CHRISTIAN EPITAPH OF MARIA, AECLANUM Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL AN2007.60.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum AN2007.60 AshLI 163

A plain rectangular slab of white marble with blue bands (probably recycled from a paving stone of Proconnesian marble, according to Susan Walker), similar to AN2007.56 (0.293 0.24 0.04).

The text is inscribed on the front face. Two crosses are inscribed above the first line of text, and a third cross appears at the start of line 1. Non-standard orthography includes annus for annos (line 4). The supralineate barred contractions in lines 4, 6, 8 are typical of the fifth and sixth centuries

 heights of letters in line 1 vary between 0.039 and 0.015; otherwise roughly 0.02. Irregularly cut, with some unusual letter forms, such as N (lines 4, 6) similar to H. It originates from Aeclanum, Regio II (Apulia and Calabria). AD 546. According to Mommsen in IRNL (1852), it was in the Museo Cassitto at Bonito, near Avellino, and then in London at the time of editing CIL IX (1883), having been purchased by Charles Wilshere Wilshere (1814-1906), 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. Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph
hic requieiis cit inii somno pa cis Maria quae vi xit annous plus minus X\XV depositio eius IIII nonas Ianuarias q\uinquies post consulatum Basili viri clarissimi indictione X

Here reposes in the sleep of peace Maria, who lived more or less 25 years. Her burial on the 4th day before the nones of January, five years after the appointment of Basil to the consulship in the tenth indiction.

Guarini in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528 mistakenly noted interpuncts between every word in lines 4-8, and omitted description of the crosses marking the upper margin, and the start of the text; crosses above the text also omitted in IRNL. REQVIIS/CIT lapis; REQVIES (Guarini in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528) III lapis; II (Mommsen, IRNL); IN (Guarini in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528) ANNVS lapis \XV lapis, generally taken to be in error for LXV (Felle), but perhaps more likely an incomplete version of XXV (as Guarini in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528); LX (Mommsen, IRNL). VIII (Guarini in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528); IANVARIVS (Guarini in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528) \VINQVIES lapis; REQVIES (Guarini in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528); BASIL (Guarini in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528). ˪/HQVIES, BASI<I (De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528, from Wilshere); QVINQVIES (marginal note from Brunn in De Rossi MS. scheda cod. Vat. Lat. 10528, suggesting alternative to Wilshere’s transcription)

This epitaph is from the early Christian cemetery of Aeclanum at Mirabella. The emphasis here upon repose is typical of Christian epitaphs, which viewed death as merely a sleep before resurrection. The new importance given to the date of death led to recording the exact date of burial, often including consular names to identify the year, and reference to burial (depositus /depositio – ‘buried/burial’) now became prominent. The word depositio was used exclusively in Christian contexts, and went further than simply recording the fact of burial, but also expressed the idea of temporarily entrusting the body to the earth until the time for resurrection. Recording the date of burial allowed anniversary rituals to be observed (Marucchi 1912: p.56). The 4th day before the nones of January is equivalent to 2nd January. Basilius was the last named consul in the Roman West, AD 541; a system of counting after his consulship continued for 44 years (Marucchi 1912: p.283). The indictional year is stated incorrectly here, however: it should be 9 not 10 (Felle).

Guarini (1833) p.73 n.18 (according to CIL); de Rossi, MS. cod. Vat. Lat. 10528 f.54’, (two schedae, one taken from Guarini 1833, the second from Wilshere); IRNL no.1306 (Mommsen, 1852); CIL IX 1388 [Mommsen] (1883); ILCV 3186b (Diehl 1927, following CIL); Salvatore (1982) pp.166-67 no.88; ICI vol.8, p.116 no.56 (1993, following CIL); Ashmolean Museum Department of Antiquities MS. Accession Register 2007.60

Online: EDCS-12400893 [accessed 05/02/15]; EDR-133893 (F. Lorusso) [accessed 05/02/15]

De Rossi G.B. Schedae mss in cod. Vat. Lat. 10528, f.55 (two versions of the text, the first from Guarini, the second from Wilshere) Felle A.E. 1993 Inscriptiones Christianae Italiae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores Vol. 8. Regio II: Hirpini Bari Edipuglia Guarini R. 1833 Commentarium XVI. Excursus IIII Epigraphicus Liber. Naples 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 Mommsen T. 1852 Inscriptiones Regni Neapolitani Latinae Leipzig Salvatore A. 1982 Aeclanum. Mille anni di storia irpina Foggia Edizione L’Amico del Terziario Webster T.B.L. 1929 The Wilshere Collection at Pusey House in Oxford JRS 19 150-54>