The Inscription of Victurinus

The Inscription of Victurinus

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
Last Quarter of the Fourth Century A.D.
Dating criteria
palaeography, onomastics

Autopsy

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

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Type
Lateral panel of the sarcophagus.
Material(s)
Limestone.
Execution
Inscribed.
Dimensions
53 × 77 cm
Epigraphic Field
53 × 77 cm
Letters Height
4-5 cm

Palaeographic comment

Dextrorse direction, horizontal alignment, vertical module, irregular ductus, left-aligned layout.

A with a broken crossbar.

E, F, and T strongly compressed laterally.

Inscribed front panel of a limestone sarcophagus
The iscription of Victurinus. Photograph courtesy of the 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

Victurinus (!), d(e) n(umero) Bataorum (!) seniorum, qui vix{s}it an(nos) p(lus) m(inus) XXXV. Em<p>ta est ei arca de proprio labore{s} suo et qui eam aṛca<m> aperire vuluerit, iure ei ṃa = nuṣ pricidentur (!) aut fisco inferat auri libra (!) uṇa (!).

APPARATUS CRITICUS

1. FL(AVIVS), Bertolini 1874a, Bertolini 1874b, CIL V 8761, ILCV 481, EDR097909 D(OMESTICVS), ILCV 481 . 3. VIXIT, Bertolini 1874a, Bertolini 1874b, CIL V 8761, ILCV 481, EDR097909 . 4. EMPTA, Lettich 1983 .

TRANSLATION

Flavius Victurinus, of the numerus of the Batavi seniores, who lived for approximately thirty-five years.

This arca was bought with his own earnings; if anyone should wish to open it, by law his hands shall be cut off, or he shall pay one (roman) pound of gold to the fiscus.

COMMENTARY

Flavius Victurinus was a soldier belonging to the Batavi seniores. He was likely a common soldier (miles), given that his specific rank is not mentioned and the pecuniary penalty stipulated in the inscription is the lowest recorded among the Batavi. The mutilatory sanction, which dictates the cutting off of a hand for anyone violating the tomb without paying a fine to the fiscus, perhaps represents a compensatory element for a monetary fine of lower value compared to those of his higher-ranking colleagues. Diehl, contrary to other editors, expands the abbreviation D N as d(omesticus) n(umerus) ( ILCV 481). However, the expansion d(e) n(umero) appears more probable, as it is a common formula in all military inscriptions at Concordia, whereas the title domesticus is usually abbreviated as DOMEST or DOMESTI in other inscriptions from the burial ground (Alatancus | Carpilio). Furthermore, following Diehl’s hypothesis, one would expect a significantly higher pecuniary penalty, such as the 5 Roman pounds of gold recorded for the burial of the domesticus Flavius Carpilio.

The cognomen Victurinus derives from Victorinus, which in turn originates from Victor. It remains unclear whether the use of U instead of O is due to a simple lapidary error, as suggested by Hoffmann (Hoffmann 1963, 42, n. 21), or if the deceased actually went by this name. The tendency to confuse the back vowels /o/ and /u/ is frequent in Late Antiquity and finds a specular reflection in the epigraph of Ursacius, where the form doas replaces the classical duas; in this digital edition, it is therefore deemed preferable to respect the spelling found on the arca, as it expresses a specific phonetic reality.

The formula plus minus, also found in the inscription of Flavius Savinus, demonstrates that several soldiers did not have a precise knowledge of their own age. This creates an interesting contrast with the burials of local civilians, where months and even days of the deceased's life were sometimes recorded with precision (Dionisia [A, B] | Marinus | Zosimus).

Unlike some of his colleagues in the Batavi, such as Flavius Launio and Ursacius, the inscription of Victurinus explicitly states that the arca was purchased by the deceased himself. This act is emphasized by the use of the passive voice and the mention of proprio labore—a term that, in a Late Roman military context, underscores the service rendered to secure the resources necessary for the burial.

The burial of Victurinus is located in close proximity to the sarcophagus of Flavius Launio, another member of the Batavi. Slightly further to the west were positioned the chests of other fellow soldiers from the same unit: Flavius Carpilio, Flavius Savinus, and Ursacius. This spatial clustering appears to confirm the existence of a strong sense of camaraderie among members of the same military contingent, who chose to be interred alongside one another.

PEOPLE

Flavius Victurinus

NOMEN
Flavius
COGNOMEN
Victurinus
GENS
Flavia
ORIGIN (of the name Victurinus)
latin
GENDER
male
OCCUPATION
soldier
RANK
miles
NUMERUS
Batavi Seniores
ROLE
dedicator/deceased

Bibliography

Bertolini 1874a, 29, n. 24.
Bertolini 1874b, 289, n. 11.
Bertolini 1875a, 108.
Bertolini 1875b, 123.
CIL V 8761
ILCV 481
Hoffmann 1963, 42, n. 21.
Lettich 1983, 84, n. 41.
EDR
EDR097909
Author of the record:
Damiana Baldassarra
Date:
26-11-2007