Agel Perga

Annobal Rufus

2012-02-04T23:54:00.000-08:00

IMP CAESARE DIVI F AVG PONT MAX TR POT XXIV COS XIII PATRE PATR
ANNOBAL RVFVS ORNATOR PATRIAE AMATOR CONCORDIAE
FLAMEN SUFES PRAEF SACR HIMILCHONIS TAPAPI F D S P FAC COER
IDEMQ DEDICAVIT (Punic text)

Imp(eratore) Caesare Diui f(ilio) Aug(usto) pont(ifice) max(imo) tr(ibunicia) pot(estate) XXIV co(n)s(ule) XIII patre patr(iae)
Annobal Rufus ornator patriae amator concordiae
flamen sufes praef(ectus) sacr(orum) Himilchonis Tapapi f(ilius) d(e) s(ua) p(ecunia) fac(iendum) coer(auit)
idemq(ue) dedicauit

When Emperor Caesar Augustus, son of the deified (Caesar), chief priest, (was) holding tribunician power for the twenty-fourth time, consul for the thirteenth, father of the country, Annobal Rufus, adorner of his country, lover of concord, flamen, sufete, in charge of sacred things, son of Himilcho Tapapius, saw to the construction at his own expense and also dedicated it.

This inscription is from Leptis Magna in what is today western Libya, on the coast 130 miles east of Tripoli. It is significant, of course, because of the Punic language text that appears after the Latin text.

Outside the Pantheon

2011-09-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

A dedicatory stone erected in Rome in 1270 A.D.

I(n) n(omi)n(e) D(omi)ni am(en). Anno na-
tivitatis eiusdem M° C-
C° LXX° indictione XIII
me(n)se iunii die s(e)c(un)da apo-
stolica sede vacant-
e t(em)p(o)r(e) d(omi)ni Pandulphi d-
e Sebura archip(res)b(ite)ri ec-
clesie s(an)c(t)e Marie Rot-
unde et p(res)b(ite)ri Petri p(res)b-
(ite)ri Deodati Petri Barç-
ellone Romani Iaco-
bi Romani Petri Corr-
adi Pauli Ioh(ann)is Petri
et Tebaldi de Alp(er)inis
eiusdem eccl(es)ie cl(er)icis
facte fuerunt nole
et nolarium

Here is your hosts' humble conjecture:

In the Name of the Lord, Amen. In the year of
the His birth 1270, in the 13th indiction
on the 2nd day of the month of June,
the Apostolic See being vacant, in the time of Master Pandulph
of Sebura the archpriest of
the church of Santa Maria Rotunda
and the priest Peter and
priests Deodatus, Peter of Barcelona, the Roman
Jacob, the Roman Peter Corradus, Paul, John, Peter
and Tebaldus of Alperinis,
clerics of the same church,
made the bells and the bell tower.

Something I had been completely unaware of - indiction.

Regarding "indiction" from Wikipedia:

An indiction is any of the years in a 15-year cycle used to date medieval documents throughout Europe, both East and West. Each year of a cycle was numbered: first indiction, second indiction, etc. However, the cycles were not numbered, thus other information is needed to identify the specific year.When the term began to be used, it referred only to the full cycle, and individual years were referred to as being Year 1 of the indiction, Year 2 of the indiction, etc. But usage changed, and it gradually became common to talk of the 1st indiction, the 2nd indiction, and so on.Indictions originally referred to the periodic reassessment for an agricultural or land tax in late third-century Roman Egypt. .... The indiction was first used to date documents unrelated to tax collection in the mid-fourth century. By the late fourth century it was being used to date documents throughout the Mediterranean. In the Eastern Roman Empire outside of Egypt, the first day of its year was September 23, the birthday of Augustus. During the last half of the fifth century, probably 462, this shifted to September 1, where it remained throughout the rest of the Byzantine Empire. In 537 Justinian decreed that all dates must include the indiction via Novella 47, which eventually caused the Byzantine year to begin on September 1. But in the western Mediterranean, its first day was September 24 according to Bede, or the following December 25 or January 1, called the papal indiction. An indictio Senensis beginning September 8 is sometimes mentioned.

Vitalis

2011-09-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

HEIC QVIESCIT VITALIS, MOLITOR

DEPOSITVS IN PACE NATALE DOMNES

SITIRETIS

Hic quiescit Vitalis, molitor

depositus in pace natale Domnes

sitiretis.

Here rests Vitalis, a miller

buried in peace on the birthday (of the Lord)
may you thirst.

Inscriptions on Everyday Items

2011-05-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

The ancient world had no means of identification, so very frequently, owners of things they treasured would inscribe something on the item.

Here are several examples:

1. Found on a vase from Rome:

NOLI ME

TOLLERE

HELVEITI SVM

Noli me tollere:

Helvetii sum.

