JEWISH EPITAPH OF ALEXANDER, ROME Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL AN2007.51.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum AN2007.51 AshLI 161

The epitaph is inscribed upon a circular slab of fine white marble (0.321 0.008), not ‘pink marble’ (contra Williams 2002: p.130), possibly recycled from a slab of wall revetment. Its circular shape is highly unusual for a catacomb context. It consists of four joining pieces, which have been stained by iron dowels used to re-assemble the fragments in their modern mount. Iron stains at the edge of the slab, at top centre, to the right and below, are probably traces of the ancient nails or dowels used to fix the slab in its original location (information from Susan Walker).

Inscribed on the face. Line 1 is centred at the top. A menorah is incised prominently at the end of the text (0.076 x 0.05).

 Of irregular height within each line, 0.022-0.03; with red paint. The script is very irregular not just in letter heights, but also in letter forms. The same letter appears in different forms (compare lines 3 and 6 for four different forms of T), and some letters remain incompletely cut. In lines 1 and 6, the letter A lacks its crossbar; in line 3, the first L in macello consists of a down-stroke only, as does the R in dormitio in line 6. The letter B at the start of line 2 appears at first glance as a lower-case b, but the stone is damaged at this point, and closer examination suggests that it was an uncompleted upper-case B. The third letter in line 2 presents particular problems of decipherment, as discussed below: it appears that either the stonecutter left the letter incomplete, or made an initial error in carving that he then corrected with difficulty. There are no interpuncts or spaces between words. Rome The text is usually dated to the third or fourth century AD, but a later date cannot be excluded.Solin (2003: vol.1 p.198) suggests a third-century context on onomastic grounds. Found in separate pieces in the Vigna Randanini catacombs on the via Appia, Rome, in 1862. The right-hand side was found first, but the complete inscription was published by Garrucci soon afterwards (1862: pp.44-45, 69). It was purchased by Charles Wilshere in 1870 from Ignace Randanini. 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, which includes other inscriptions in Greek from the same catacomb. It was subsequently loaned to and then purchased by the Ashmolean Museum. On the Wilshere collection, see Webster 1929, Kraabel 1979, and Vickers 2011. It is currently on display in the Mediterranean Gallery. Photograph Photograph
Alexander bubularus de ma cello qui vixit annis XXX anima bona om niorum amicus dormitio tua inter dicaeis

Alexander, beef-seller from the market, who lived thirty years, good soul, friend of all, your sleep amongst the just.

bVCVLARVS (Garrucci p.44); bVBVLARVS (Garrucci p.69 erratum); BVCVLARIVS (Dessau, Diehl, interpreting as bubularius); [.]VBVLAR(I)VS (Frey) – third letter could be rectangular C or badly written B; BVTVLARVS (Webster, interpreting as a corrpution of botularius; Priuli; with underdotted t, Noy; Chioffi, ‘indubitabile’; Angerstorfer); BVBVLARVS (Leon) QVIT (Armellini) omniorum is used here as equivalent to omnium INTFR (Armellini).

The catacomb on the estate of Ignace Randanini on the via Appia in Rome was excavated between 1857 and 1862, producing almost 200 inscriptions in addition to many graffiti (Vismara 1986: pp.371-78; Dello Russo 2012). It was a location for Jewish burials, mostly dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, although the space seems to have been used still as late as the early sixth century (Noy 1995: pp.173-78). It appears to have been a catacomb particularly favoured by Jewish office-holders, and offers a rich seam of epithets relating to the religious piety of the deceased (Williams 2002: p.124). This epitaph illustrates the shared language used in both Jewish and Christian epigraphy, with the phrases omniorum (= omnium) amicus and anima bona being found also in Christian milieux (for omniorum amicus see ICVR VI no.16562 from the catacomb of Sts Marcellinus and Peter; omnium amicus - ICVR II, no.6316,[cf. ICVR V, no.13728] from catacomb of St Commodilla; ICVR V, no.13338 and 13289.2 of AD 567, both from ad Catacumbas), but the phrase ‘friend of all’ in Greek is typical of Jewish contexts, with the phrase πάντων φίλος found used for Zoticus (JIWE 2.342) in the Vigna Randanini catacomb, for example. The phrase anima bona is also used in Christian contexts on the via Latina (ICVR VI, no.15742 and 15510). The engraved image of a menorah, however, points clearly towards a Jewish context.

