Funerary inscription for Boniface (ISic001350)

Apparatus criticus

Text after IG;
line.2: τῶν πολῶν pro τῶν πολλῶν
line.6: κἀγὼ ΙG XIV 531; κἀτὼ CIG IV 9497
line.7: Kaibel posits damage to the middle of the stone over lines 7-10, not reported by the antiquarian transcriber, but resulting in the various errors/oddities mid-line at that point onwards
line.9: ἀὸ παντὸς ΙG XIV 531, Agnello; [δ]ι[ὰ] παντὸς
line.10: l. 10 ἡ οίμας IG XIV 531, Agnello; ἡ [κ]οίμ[ησις] CIG IV 9497

Physical description

Support

Description: Marble plaque.
Object type: plaque
Object condition: No data
Dimensions: height: cm, width: cm, depth: cm

Material

Description: stone
Type > subtype: stone.unspecified > unverified

Inscription

Layout: No data
Text condition: No data
Technique: chiselled
Pigment: No data
Lettering: No data
Letter heights: Line 1: mm
Interlinear heights: Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin: Catina
Provenance found: Found in 1766 built into the wall of Chiesa del Carmine.

Current location

Lost.

Date

Christian (CE 301 - CE 600)

Evidence: No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

The epitaph opens with the formula μνημεῖον followed by the genitive of the deceased's name (l. 1) and unfolds in a complex series of poetic images and gnomic sentences. In ll. 2-5 it is stated that endurance brings salvation, and that therefore those who aspire to eternal life must practice it. In ll. 6-9, the deceased defines himself, speaking in the first person (for which, see Agnello 1953, 79), as a sinner (l. 6 ὁ πάμπαν ἁμαρτωλός): this rarely occurs in Christian epitaphs, but other examples can be found (ICUR IV 10535, VI 16073, cf. Dresken-Weiland 2006, 308). Boniface desired to flee from this life and obtained what he desired through the intervention of justice (ll. 8-9 ἐπὶ τὴν δικαιωσύνην μεταβολήν): the concept of iustitia is rare in Christian epitaphs. In ll. 9-11 there is a final prayer for the granting of rest at the end of a senseless life (ll. 9-10 τοῦ ἀνεσθήτου βίου: the adjective ἀναίσθητος (sensless, which does not belong to the realm of the senses) is connected to death in epitaphs — cf. ἀναισθήτῳ περὶ τύμβῳ in IG VII 2543 l. 2 — whereas here it refers to earthly life, from which a respite is requested) for Boniface himself, for his wife (referred to in ll. 10-11 as "fellow servant in Christ", on the expression δοῦλος ἐν Χριστῷ, see IG XIV 442, 629), and for his mother.

Bibliography

Digital editions

Printed editions

Discussion

J. Dresken-Weiland, ‘Vorstellungen von Tod Und Jenseits in Den Frühchristlichen Grabinschriften Des 3.-6. Jhs. In Rom, Italien Und Afrika’, RQA 101 (2006): 289–312, at 308

Citation and editorial status

Editor

Jonathan Prag

Principal contributor