Don't take me:

I am Helvetius'.

2. Found on another vase in Pompeii:

EPAPHRODITI SVM TANGERE ME NOLI

Epaphroditi sum: tangere me noli.

I am Epaphroditus': don't touch me.

3. A lamp from the Esquiline Hill in Rome:

CLAVDIO • NON SVM TVA

Claudio; non sum tua!

For Claudius; I am not yours!

4. Finally, not on a small object, but written on a building:

M • IVNI • INSVLA • SVM

Marci Iuni insula sum.

I am the insula (apartment building) of Marcus Iunius.

Tene me

2011-03-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

A change of pace - this is a slave collar, usually fastened around a slave's neck, with instructions similar to what we read below:

TENEMENE

FVGIA ET REVO

CAMEADDOMNVM

EVVIVENTIVM IN

ARACALLISTI

Tene me ne

fugia[m] et revoca

me ad dom[i]nu[m] meu[m]

Viventium in

ar[e]a Callisti

Hold me lest

I flee and return

me to my master

Viventius in

the area of Callistus.

According to LaFleur, the 'area' of Callistus' has been identified as the district of the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, founded in the 3rd Century by the Bishop and Martyr Callistus.

Agape

2011-02-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

EVCHARIS EST MATER PIVS ET PATER EST [

VOS PRECOR O FRATRES ORARE HVC QVANDO VENI[

ET PRECIBVS TOTIS PATREM NATVMQVE ROGATIS

SIT VESTRAE MENTIS AGAPES CARAE MEMINISSE
VT DEVS OMNIPOTENS AGAPEN IN SAECULA SERVET

Eucharis est mater, pius et pater est [mihi Celsus].

Vos precor, O fratres, orare huc quando veni[tis]

et precibus totis Patrem Natumque rogatis:

sit vestrae mentis Agapes carae meminisse,

ut Deus omnipotens Agapen in saecula servet.

Eucharis is my mother, and my dutiful father is [Celsus].

I ask you, O brothers, to pray when you come to this place

and with all your prayers you ask the Father and the Son:

may you keep in mind dear Agape,

so that Almighty God may save Agape forever.

The upper right side of the stone having been lost, the conjecture [mihi Celsus] was added by the German scholar Franz Buchler.

"Agapes" and "Agapen" are Greek genitive and accusative singular forms of the name Agape, meaning "Love", and her mother's name, Eucharis, is also Greek, meaning "Thanksgiving".

Flaes

2011-02-12T09:01:00.000-08:00

Not all Romans were Christian or Pagan. Here is an epitaph on a marble grave marker from Naples, 4th-5th Century AD.

HIC POSITVS

EST FLAES EBR

EVS

Hic positus

est Flaes Hebraeus.

Here is buried

Flaes the Hebrew.

Chryse

2011-01-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

From a marble stone found in 1981 at Ostia, near the church of St. Aurea, a 3rd century martyr.

CHRYS[...

HIC DORM[...

Chrys[e]

hic dorm[it]

Chryse

sleeps here

Because "Aurea" mean golden in Latin, and "Chryse" means the same in Greek, some conjecture that this might have been the grave of the Saint herself.

Salvidiena Faustilla

2011-01-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

V . SALVIDIENA . Q . L . HILARA

SALVIDIENAE . FAVSTILLAE

DELICIAE . SVAE

ERVDITAE . OMNIBVS . ARTIBVS

RELIQVISTI MAMMAM TVAM

GEMENTEM . PLANGENTEM . PLORANTEM

VIX . AN . XV

MENSIB . III . DIEB. XI . HOR . VII

VIRGINEM . ERIPVIT . FATVS . MALVS

DESTITVISTI . VITILLA . MEA

MISERAM . MAMMAM . TVAM

V(iva) Salvidiena Q(uinti) l(iberta) Hilara

Salvidienae Faustulae,

deliciae suae,

eruditae omnibus artibus

reliquisti mammam tuam

gementem, plangentem, plorantem.

Vix(it) an(nis) XV,

mensib(us) III, dieb(us) XI, hor(is) VII.

Virginem eripuit Fatus malus.

Destituisti vitilla mea

miseram mammam tuam.

The living Salvidiena Hilara, freedwoman of Quintus,

(dedicates this) to Salvidiena Faustilla,

her sweetheart,

accomplished in all the arts.

You have left your Mama

grieving, mourning, weeping.

She lived 15 years,

3 months, 11 days, 7 hours.

Evil fate has stolen the maiden.

My darling, you have abandoned

your unhappy Mama.