Inscriptions in both Latin and Greek were found in the Vigna Randanini catacomb (Greek being the more frequently used language by Jews in Rome), often with Latin rendered in Greek letters. Both the use of marble and of Latin in this instance point towards Alexander having achieved a degree of wealth and status at Rome (Williams 1994: p.182). Linguistic features of this epitaph suggest that the stonecutter worked in both languages. Notably, the final word dicaeis (an unexpected ablative case in place of the accusative case after inter) suggests an adaptation from the Greek μετὰ τῶν δικαίων ἡ κοίμησις σου, itself influenced by the Hebrew expression tsadikim (Leon 1960: pp.125, 131; Williams 2002: p.124), expressing the wish that the deceased will find rest among the just (i.e., the biblical patriarchs according to van der Horst 1991: p.117). Williams (2002: pp.123-24) argues that this phrase is used especially of synagogal office-holders or of individuals of some status, and that in Alexander’s case it supports the hypothesis that his professional activities were of some ritual significance too (see below).

The description of Alexander’s profession in line 2 (itself unusual, although not unparalleled, for a Jewish epitaph) has provoked discussion, with different readings of the word being proposed: bucular(i)us, or bubular(i)us seem the most likely in terms of a Jewish context, whereas the reading butularus appears most likely from the letter-forms on the stone (Dietz 1987: pp.387-88). The location of his occupation, a macellum, makes clear that he had some connection with supplying food, most likely beef. A seller of sausages or blood-puddings (reading butularus for botularius, as suggested by Webster 1929 p.151 no.5 and followed by Priuli 1991 p.295 n.146 and Chioffi 1999), seems extremely unlikely for a Jewish context (Noy 1995: p.289). A job selling beef seems more likely, with bucular(i)us deriving from buculus (a young ox or bull) or bubular(i)us from bubula (beef). There are a couple of parallels for the profession of bublarius at Rome, in the form of T. Quintius Aprilis, bublarius de sacra via (AE 1991, no.287), and M. Valerius Celer bublarius (AE 1991, no.122a). An attractive hypothesis has been proposed by Williams 2002, who argues that Alexander was not a humble butcher, but a ‘purveyor of fine, ritually pure meat… a figure of considerable significance within a Jewish community renowned for its piety’, perhaps supplying Jewish communal feasts for special occasions (Williams 2002: p.131). The macellum referred to in lines 2-3 could be the Macellum Liviae near Santa Maria Maggiore, or the Macellum Magnum on the Caelian, but could also simply refer to some market otherwise unknown to us (Leon 1960: p.138). Compare the epitaph of the fullo Pitzitus, de macell[o Liviae] from the catacomb of St Hippolytus, AE 1958 no.273/ ICUR VII, no.20001c .

Garrucci (1862) pp.44-45, erratum on p.69; Armellini (1880) 430; Vogelstein and Rieger (1896) p.477 no.143; ILS 9432 (Dessau 1962); ILCV 4856; Webster (1929) p.151 no.5; CIJ I no.210; Leon (1960) 293 no.210; CJI I p.31, no.210; JIWE II no.343 (pl.XVI); Chioffi (1999) no.37; AE 2002 no.198 = Williams 2002; AE 2005 no.16 = Noy (2005) p.138; ; Ashmolean Museum Department of Antiquities MS. Accession Register 2007.51; Angerstorfer (2012) p.355-356 no. VI.3.5.

Online: EDCS-26900691 [accessed 18/06/14]

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