ET HILO SVOBENEMERENTI-INP.

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DECE SITVIRVSFEB

Locus Decii cubicularii hujus basilica. Hic quiescit caro mea; novissimo vero die per Christum credo resuscitabitur a mortuis. Depositus XV Kalendas Junias et iterum post consulatum Basilii, Viri Clarissimi.

"The place of Decius, Custodian of this Basilica. Here rests my flesh, but, at the last day, through Christ, I believe it will be raised from the dead. Buried on the fifteenth day before the Calends of June, in the third year after the Consulship of Basilius, a most distinguished man,” i.e. 544, a.d. In the text, the letters in Italics are given according to De Rossi's restoration.

(Ticini in Sanctissimæ Trinitatis; Muratori, 424, 6.)

Hic in pace requiescit bonæ memoriæ Theodora Diaconissa quæ vixit in seculo (sæculo) annos plus minus XLVIII. Deposita XI Kalendas Augustas, quinto post consulatum Paulini Junioris, Viri Clarissimi, Indictione secunda.

"Here rests in peace, Theodora, a Deaconess, of good repute, who lived in this world forty-eight years, more or less. Buried on the eleventh day before the Calends of August, in the fifth year after the Consulship of Paulinus Junior, a most distinguished man, in the second Indiction," i.e. July 22nd, 539, A.d.

1. 1. Bona memoriæ. Literally, "of good memory," i.e. worthy to be remembered for her virtues.

The duties discharged by females among the early Christians are noticed by heathen writers. Thus, Pliny, Epist. x., 96, says :necessarium credidi ex duabus ancillis, quæ ministræ dicebantur, quid esset veri et per tormenta quærere; and Lucian, De morte Peregrini, 12:—ἔωθεν μὲν εὐθὺς ἦν ὁρᾶν παρὰ τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ περιμένοντα γρᾴδια χήρας τινὰς καὶ παιδία ὀρφανὰ κ. τ. λ.

(m.) To a sacred virgin:— 74.

PRIEIVNPAVSA

BETPRAETIOSA

FRAVITOVC CONSS

(In coem. Callisti; De Rossi, n. 497.)

Prie (pridie) [Kal.] Junias pausabet (pausavit) Prætiosa annorum pulla (puella) virgo XII tantum, ancilla Dei et Christi, Flavio Vincentio et Fravito, Viris Clarissimis, Consulibus.

"On the day before the Calends of June, Prætiosa went to her rest, a young maiden of only twelve years of age, a hand-maid of God and of Christ, in the Consulship of Flavius Vincentius and Fravitus, most distinguished men," i.e. May 31st, 401, a.d.

75.

HIC QVIESCIT GAVDIOSA CF ANCILLA DEI QUAE VIXIT ANNVS XL ET MEN V DEP · X · KAL · OCTOB·

CALLEPIO VC CONF

(In S. Pauli; De Rossi, n. 739.)

Hic quiescit Gaudiosa, Clarissima Femina, ancilla Dei, quæ vixit annus (annos) XL et menses V. Deposita X Kalendas Octobres, Callepio, Viro Clarissimo, Consule.

"Here rests Gaudiosa, a most distinguished woman, a hand-maid of God, who lived forty years, and five months. Buried on the tenth day before the Calends of October, in the Consulship of Callepius, a most distinguished man," i.e. September 22nd, 447, A.D.

VI. THOSE IN WHICH THERE IS MENTION, OF OR REFERENCE TO THE PLACE OF BURIAL.

(Ad S. Laurentii in agro Verano; De Rossi, n. 576.)

Locus Basileonis, se bibo (se vivo, vivus) fecit. Xene (Xenæ) benemerenti in pace. Deposita, pridie Nonas Novembres, Consulatu Honorii Augusti VII et Thodosi (Theodosii) iterum Augustorum.

"The place of Basileo. He when alive made it. To Xene well-deserving in peace. Buried on the day before the Nones of November in the Consulship of Honorius Augustus, for the seventh time, and Theodosius for the second time, the two Augusti," i. e. November 4th, 407 a. D.

1. 2. se bibo. In Pagan epitaphs such forms are found as se vivo, se vivus, se vivis, me vivus. Fecit. This word is used in various connexions. In n. 31, I have noticed its use with cum in the sense "spend." We find it, also, with fatum, scil. fatum fecit died; and with titulus, scil. titulum fecit="made the inscription" or "caused the inscription to be made ;" also with locus, scil. locum fecit=" made the place of burial" or "caused the place to be made." F. C.= faciundum curavit, so common in Heathen epitaphs, is very rare in Christian. In both cases, I suspect, the place of burial was, sometimes, actually made by the person himself. Thus in Henzen's n. 6394-communi labore sibi fecerunt. 1. 3. Xene. I have regarded this name as Greek, although I do not recollect having ever met with an example of it. Xenis occurs, and also Xinna, which Reinesius strangely believed to stand for Cinna.

This stone is remarkable as presenting the most ancient example of the representation of the cross in dated epitaphs. This symbol of Christianity, so common in inscriptions from the latter part of the fifth century, does not appear in any one of those of the first four centuries. The monogrammatic cross, as it is called, was used before this, not however as early as 209, as Zannoni inferred from an inscription given by Boldetti, p. 83. There is, certainly, a monogrammatic cross in that epitaph, but the date is 456, as is evident from the words DN AVITI, i. e. Domini Nostri Aviti scil. the emperor of that name. Boldetti, who was not aware of the Consulship of Avitus Augustus, interpreted the words as referring to Avitus, Consul in 209. The same careless investigator, p. 351, introduced a new fashion of cross on the authority of a stone that he found in the Catacomb of St. Agnes. This he not only figured, but described as a decussated cross transfixed with a spear, whilst it is really no more than an imperfect Constantinian monogram. His mistake led to serious waste of time and

D

trouble, for some learned men, as De Rossi remarks, arcanam significationem inani labore investigarunt. See Cavedoni, Bull dell'. Ist. 1843, p. 152. Aringhi, vol. ii. pp. 377-380, furnishes another example of the result of extravagant symbolism. More than four columns of his work are devoted to the explanation of certain figures, that he calls representations of the heart, in the inscriptions found in the Catacombs, and the subject is illustrated by various quotations from the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers, and Greek and Latin heathen authors. These figures, however, on which so much learning is wasted, are in reality nothing more than leaf-points, or leaf-decorations, that are commonly found in both Christian and Pagan inscriptions. See examples in Plate iii. 2. Nor was this ridiculous mistake limited to Aringhi. Boldoni suggested that the figure-unquestionably a leaf with a stem-signified dolorem cordi intimum, and Grasser believed that it was the representation cordis spina transfixi, and meant cordolium!

The Constantinian monogram is, as might be expected, of frequent occurrence on Christian sepulchral stones, but a great object of search relative to this symbol has been to find an example before the year 312 A. D. It was believed that one was found on a stone discovered by Boldetti, of the date 291 A. D., but De Rossi, n. 17, has, I think, correctly regarded this figure as merely an ornamental point. He himself, however, gives an example (n. 26), which may be, but cannot certainly be proved to be, of the date 298 A.D. The earliest that I have noticed is of the date 331 A. D.

O VM VN SEMES CONS D D N N THAE

ODOSIO ET · VALENTINIANO · II.

(In coenobio S. Pauli; De Rossi, n. 653.)

*I do not take into account the use of crosses and monograms before Christianity, the meaning of which was of course different from the Christian signification. Examples of the gammadion occur on Roman altars found in Britain.