Crescentia

2010-05-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

DOMINA BASSILA COMANDAMVS TIBI

CRESCENTIVS ET MICINA FILIA NOSTRA

CRECEN --- QVE VIXIT MEN X ET DES

Domina Bassila comandamus tibi

Crescentius et Micina filia nostra

Crecen -- quae vixit menses X et dies

We, Crescentius and Micina, commend to you,

Heavenly Queen, our daughter

Crescentia, who lived 10 months and a day.

Gentianus

2010-04-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

GENTIANVS FIDELIS IN PACE . QVI

VIXIT ANNIS XXI MENSES VIII DIES

XVI ET IN ORATIONIS TVIS

ROGES PRO NOBIS QVIA SCIMVS

TE IN XP

Genantius fidelis in pace. qui

vixit annis XXI menses VIII dies

XVI et in orationis tuis

roges pro nobis quia scimus

te in XP.

Faithful Genantius, in peace. who

lived 21 years, eight months,

16 days, and in your prayers

beseech for us, because we know

that you are in Christ.

(I used XP in the above example because I can't reproduce the Chi-Rho symbol on this keyboard).

Matronata Matuta

2010-04-22T17:17:00.000-07:00

PETE PRO PARENTES TVOS

MATRONATA MATRONA

QVE VIXIT AN. I DI. LII

Pete pro parentes tuos,

Matronata Matrona,

quae vixit annum I dies LII

Pray for your parents,

Matronata Matrona,

who lived for 1 year 52 days

Crux Gammata

2010-03-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

Which is what I'm calling this so we don't get unusual people dropping by.

Noticing the designs on the clothing of Diogenes, one cannot but think that he is wearing swastikas. I knew that the swastika predated the National Socialist Worker's Party, but I didn't know by how much, and how widespread, until I did some reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

Suffice it to say that this symbol is extremely widespread in both space and time: it appears in Asia, Europe, North America, from as early as 10,000 years ago. It is a widely used symbol in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, and by Native Americans; in all cases, as a symbol of good luck.. Here is a 1909 picture of a basketball team from the Chiloco Indian School, in Ponca City, OK.

The US 45th Infantry Division, which was made of National Guard units from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, had this as their unit's shoulder patch from the Division's creation in 1924:

WIth the growth of the Nazi Party in the 1930's, this patch was abandoned and a new one was chosen to go with the Division's nickname, the "Thunderbird" Division.

There are numerous examples of its occurrence to be found all over the world, from many periods in history.

As far as its association with the Church, here is an excerpt from the Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04517a.htm

The sign of the cross, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, greatly antedates, in both the East and the West, the introduction of Christianity. It goes back to a very remote period of human civilization. In fact, some have sought to attach to the widespread use of this sign, a real ethnographic importance. It is true that in the sign of the cross the decorative and geometrical concept, obtained by a juxtaposition of lines pleasing to the sight, is remarkably prominent; nevertheless, the cross was originally not a mere means or object of ornament, and from the earliest times had certainly another — i.e. symbolico-religious — significance. The primitive form of the cross seems to have been that of the so-called "gamma" cross (crux gammata), better known to Orientalists and students of prehistoric archæology by its Sanskrit name, swastika.

...

It is fairly common on the Christian monuments of Rome, being found on some sepulchral inscriptions, besides occurring twice, painted, on the Good Shepherd's tunic in an arcosolium in the Catacomb of St. Generosa in the Via Portuensis, and again on the tunic of the fossor Diogenes (the original epitaph is no longer extant) in the Catacomb of St. Domitilla in the Via Ardeatina. Outside of Rome it is less frequent.

Fossores

2010-02-24T12:10:00.000-08:00

Like most cultures which bury their dead the world tend to look down on those who deal with the deceased, the ancient Romans treated gravediggers as outcasts. With the advent of Christianity, that changed. Fossores or "Diggers" (from 'foedere'; 'to dig') not only dug graves, but there is evidence that they decorated and painted them as well. In fact, several sources name 'fossores' as one of the minor orders of clerics. There is also evidence that part of their duty was to exclude outsiders from Eucharistic celebrations held in the catacombs or in Christian cemetaries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravedigger#Fossors

The drawing of the fossor Diogenes was badly damaged in the attempt to remove it from the wall on which it was drawn, but we have this sketch of its appearance. He stands with the tools of his trade; a pick, a staff, and a light, as well as a sack lunch. We will examine the symbols on his clothes in our next post.

Diogenes Fossor

2010-02-21T23:32:00.000-08:00

DIOGENES FOSSOR IN PACE DEPOSITVS

OCTABV KALENDAS OCTOBRIS

Diogenes fossor in pace depositus

octabus Kalendas Octobris

Diogenes, a 'digger', buried in peace

on the eighth day before the Kalends of October (Sept 24)

What did the angels really say on the first Christmas? Part 3

2010-02-18T12:47:00.000-08:00

This is a scan of the page which contains Luke 2, 8-14. Verse 14 at the bottom is the verse in question, which I transliterated in my previous post as "Doxa en hypsistois theo kai epi geis eireinei en anthropois eudokia(s)."

