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E07478: Latin epitaph just possibly referring to five saints. Probably from a cemetery on the via Nomentana, Rome. Possibly 3rd c. [provisional entry]

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posted on 2019-03-23, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski
sancti V[- - -]
Aureli[- - -]

1. Sancti[an]u[s] or sancti V [martyres] Ferrua

For a translation, see the commentary.

Text: ICVR, n.s., VIII, no. 23025 = EDB41612.

History

Evidence ID

E07478

Saint Name

Saints, name lost or very partially preserved : S01744 Saints, unnamed : S00518 Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060

Saint Name in Source

sancti sancti sancti

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

200

Evidence not after

300

Activity not before

200

Activity not after

300

Place of Evidence - Region

Rome and region

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Suburban catacombs and cemeteries

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Suburban catacombs and cemeteries Rome Rome Roma Ῥώμη Rhōmē

Cult activities - Places

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Other lay individuals/ people

Source

Left-hand fragment of a marble plaque. Preserved dimensions: H. 28 cm, W. 56 cm, Th. 2 cm. Letter height 4.5 cm. A large left-hand margin is preserved, carrying a depiction of Daniel, an Old Testament character, flanked by two lions. The stone was offered to the Lateran Museums in 1929, reportedly as a find from the via Nomentana. Later deposited in the Museo Pio Cristiano, in the Vatican. Ferrua points out that the shape of the letters supports this claim, as they are of the 'ostrian' type, common in high quality epitaphs of the via Nomentana cemeteries.

Discussion

Ferrua offers two interpretations of this text. Line 1 could contain the name of the deceased, e.g. Sancti[an]u[s]. Alternatively, this could be a reference to some Five martyrs, for example sancti V [martyres], but Ferrua does not develop on their possible identity. The editors of the Epigraphic Database Bari dates the inscription to the third century.

Bibliography

Edition: Epigraphic Database Bari, no. EDB41612. see http://www.edb.uniba.it/epigraph/41612 De Rossi, G.B., Ferrua, A. (eds.) Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores, n.s., vol. 8: Coemeteria viarum Nomentanae et Salariae (Vatican: Pont. Institutum Archaeologiae Christianae, 1983), no. 23025 (with further bibliography). Ferrua, A., "Incrementi epigrafici nel Museo Vaticano Pio Cristiano (1934-1970)", Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia 46 (1974), 155 and fig. 19.

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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