ISic001649: Funerary inscription for Zosime

I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana
ID
ISic001649
Language
Latin
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

Physical description

Support

Description
No data
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 23.4 cm, width: 31.6 cm, depth: 3.2-3.8 cm

Inscription

Layout
No data
Text condition
No data
Letter heights
Line 1: 14-29mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: not measured

Provenance

Place of origin
Catina
Provenance found
One of several inscriptions found c.1930 in Via Androne (prop. Calderaro) during building works.

Current location

Place
Catania, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico di Catania , 531
Autopsy
Display, Voci di pietra no.28
Map

Date

345 CE (AD 345 – AD 345)
Evidence
internal-date

Text type

funerary

commentary

This is one of relatively few Christian epitaphs in Latin from Catania. The name Zosime is a common Greek one, found several times in eastern Sicily. Giving a date by referring to the consuls in office during that year reflects standard Roman dating practice, but giving the precise date of death in a funerary inscription is a distinctive feature of Christian funerary epigraphy, and this is one of the earliest Sicilian examples to use a consular date. The misspelling of vixit as bixsit reflects a common confusion of ‘B’ and ‘V’ (due to a merging of the sound represented by each letter in Latin). This is more common in southern than northern Italy, and in this case may well represent the influence of Greek (where use of β for a Latin V is commonplace; see no.24).

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
1/19/2021