Below the Greek text is what is called the 'Critical Apparatus'. This indicates to scholars what parts of the text have differing words or spellings than what is printed above in the 'official' text. It also indicates where these variations come from, and give an editorial judgement, consisting of a grade which can range from 'A' (most realiable) through 'D' (least reliable) on how reliable our 'official' reading is.

For example, in verse 11 the words "Christos kyrios" appear as part of the sentence "is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord". Most of the manuscripts of Luke say "Christos kyrios", as indicated by the letters and numbers which follow that Greek phrase in the note. Each letter or number stands for a manuscript or collection which has this Gospel (most of these manuscripts go back to the 4th-6th centuries AD, although some are later). After that, the note tells us that the readings "kyrios Christos", "Christos kyriou", "Christos Iesus", "Christos Iesus kyrios", "Christos Soter", and "Christos" appear in this verse in one or more other manuscripts, but based on the editors' judgement, "Christos kyrios" is the correct reading, and so, while they list the variants, they assign the "Christos kyrios" reading a grade of 'A' , based on the editors' knowledge, judgement, and the evidence of the texts.

We see that the reading of "en anthropois eudokias" (among men of good will), is assigned a 'B', meaning that scholars are pretty sure that this is the correct original reading, but not enough to assign an 'A'. You can tell that there is quite a variation in this verse by just looking at the numbers of manuscripts that have different readings.

By the way, Luke F. pointed out to me that the earliest complete manuscript we have of the Bible, including the entire New Testament, is now online for viewing at http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/ (this manuscript is represented in the Critical Apparatus above by the Hebrew letter Aleph). So go over there and take a look at Luke 2, verse 14, and see what you think!

Colloquium XIX - June 2009

2010-01-27T15:29:00.000-08:00

SACRED, BEAUTIFUL, & UNIVERSAL: Colloquium XIX from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Sorry for the hiatus

2010-01-22T20:09:00.001-08:00

I've been very sick. Hope to be energetic again soon.

What did the Angels really say on the first Christmas? Part II

2010-01-12T07:23:00.000-08:00

The original Greek text of Luke 2:14 is transliterated into the Roman alphabet as follows:

Doxa en hypsistois Theo, kai epi geis eireinei en anthropois eudokia[s].

The brackets around the final letter s (sigma in Greek) are the key to this mystery. Why are they there?

Before going into that, let's look at the Greek. Literally, word by word: "Glory in the highest to God, and peace on earth among men good thought". OK, I fudged on the last word. "Eudokia" is a compound word made of "eu", an extremely common word meaning "good" or "well", and "dokia", which means "thought" or "opinion".

Therefore "eudokia" means either "thinking well of someone else" or "being well thought of", depending on the context. The bracketed sigma means that some manuscripts have the sigma, and others don't. How would that affect the meaning?

If the sigma is there, then "eudokias" is a genitive singular form of the noun, which would refer to another noun in the phrase: "men of good thought toward others". This is how St. Jerome translated it: "bonae voluntatis" "of good will".

If the sigma is not there, then "eudokia" is the nominative singular, which means it is the subject, and this is where we get the translation "good will toward men".

What about "to those on whom His favor rests"? I'm guessing here, but I think that depends on the interpretation of "eudokias" as "being well thought of" instead of "thinking well of someone else". "Peace on earth to men who are well thought of" (by God); hence "peace on earth to men on whom His favor rests".

So, is the sigma there or not? That will be the subject of the next post.

What did the Angels really say on the first Christmas? Part I

2010-01-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

The Gospel for Midnight Mass (Luke 2:1-14) ends thus: "and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and singing". followed by verse 14.

Here are three translations of that verse. See if you can spot the differences:

Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.(Douay-Rhiems)

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (King James)

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.(New International Version)

When I was a wee lad sitting in the pews during the Great Chaos (otherwise known as the 1960's), this was a verse so widely known that it even appeared on network TV (A Charlie Brown Christmas), and I would hear these differences and wonder, "What does it really say?" This was what impelled me, eventually, to study Greek so that I could find out for myself.

First, of all, let's look at the Latin translation of the original Greek:

Gloria in altissimis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.

Pretty straightforward, although we have 'in altissimis' instead of 'in excelsis' from the Gloria in the Mass (the meaning is basically the same: "in the highest"). Then we have the phrase "pax hominibus bonae voluntatis". "Bonae voluntatis" must be the genitive singular case. So, according to the Latin, we would come down in favor of "on earth peace to men (dative plural) of good will", which is what Douay-Rhiems has.

