faith and church join together. The father fleeing the contagions of the world was to these sons [5] an example of faith and martyrdom.

Ecclesius first gave this stronghold to Julian, who wonderfully completed the work commissioned to him. He also ordered it to be maintained by perpetual law that in these places no one’s body is permitted to be placed [10]. But because tombs of earlier bishops are established here, it is allowed to place this one, or one like it.’

Text: Deliyannis 2006. Translation: Deliyannis 2004.