Epitaph of Festus

Epitaph of Festus

Reference CIL II2/7, 389 | Description | Lyrics | Location | Chronology | Epigraphic edition | Translation | Apparatus | Comentary | Type of verse | Text divided into verses and metric signs | Images | Bibliography | Link to DB | Author |

Epitaph of Festus

Description

  • Idno filename 22/01/0079
  • Type of inscription: Sepulcralis
  • Material Description: Fragment of a block of dark-grey, almost black, marble with white veins.
  • Conservation status: Broken on the left; set into a wall.
  • Dimensions height/width/depth (cm): 26.5/116/4.5
  • Epigraphic field:
    • Layout: Good "ordinatio". The fragment contains two texts in different columns; of the left-hand column there remain, at most, 12 letters. Triangular interpuncts. In both texts, each line contains a verse.     
  • Preserved

Lyrics

  • Font:Libraria
  • Letter size:3,5/4 cm

Location

  • Place of discovery: Found in Córdoba in 1970, in the restaurant “El caballo rojo”.
  • Geolocation
    •
  • Conservation location: It is still preserved in one of the patios of the restaurant "El caballo rojo".
  • Location with Modern Nomenclature España / Córdoba
  • Location with Old Nomenclature Hispania / Baetica / Cordubensis / Corduba

Chronology

  • Inscription's dating: Between year 170 and year 230
  • Dating explanation: Dated between the end of the 2nd c. and the beginning of the 3rd c. because of the shape of the letters and the phonetic (not orthographic) monophthongisation of the diphthong AE into a short E.

Type of verse

  • Type of verse: Dactílico (hexámetro)
  • Verse/line correspondence: Si
  • Prose/verse distinction: No

Epigraphic edition

a) [‑ ‑ ‑n]overat unum

[‑ ‑ ‑]t ▴ et ▴ pia nutrix

[‑ ‑ ‑c]oepit ▴ et ▴ unus ·▴

[‑ ‑ ‑]a ▴ fiant

5       [‑ ‑ ‑]ṃater ▴ habebit

b) sum genere Macedon ▴ set in arvis Baeticae partus

quintus ▴ post ▴ dec˹i˺mum ▴ revolutus ▴ fugerat annus

et ▴ iam ·▴ iamque viro ▴ toga se sociare parabat

deficiunt fata totus labor excidit hora

10    hic ego sum positus festus ▴ de nomine ▴ Festi

Text divided into verses and metric signs

a)[ln|ln|ln|ln|n]overat unum.

[ln|ln|ln|l]t et pia nutrix.

[ln|ln|ln|ln|-]coepit, et unus.

[ln|ln|ln|ln|lk]a fiant.

5       [ln|ln|ln|ln|]mater habebit.                          

b) Sum genere Macedon, set in arvis Baeticae partus. lww|w/ww|l/ww|ll|lwl|lx

quintus post decimum revolutus fugerat annus,       ll|l/ww|l/ww|ll|lww|lx

et iam iamque viro toga se sociare parabat.             ll|lww|l/ww|l/ww|lww|lx

deficiunt fata, totus labor excidit hora.                   lww|l/l|w/l|l/ww|lww|lx

10    hic ego sum positus, festus de nomine Festi.                lww|l/ww|l/l|l/l|lww|lx

Translation

a) “...Knew only him..... also his devoted nurse... began and he alone... may occur... his mother will have.” b) “I am Macedonian in origin, but born in the land of Baetica. My fifteenth year had passed and gone, and the toga was about to become my partner, now that I was a man. The fates have abandoned me; all my efforts have faded in an instant. Here I lie buried, festive in my name Festus.”

Bibliography

Mellado – Vila 1972, 321–324, cum im. phot. (AE 1972, 276 et 277); Stylow, II2/7, 389; Fernández Martínez – Carande, CLEB, CO3, cum im. phot. pluribus; Cugusi 2012, 27. – Cf. Hernández Pérez 2001a, 8–10. 56. 57. 191. adn. 247–509; Gómez Pallarès 2007, 177-178 cum im. phot.; Medina 2015, 88.

Apparatus

a) suppl. Mellado – Vila. – 2 [ ]at Stylow. – 5 [ ]ater Mellado – Vila.

Comentary

Two funerary carmina dedicated to the same individual and composed together; in a), the wet-nurse and probably the parents bemoan the death of the young Festus, while in b) it is the deceased himself who speaks. Text b) consists of five dactylic hexameters, and in a) all that remains is the end of another five. In text b), l. 1 presents lengthening of the final vowel of genere in the 3rd element and shortening of the final syllable of Baeticae owing to the early monophthongisation of the diphthong ae into an open e (cf. Mariner 1952, pp. 10-17); in addition, devoicing of the final -d in set. L. 4 shows lengthening in arsis of the final vowel of fata in the 51th element. In b) l. 5 the wordplay included in this verse, which relates the name of the deceased with the rest that he enjoys, can be compared to other epigraphic examples cf. Gómez Pallarès 2002, T9 (= MNAT.P, no. 1, RIT 447, with prints LXXXIX,3), l. 0: Secundinius felicissimus ego set nomine tantum; et CLE 686.16 floride, non aliter, venerandus Floride perge, 1862 Felicem Aufidium felicem semper deus / faciat, 1869 Felix vocatus felix vivit cum suis, quoted by Mellado-Vila 1972. Cf. in addition to Sblendorio Cugusi 1980 pp. 257-281.

Images

Photo author: A. U. Stylow

Link to DB

Author

  • Author:R. Carande Herrero, C. Fernández Martínez
  • Last Update2024-01-31 16:52:11
  • Autopsy date:2001

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