This would make a nice parallel in the construction: A (glory) in B (the highest) to C (God), and X (peace) in Y (earth) to Z (men). This makes "bonae voluntatis" look like an extraneous addition, though, and where did those other two translations come from? How could something as simple as "hominibus bonae voluntatis" come out as "good will toward men"? It would have to be something like "et in terra pax, hominibus bona voluntas". And where in the world does "on whom his favor rests" come from?

We'll examine that in the next post.

Spelling changes..or doesn't

2010-01-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

In the inscription for Ruta, one thing which we have seen before is the tendency to replace "v" with "b": using "bibet" instead of "vivet" - "she will live". We see this in Spanish.

Another curiousity is the fact that we have the adjective "affabilis" spelled "atfabilis", which means, literally, "can ('abilis') be spoken ('fa') to ('at') ". We have words derived from the same roots: affable, 'that which can be spoken to', hence, 'easy' to speak to', 'approachable', and ineffable, 'that which cannot be spoken of' .

What is the "at-" prefix, though? This is a relic, because the "af-" of "fabilis" was originally "ad-", so this word would have been spelled "adfabilis". "Ad" is familiar as a regular preposition and prefix in Latin meaning 'to' or 'toward', and, as a prefix, frequently changes its spelling to assimilate (ad-similate) to the word it was being attached (ad-tached) to. So, ad + fxxxx gives us affxxxx. In this word, however, the 'ad-' prefix, rather than assimiliating to 'af-', merely softened from a 'd' to a 't'. Its persistence reminds us of its genesis and original spelling.

Ruta

2010-01-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

RVTA OMNIBVS SVBDITA ET ATFABI-

LIS BIBET IN NOMINE PETRI

IN PACE

Ruta omnibus subdita et affabilis

vivet in nomine Petri

in pace

Ruta, subject to and easily spoken to by all

will live in the name of Peter

in peace.

Notes on Exuperantia

2009-12-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

In the last line of the previous inscription, the letters "P.M." appear. I'm not familiar with what this abbreviation means, exactly. The German in the book in which this appears seems to translate this as "ungefahr", which, as far as I can figure out, means "not dangerously", so I translated it as "safely".

Anyone out there knowledge on German, or what the "P.M." might actually stand for?

Exuperantia

2009-12-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

† EXVPERANTIA D. XV. KL. SEPT.

HIC DEPOSITA EST IN PACE ROME, QVAE

BIXIT P. M. MENSES III.

† Exuperantia Dies XV. Kalendas Septembris

Hic Depostia Est In Pace Romae, Quae

vixit P. M. Menses III.

Exuperantia was buried here at Rome in peace

on the 15th day of the Kalends of September.

She lived safely for 3 months.

(p. 34)

Januarius

2009-12-19T10:13:00.000-08:00

IANVARIO DIGNO FILIO

PARENTES FECERVNT,

QVI VIXIT ANNIS VI

QVIESCIT IN PACE AETERNA

Ianuario digno filio

parentes fecerunt,

qui vixit annis VI

quiescit in aeterna

For Januarius, their worthy son,

his parents made (this monument),

who lived for six years.

He rests in everlasting peace.

(p.245)

What is a neophyte?

2009-12-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

Neophyte (neophytoi, the newly planted, i.e. incorporated with the mystic Body of Christ), a term applied in theology to all those who have lately entered upon a new and higher state or condition of life, e.g. those who have begun the ecclesiastical life, or have joined a religious order. More particularly is it used of those who, lately converted from heathenism, have by the sacrament of Baptism, been transplanted into the higher life of the Church.

From The Catholic Encyclopedia.

Flavia Jovina

2009-12-11T23:24:00.000-08:00

FL. IOVINA , QVAE VIXIT

ANNIS TRIBUS D. XXXII DEPOS

NEOFITA IN PACE XI CAL. OCTOB.

Flavia Jovina, quae vixit

annis tribus dies XXXII depos(ita)

neofita in pace XI Cal. Octob.

Flavia Jovina, who lived

three years 32 days, buried

a neophyte in peace the 11th of the Kalends of October.

(p. 290)

The original St. Peter's Basilica

2009-12-08T00:58:00.000-08:00

Most people are probably not aware of the fact that the present St. Peter's is not the original church, but was built on the site of a church which was planned and begun by Constantine in 330 AD and which stood for almost 1200 years until the present basilica was built from 1506 to 1626.

At left is a drawing of the nave of Old St. Peter's. The nave was 340 feet long, and had two aisles on either side, much like the Mission San Juan Bautista. For comparison, the current St. Peter's is 730 feet long.

Here is the outer facade of Old St. Peter's. Its asymmetrical design is only one of the things that appear odd to us who are used to Bramante, Michaelangleo, and Bernini's designs. There was also a large colonnaded atrium between the outer and inner facades.

At left is the inner facade, which one would face after entering through the outer facade pictured above.

