The Inscription of Marinus

The Inscription of Marinus

INSCRIPTION DETAILS

Findspot and Place of Origin

Country
Italy
Region
Veneto
Ancient Region
Regio X Venetia et Histria
City
Concordia Sagittaria
Ancient City

Chronology

Date of the inscription

Date
Early Fourth Century A.D.
Dating criteria
palaeography, onomastics

Autopsy

Institution
Location within museum
storage facilities
Date of observation
2024

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Type
Frontal panel of the sarcophagus.
Material(s)
Limestone.
Execution
Inscribed.
Dimensions
33 32 × 22 54 × 8 8,5 cm
Epigraphic Field
33 32 × 22 54 cm
Letters Height
4,5-5,5 cm

Palaeographic comment

Inscribed front panel of a limestone sarcophagus
The iscription of Marinus. Museo Nazionale Concordiese, Portogruaro; photo by Ortolf Harl (Ubi Erat Lupa). Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture - Regional Directorate of National Museums of Veneto. Any commercial or for-profit use of these images is strictly prohibited and must be subject to a specific authorization request to the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Veneto.

INSCRIPTION

INTERPRETATIVE TRANSCRIPTION

et Constantiạ filio dulcissimo Marino, qui vixit annos XVIII menses X, dies XXII, memo = riam dedicaverunt.

APPARATUS CRITICUS

1. FL(AVIVS), Bertolini 1874a, Bertolini 1874b, CIL V 8746, ILCV 3607, Lettich 1983, EDR097744 EXSVPERANTIVS, Bertolini 1874a, Bertolini 1874b, CIL V 8746, ILCV 3607; EXVPERANTIVS, Lettich 1983; EXSVPERANTIVS, EDR097744 XVII, EDR097744 .

TRANSLATION

COMMENTARY

The comminatory formula, typical of other inscriptions in the burial ground, is missing; in its place, the formula memoriam dedicaverunt is used.

The use of the word memoria in inscriptions is a tradition already present in the classical period and used in other inscriptions of the burial ground, such as the one dedicated to Eutherius.

According to Bertolini (Bertolini 1874a, 295-296), there may have existed in antiquity the Exsuperantia/Exuperantia family, to which Julius Exuperantius, the well-known epitomizer of Sallust (PLRE I, 321), also belonged. This family might have given rise to the Superantii, a fictitious genealogy from which the Soranzo family, part of the Venetian nobility, supposedly descended. This is certainly an erroneous conjecture: according to Kajanto, Exsuperantius was a cognomen and therefore could not refer to a gentilicium (Kajanto 1982, 277).

PEOPLE

Flavius Exsuperantius

NOMEN
Flavius
COGNOMEN
Exsuperantius
GENS
Flavia
ORIGIN (of the name Exsuperantius)
latin
GENDER
male
OCCUPATION
civilian
ROLE
dedicator
RELATIONSHIP
husband (→ Constantia)
RELATIONSHIP
father (→ Marinus)

Constantia

COGNOMEN
Constantia
ORIGIN (of the name Constantia)
latin
GENDER
female
OCCUPATION
civilian
ROLE
dedicator
RELATIONSHIP
wife (→ Flavius Exsuperantius)
RELATIONSHIP
mother (→ Marinus)

Marinus

COGNOMEN
Marinus
ORIGIN (of the name Marinus)
latin
GENDER
male
OCCUPATION
civilian
ROLE
deceased
RELATIONSHIP
son (→ Flavius Exsuperantius)
RELATIONSHIP
son (→ Constantia)

Bibliography

Bertolini 1874a, 23, nr. 8.
Bertolini 1874b, 295, nr. 25.
CIL V 8746
ILCV 3607
Lettich 1983, 101, nr. 66.
EDR
EDR097744
Author of the record:
Damiana Baldassarra
Date:
25-11-2007