The Presbyters Project

laeta deo plebs sancta canat quod moenia crescûnt

et renovata domus martyri[s Ipp]oliti

ornamenta operis surgun[t autore Da]maso

natus qui antistes sedis a[postolicae]

inclita pacificis facta es[t haec aula triumphis?]

servatura decus perpetụ[amque fidem?]

haec omnia nova q(uae)q(ue) vids Le[o presby]ter ornat

(after Domenico Schiraldi, Epigraphic Database Bari EDB21709)

The joyful people praise God because the holy walls grow up and the restored ornaments of the martyr Hippolytus's house are built up by the effort of Damasus who was born to be the prelate of the Apostolic See. This great hall was constructed among peaceful triumphs to serve as the splendor to the perpetual faith. All these new things which you see, were provided by the presbyter Leo.

(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

It is uncertain whether Damasus built the whole subterranean basilica at the cemetery of Hippolytus or just monumentalized it. The inscription seems to suggest some extensive restoration and provision of new decorations for which the presbyter Leo was responsible.

Place of event:

Region

Rome

City

Rome

About the source:

Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The subterranean basilica at the cemetery of Hippolytus on the Via Tiburtina was excavated in the 1880s. Giovanni Battista de Rossi found the fragments of the inscription, written in the Damasan letters, in the pavement of the basilica. It was inscribed on the marble slab (dimensions: 45 cm x 97 x ?; letters 3,5). De Rossi fitted the fragments together and proposed completions of the text (de Rossi 1883). See also Trout 2015: 146-47.

Edition:

Ferrua, Antonio (ed), Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae, Nova Series VII, 19936

Schiraldi, Domenico, Epigraphic Database Bari, EDB-21709 (following ICUR)

Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby EDCS-40400144

Trismegistos no. 311313

Bibliography:

G. B. de Rossi, "Iscrizione storica dei tempi di Damaso papa nel cimiterio di s. Ippolito", Bullettino di archeologia cristiana 1883, 60-65

D. Trout, Damasus of Rome, the Epigraphic Poetry: Introduction, Texts, Translations, and Commentary, Oxford 2015.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR966.

Ecclesiastical administration - Construction/Renovation

PR966.

Economic status and activity - Indication of wealth

PR966.

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR966.

Devotion - Veneration of saints and relics

PR966.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2115, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2115