Finally, below is a diagram showing the original location of Nero's Circus (green), the location of Old St. Peter's (brown), and the current Basilica with buildings of the present (gray). The reason why the basilicas are slightly offset from where the circus was, and where St. Peter was crucified, is explained in GREAT detail at saintpetersbasilica.org

There is a wealth of material available about the original site of St. Peter's death, how early Christians kept the relics of the Apostle during the first 3 centuries, and how the site was treated and eventually selected and prepared for the construction of the basilica after the accession of Constantine as Emperor and his proclamation of Christianity as the Empire's official religion.

The length of a life

2009-11-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

Many of the inscriptions in the catacombs and cemetaries of the first Christians in Rome relate the exact number of years, months, and days which a person lived, and many of them also specifiy the day on which they died, but none mention the person's birthday. Clearly they knew they knew the 'real' birthday, but they simply do not mention it. However, the inscriptions do frequently speak of the day on which they died as the day on which they were "born in peace", or something similar.

Severius

2009-11-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

SEVERIO FILIO DVL

CISSIMO LAURENTIVS PATER

BENEMERENTI QVI BI

XIT ANN. IIII ME VIII DIES V

ACCERSITVS AB ANGELIS VII IDVS IANVA.

Severio Filio Dulcissimo

Laurentius Pater

Benemerenti qui vixit

Annos IIII Menses VIII Dies V

Accersitus ab angelis VII Idus Ianua.

For Severius, most sweet

and well deserving son, from

your father Laurentius.

You lived four years, eight months, 5 days.

Summoned by angels on the seventh of the Ides of January

(p. 156)

A Consular Anecdote

2009-11-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

In 59 BC Julius Caesar and Marcus Bibulus were elected consuls. Caesar tried to bring forward legislation that would redistribute lands to the poor, and when the opponents of the measure objected, Pompey (who was part of the informal Triumvirate with Caesar and Crassus which actually made the decisions) filled the streets of Rome with his soldiers. Bibulus tried to block the measure, but he was physcially assaulted and withdrew to his house for the rest of the year, proclaiming the legislation void because of bad omens. Wags referred to the year as that of "the consulship of Julius and Caesar".

Consuls and Years

2009-11-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

How did the Romans keep track of years? Formally, they dated events ab urbe condita, from the founding of the city, which was traditionally 753 BC. But in practical terms, people generally referred to the year by the two consuls for that year: "during the consulship of Scipio and Crassus", for example. Roman magistrates were elected to one year terms, and although it was not unheard of for a man to be elected to the same post, it very seldom happened, so it was easy for people to refer to the year by the names of the consuls. The closest modern analogy is probably when we refer to something that happened "during the Reagan administration", or on a personal level, "that was the year we got married".

Consuls were the chief executives of the Roman Republic. There were two of them because the Romans hated autocrats, and did not want absolute power in the hands of one man: history proved that they were right to do so. Many postitions in the Roman state (governors of provinces or commanders of armies, for example) were only filled by ex-consuls (or ex-praetors, who were one step below the consuls in the hierarchy of Roman magistrates). Even during the Empire the consulships were still filled annually, because the bureaucracy of the Roman state required officials to run it.

This particular inscription can be dated to the year 291 AD because we have lists of all the consuls for each year of the Republic and the Empire from 509 BC up until the middle of the 6th century AD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_Consuls

Cervonia Silvana

2009-11-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

EX VIRGINIO TVO BEN

E MECO VIXISTI LIBENI C

ONIVGA INNOCENTISSI

MA CERVONIA SILVANA

REFRIGERA CVM SPIRITA

SANCTA DEP KAL APR. TIBERI

ANO II ET DIONI COSS.

Ex virginio tuo bene

mecum vixisti libeni

coniuga innocentissima

Cervonia Silvana

refrigera cum Spirita

Sancta dep Kal Apr.

Tiberiano II et Dioni Coss.

From your girlhood you

lived a good life willingly with me, my most innocent

wife Cervonia Silvana!

May you find refreshment with the Holy

Spirit! Buried on the Kalends of April

in the Consulship of Tiberianus (his second)

and Dio.

(p. 259)

Roman months

2009-11-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

I hinted yesterday about the names of the months and their relation to their place in the calendar. The Roman calendar originally began with the month of March, so the months of September, October, November, and December all betray their origin in their name (Septem=Seven, Octo=Eight, Novem=Nine, and Decem=Ten). Also, before the Empire, the names for July and August were Quintilis (Quinque=Five) and Sextilis (Sex=Six). They were renamed for the first two Roman emperors, Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar.

Another indication that the year used to begin in March is that the month for adding extra days to keep the calendar in line with the sun, and which to this day we use to add a day for leap year, is the month at the 'end' of the calendar: February. (The Romans, prior to Julius Caesar's reform of the calendar, used to add a month at a time in the middle of February to keep the clanedar and the sun in synch).

