CHRISTIAN BURIAL OF DECENTIUS, ROME Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL AN2007.50.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum AN2007.50 AshLI 160

A moulded fragment of fine-grained greyish marble (0.176 0.30 0.03), apparently from the revetment of a funerary monument. It is broken at the lower edge and sides. An ivy-leaf (hedera) appears in the upper moulding, and a christogram of chi-rho is prominent at the start of the text. The back is worked smooth. The letters are painted red.

The text is inscribed below the moulded border.

 0.03 (line 1); 0.033 (line 2). Christogram 0.062 (occupying the height of both lines of text). mid/late 4th century; 390-425 [EDB] When included in ICUR volume 1 (1922), the inscription’s current location was unknown, but it had been recorded by C.L. Visconti in Rome in the possession of the sculptor Ferdinand Pettrich (who died in Rome in 1872). De Rossi based his edition of the inscription on the basis of Visconti’s manuscript notes. It was probably acquired by Charles W. Wilshere in Rome between 1860 and 1890. Charles Wilshere (1814-1906) was a lawyer and member of the landed gentry, succeeding to his family estate at The Frythe, Welwyn (Hertfordshire) in 1867. As a supporter of the Oxford movement and Anglican layman, he had particular interest in ecclesiastical history, which he pursued during several trips to Rome between roughly 1860 and 1890, purchasing antiquities relevant to Judaism and early Christianity (Kraabel 1979: p.42). In addition to purchasing antiquities for his own collection, he presented others to the Vatican. This inscription was bequeathed to Pusey House, a noted centre for theological study in Oxford, in 1906, along with the rest of the Wilshere collection. It was subsequently loaned to and then purchased by the Ashmolean Museum. On the Wilshere collection, see Webster 1929, Kraabel 1979, and Vickers 2011. Although believed lost by EDB, it is currently on display in the Mediterranean Gallery. Photograph
locus Decentii/ae Decentius

Burial place of Decentius/a, Decentius.

Dece[---]: could be restored as either Dece[ntii] or Dece[ntiae]. It is possible that a verb follows the name Decentius.

This inscription reflects the Christian preference for inhumation rather than cremation (Marucchi 1912: p.50). The chi-rho symbol placed prominently at the start of the inscription indicates clearly that this belongs to a Christian milieu, from some period after the symbol was promoted under Constantine in the 330s. The form in which it appears here suggests a date during the fourth century, since after that time the chi-rho christogram became more like a cross in form (Marucchi 1912: p.60, with Plate II.1). The inscription records the purchase of a burial-place for an individual called Decentius, or Decentia: the word locus should be followed by a name in the genitive case, here either Decentii or Decentiae. The purchase of a space in a catacomb/cemetery from the grave-diggers would be registered in an office (Marucchi 1912: pp.326-27). It is possible that a verb is missing at the end, stating that a Decentius was responsible for the transaction. For a comparable text, see ICVR 4.11853: [locus C]alvi Marciana/ [---p]osuit, from the fifth century AD. The name Decentius occurs in other Christian inscriptions from Rome: ICVR 6.15602, via Latina, Cemetery in vinea Eustachiorum; ICVR 3.9347, via Ardeatina, Basilica of Sts Nereus and Achilles in the cemetery of Domitilla; ICVR 10.27290, via Flaminia, cemetery and basilica of St Valentine, dated to AD 363; ICVR 9.24199, via Salaria nova, cemetery between St Felicitas and via Anapo; ICVR 2.4577, via Portuense, Cemetery of Pontianus; ICVR 6.16996 and 17020, via Labicana, cemetery of Sts Marcellinus and Peter.

ICUR 1.3423 (1922); Ashmolean Museum Department of Antiquities MS. Accession Register 2007.50

Online: EDCS-40300506 [accessed 16/09/14]; EDB 33333 [Filippo Piazzolla, 27/06/2013; last updated Carlo Carletti 10/11/15] [accessed 05/09/16]

Kraabel A.T. 1979 Jews in Imperial Rome: More Archaeological Evidence from an Oxford Collection’ Journal of Jewish Studies 30 41-58 Marucchi O. 1912 Christian Epigraphy: An Elementary Treatise Cambridge Cambridge University Press Vickers M. 2011 The Wilshere Collection of Early Christian and Jewish Antiquities in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Miscellanea a Emilio Marin Sexagenario Dicata Split Franjevačka provincija Presv. Otkupitelja: Kačić 41-43 605-614 Webster T.B.L. 1929 The Wilshere Collection at Pusey House in Oxford JRS 19 150-54