Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 2025
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Funerary inscription of the Archpresbyter Adeodatus of Nola, buried near the tomb of St Felix in Cimitile (Southern Italy), late 5th/6th c.
Adeodatus, indignus archipresviter s̅(an)c̅(ta)e̅ N̅o̅l̅(anae) e̅c̅c̅l̅(esiae), requiescit hic
Dilectus a D̅(e)o̅ et hominibus in sacerdotium.
Erat enim in sermone verax, in iudicio iustus, in commisso fidelis,
Omnia in se abuit, que X̅P̅S̅ amavit, fidem caritatem et cetera,
Dulcis et benesuadus in versibus suis semper.
Atduxit munera quopiosa, quando ingressus est in s̅(an)c̅(tu)m̅ Felicem,
Tempore quo nullus fuit pretiosior illo sacerdos.
Vixit cunctis diebus vite sue ante ordinatione an̅n̅(is) XXX,
Sedet sacerdotali ordine an̅n̅(os) L
et de̅p̅(ositus) est.
 
(ed. G. Camodeca following CIL,Epigraphic Database Roa, no. EDR141377)
Here reposes the unworthy Adeodatus, the archpresbyter of the holy Church of Nola,
beloved by God and the people in priesthood.
He was true in his speech, just in judgement, and faithful in charges.
He had in himself all that Christ beloved: faith, charity and so on.
His words were always sweet and full of counsel.
When he came to holy Felix he brought with him generous offerings.
In that time no priest was regarded better than him.
He lived 30 years  before his ordination,
he sat in the priestly order for fifty years,
and was buried.
 
(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

The funerary inscription, written in a metric acrostych (the first letters of every line form together the name Adeodatus), is placed on the external wall of the quadriportico around the tomb of St Felix in Cimitile near Nola in Campania (Southern Italy; see Cult of Saints E04768) The epitaph was put on the 3rd century sarcophagus with the scene of Selene and Endymion. The inscription is dated to the late 5th/6th century (PCBE) or 6th/early 7th century by Camodeca on the basis of the formulas used and the font. Adeodatus should not to be confounded with the bishop of Nola, Deodatus, as results from his late (twelfth-century) life (Biblioteca Hagiographica Latina 2135).

Place of event:

Region
  • Italy south of Rome and Sicily
City
  • Nola

About the source:

Origin: Nola (Italy south of Rome and Sicily)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
Edition:
Epigraphik Datenbank Clauss/Slaby no. EDCS-11500295 (illustration)
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum 10, 1365.
E. Diehl (ed.), Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres, vol. 1, ed. 2., Berlin 1961, no. 1123.
Carmina Latina Epigraphica, hrsg. v. F. Bücheler - E. Lommatzsch, Leipzig 1930, no. 747.
M. T. Sblendorio Cugusi, Epigraphica, 75, 2013, p. 251-269 (Information in Année épigraphique 2013, no. 295)
C. Ebanista, Et manet in mediis quasi gemma intersita tectis. La basilica di S. Felice a Cimitile. Storia degli scavi, fasi edilizie, reperti, Napoli 2003, p. 173 sg., 383 sg.
Epigraphic Database Roma, no.  EDR141377.
Bibliography:
PCBE Italie 1: Adeodatus 13.
A. Ferrua, "Leo e Lupinus vescovi di Nola", Vetera christianorum 11 (1974), 97-110.

Categories:

Burial/Funerary inscription
Functions within the Church - Archpresbyter
Administration of justice - Administration of justice
Economic status and activity - Indication of wealth
Economic status and activity - Gift
Reverenced by
Writing activity
Devotion - Veneration of saints and relics
Pastoral activity - Preaching
Public functions and offices after ordination - Public trustee/Mediator
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2025, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2025