The Roman Calendar

2009-11-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

The 'Mercurius' inscription refers to the Ides of February. Most of us have heard of the Ides of March from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", when the seer tells Caesar to beware the Ides of March. But what were the Ides? and how did the Romans tell what day it was?

First off, we inherited our months from the the Romans, so the names of the months are the same as theirs, even down to the clue that the first month of the year was not January (Septem, Octo, Novem, Decem). The Romans did not use weeks, however, but referred to three days in each month by name: the Ides, the Nones, and the Kalends. The Kalends (from which we get 'calendar') was the first day of the month; the Nones was the 7th, and the Ides the 13th. Ah ha!, you say, but the Ides of March is March 15th! That's true; for March, May, July, and October, the Nones fell on the 9th and the Ides on the 15th. These three days were used for market days, interest calculations, and legal proceedings.

The strangest thing about the Roman calendar to modern eyes, though, is how they counted the days. We count forward from the first day of the month; e.g., the 2nd of December, the 25th of May, etc. The Romans counted forward to the next named day of the calendar. So , for example, since May 10th is six days before May 15th (counting both the beginning and ending date, which they did), them May 10th was known as the 6th day before the Ides of May. Today, November 16 in modern reckoning, is the 16th day before the Kalends of December.

This calendar had developed in the very first days under the Etruscans, when Rome was still a country village, and so the reason for counting like this was that, as an agrarian society, they had no need to know how many days had passed since the last market day; they did, however, have a vital interest in knowing when they had to get their produce to the forum for the next market day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar

Mercurius

2009-11-13T00:07:00.000-08:00

PARENTES FILIO MERCVRIO

FECERVNT QVI VIXIT ANN.

V. ET MESES VIII. NATVS IN

PACE IDVS FEBRV.

Parentes filio Mercurio

fecerunt qui vixit ann.

V et menses VIII. Natus in

pace Idus Febru.

The parents made this (monument) for

their son Mercurius, who lived for

5 years and 8 months. He was born into

peace on the Ides of February. (Feb. 13)

(p. 250)

Ichthys

2009-11-10T00:08:00.000-08:00

In my previous post, I typed the final word of the inscription as "IXQYS". This represents the Greek word for "fish", which is transliterated as "ichthys", and was used by early Christians as a code word (and symbol) to identify each other.

Because the blogging software does not allow me to use characters of the Greek alphabet, I substituted the letter Q for the Greek letter Theta, which looks somewhat similar. (BTW, if anyone knows how I might get around this restriction, please let me know).

Here is a scanned document which shows the Greek text of the word, and what each letter represents:

So the inscription for Caecilia Placida could have been a regular funerary inscription, except for the inclusion of the final word.

Caecilia Placida

2009-11-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

CECILIUS.MARITVS.CECILIAE

PLACIDAE.COIVGI.OPTIMAE

MEMORIAE.CVM.QVA.VIXI.ANNIS.X.

BENE.SENE.ULLA.QVERELLA. IXQYS.

Caecilius maritus Caeciliae

Placidae coniugi optimae

memoriae cum qua vixi annis X

bene sine ulla querella. IXQYS

Caecilius, husband, to the memory

of his best wife, Caecilia Placida,

with whom I lived well for 10 years

without any complaint. ICHTYS

(p. 343)

Spelling and language change

2009-11-03T10:52:00.000-08:00

The previous entry, although very short, is rich with examples of how spelling can show us pronunciation from a vantage of almost 2000 years.

Agape: This is the Latin transliteration of a Greek word which means 'love'. This is probably a name, although it could also be an affectionate term of endearment. The spelling shows us that the Greek letter Eta was pronounced like the Latin letter 'e'.

vibes: in 'correct' Latin, this would be 'vives', the second person singular of the future indicative ("you will live"). The alternation of 'v' and 'b' here shows that, even in the first two centuries AD, the trend of pronouncing these letters as they are in Spanish today was already current. We will see many more examples of this, and explore it further.

eternum: usually spelled 'aeternum', this shows us another trend. Historically, the 'ae' diphthong was originally spelled 'ai' and was pronounced as the English word 'eye'. One of our oldest existing records of written Latin is a bronze tablet from the year 186 BC, which records a decree of the Roman Senate concerning the 'Bacchanalia' ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senatus_consultum_de_Bacchanalibus ). This decree changes from 'ai' to 'ae' in the same phrase ('apud aedem Bellonai'). Later, the pronunciation of 'ae' softened from 'eye' to English 'ay' as in 'hooray'. Since this was roughly the same as the pronunciation of the Latin long 'e', we see that, as in this inscription, the spelling reflected that 'confusion'.

