The Inscription of Peregrina

The Inscription of Peregrina

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
First Half of the Fourth Century A.D.
Dating criteria
palaeography, onomastics

Autopsy

Institution
Location within museum
set into a low wall in the right nave
Date of observation
2024

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Type
Frontal tablet of the sarcophagus.
Material(s)
Limestone.
Execution
Inscribed.
Dimensions
41 × 113.5 cm
Epigraphic Field
32 × 96 cm
Letters Height
4.5-5 cm

Palaeographic comment

Dextrograde direction, horizontal layout, vertical module, ductus regular, no punctuation, shallow incision, alignment to the left.

A with slightly oblique crossbar, ascending to the right.

B laterally compressed.

E laterally compressed with short arms.

M sometimes with oblique lateral strokes (line 3).

N sometimes with oblique lateral strokes (line 4).

P with high bowl, occupying almost the entire body of the letter.

R with high bowl, short leg, and shallow stroke.

Q wide and rounded, with the tail contained within the body of the letter.

Inscribed front panel of a limestone sarcophagus
The iscription of Peregrina. 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

Peregrina, arcam ex pro = prio suo conparavit (!), in qua se poni praecepit adque <litteras> nominis sui conscribi iussit.

APPARATUS CRITICUS

1. VATERIA, Bertolini 1874a; VALERIA, CIL V 8774, ILCV 849, Lettich 1983 . 3. Bertolini 1874a, Bertolini 1874b, CIL V 8774, ILCV 849 .

TRANSLATION

Valeria Peregrina purchased the arca with her own funds, in which she ordered to be placed and instructed that (the letters?) of her name be inscribed.

COMMENTARY

Lettich doubts that peregrina is an adjective, since if Valeria had been a foreigner, she would probably have specified her place of origin; moreover, already in the early Imperial period there existed a freedwoman named Peregrina(SupplIt 414; Lettich 1994, 139.).

It is unclear whether a term governing the genitive nominis / sui is missing; Lettich suggests litteras, but the lack of examples of a similar formula in the Concordian inscriptions makes it impossible to emend the inscription.

PEOPLE

Valeria Peregrina

NOMEN
Valeria
COGNOMEN
Peregrina
GENS
Valeria
ORIGIN (of the name Peregrina)
latin
GENDER
female
OCCUPATION
civilian
ROLE
dedicator/deceased

Bibliography

Bertolini 1874a, 23, nr. 7.
Bertolini 1874b, 293, nr. 17.
CIL V 8774
ILCV 849
Lettich 1983, 105, nr. 76.
EDR
EDR097922
Author of the record:
Damiana Baldassarra
Date:
29-11-2007