How to Cite

Felle, Antonio Enrico: Paesaggi epigrafici nelle necropoli della Roma tardoantica: Alcuni casi esemplari per una ‘epigrafia archeologica’, in Ardeleanu, Stefan and Cubas Díaz, Jon C. (Eds.): Funerary Landscapes of the Late Antique “oecumene”: Contextualizing Epigraphic and Archeological Evidence of Mortuary Practices. Proceedings of an International Conference in Heidelberg, May 30–June 1, 2019, Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2023 (Cultural Heritage: Materiality—Text—Edition (KEMTE), Volume 3), p. 407–428. https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.1176.c16242

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Identifiers (Book)

ISBN 978-3-96822-211-0 (PDF)
ISBN 978-3-96822-210-3 (Hardcover)

Published

06/07/2023

Authors

Antonio Enrico Felle

Paesaggi epigrafici nelle necropoli della Roma tardoantica

Alcuni casi esemplari per una ‘epigrafia archeologica’

Abstract Of the inscriptions in the catacombs of Rome, a large majority still exists in its original context. This offers an exceptional opportunity to consider all character­istics of these ‘written monuments’ (material composition, execution techniques, writing types, textual content and the presence of images) in relation to their re­spective contexts. The amount and quality of the inscriptions (not exclusively epitaphs: also funerary graffiti and Damasus’ elogia martyrum) define different ‘epi­graphic landscapes’ within the catacombs, that obviously change along their longue durée, from the very beginnings (in the last decades of 2nd c. AD) to the last burials (in the 5th c. AD).

The case-study considered here is the epigraphic dossier of the Domitilla catacomb, the largest funerary complex in the suburbium of Rome in Late Antiquity. Its quantitatively and qualitatively rich ‘epigraphic landscape’ could offer new in­sights into the history and development of the catacomb, but also help to investi­gate the actual management of a Christian collective and/or communitarian funer­ary complex in Late Antique Rome.

Keywords Late Antique Rome, Christian Catacombs, Epigraphy by Christians, Epigraphic Archaeology