Agape

2009-11-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

AGAPE, VIBES IN ETERNUM

Agape, you will live forever

(p. 280)

2009-10-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

As I look at the posts I've made thus far, I realize they've been almost completely historical and linguistic. That's fine, but I don't want to lose sight of the fact that these inscriptions, which are overwhemlingly taken from the catacombs and cemetaries of Rome before Constantine, testify to the faith of people who expereinced something that, God willing, we never will: imprisonment, torture, and death for acknowledging our faith. They had no idea how long the persecutions would last - they might have gone on forever - but these our ancestors kept their families in the Faith, and besides the Church and our Traditions, these monuments and inscriptions are tangible evidence of that.

And to add one linguistic note, the word 'marytr' comes from a Greek word which means 'to testify to'; 'to bear witness to'. It's an ordinary legal term which was appropriated to dignify what the Martyrs were doing with their very lives.

Spelling 'vixit'

2009-10-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

I mentioned the fluidity of spelling and pronunciation yesterday reagarding 'sebete'. In my very first post (Hic requiescit..), the normal word for "she lived", "Vixit", is spelled "viscit".

There are several possible reasons for this, but the first thing to be aware of is that 'x' is a double consonant. Even in English, it's a combination of 'k' and 's', so the Romans could, and did, sometimes spell 'vixit' as 'vicsit'. The first possible explanation for 'viscit', then, is simple error: the person making the inscription transposed the 'c' and the 's'. Much the same thing happens today when native speakers of English say "I want to aks you a question", or when they refer to the 'little star' as an 'asteriks'.

Another possiblilty is that the pronunciation of the 'x' in 'vixit' had started to change. We will soon see that the 'v' is spelled as both 'v' and 'b' in inscriptions (sometimes both in the same inscription). So perhaps the 'ks' sound is already starting to morph into its Spanish, French, and Italian descendants.

Alexamenos worships God

2009-10-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

This graffito was discovered in 1857 during excavations of the Palatine Hill. It has become justly famous as one of the earliest depictions (and caricatures) of a Christian worshipping Christ crucified. For details, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexamenos_graffito

The Greek text printed above has caused some discussion, with some scholars debating how the imperative plural (sebete) could be used for the third person singular indicative (sebetai). D'oh!! I can think of two off the top of my head: spelling and pronunciation were fluid (as we will see in further inscriptions to come); whoever did this was mocking Christians, so he might have been mocking their language skills at the same time.

In more familiar text....

2009-10-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

the previous inscription would appear thus

Anatolius filio bene merenti fecit
qui vixit annis VI mensis VII diebus XXI.
Spiritus tuus bene requiescat in Deo.
Petas pro sorore tua.

Anatolius for his son

2009-10-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

ANATOLIVS FILIO BENEMERENTI FECIT

QVI VIXIT ANNIS VI MENSIS VII DIEBVS

XXI. SPIRITVS TVVS BENE REQVIES

CAT IN DEO. PETAS PRO SORORE TVA.

Anatolius made this (monument) for his well-deserving son

who lived for 6 years 7 months 21 days.

May your spirit rest well in God.

Pray for your sister.

Latin notes

2009-10-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

First of all, the most obvious thing that someone with knowledge of Latin will notice is that all the instances of the letter "u" are written as "V". That's because there was only one letter that filled both the niche of a consonant sounding like "w" and as a vowel sounding like our modern vowel "u" (pronounced "oo" as in "moon"). The consonantal "u" later changed to the sound of our English "v", but during the Classical Period of Latin, "Veni, vidi, vici" was pronounced "waynee, weedy, wicky". So "V" was used to write both letters, especially in inscriptions, for many centuries after the Birth of Christ.

Some Linguistic Notes

2009-10-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

After posting an inscription and its translation, I will add some notes regarding the language of the inscription. There are many Latin, Greek, and mixed language inscriptions, and because many of these were written by people who were not the best educated of the time, idiosyncrasies creep in. Also, those who study the classical languages today focus on the literature which has come down to us, and is normally used as an exemplar of grammar and style. Many of these early Christians may never have heard of, much less read, the Orations of Cicero. They wrote as they spoke, and that in itself is an invaluable piece of evidence.

Hic Requiescit.......

2009-10-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

The name of the blog is taken from an inscription which reads:

HIC REQVIESCIT IN SOPNO PACIS
AGEL PERGA ANCILLA CHRISTI
QUAE VISCIT AN.PL. M. XVIII
CREDO DEVM PATREM
CREDO DEVM FILIVM
CREDO DM SPIRITUM
SANTV CREDO Q. NOBISSIMO
DIE RESVRGAM.

Here rests in the sleep of peace
Agel Perga, Servant of Christ
Who lived almost 18 years
I believe in God the Father
I believe in God the Son
I believe in God the Holy Spirit
I believe that I will rise again
on the latest day.