Roger Pearse

Glad to help. It was the only image I could find.

Sadly it is only a facsimile. This image comes from Martin Vermaseren, "The excavations in the Mithraeum of the Church of Santa Prisca in Rome", p.215 in the Google preview. It’s a diagram, not a plate. Apparently plate LXVIII is a photograph, but this I could not see.

Does anyone have access to that?

Failing which, is the inscription in situ? Is it possible to just go and take a photograph, I wonder? Is there an Italian in the house?

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse

Good idea to try these things.

There seems some doubt whether the lines are meant to be read continuously, even if this is what they actually say. The et...et would suggest they are so intended to me, but who knows?

Here's my first effort. Anyone like to correct it?

In first place (primus), both (et...) this (hic) hog-tied (astrictius, as adjective on aries) ram (aries) runs (currit) in its place (ordine);
And (...et) you have preserved (servasti) us (nos), the blood (sanguine) of eternity (eternali) having been shed (fuso);
I offer (offero) [something - sacrifice?] so that (ut) the great (magna) gods (numina) become (fiant, semideponent, plural) ... Mithras (mithre=mithrae?).

I'm not sure how Mithrae fits in to the sentence, tho. Mithrae could be dative or genetive; magna numina is nom or acc plural so must be the subject of the subclause after 'ut'.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

andrewcriddle

Primus et hic aries astrictius ordine currit is translated by Turcan Here too, the Ram runs at the head, strictly in order (the meaning is presumably astrological).

Andrew Criddle

Roger Pearse

That seems much better.

I'm hunting around for a guidebook for the Mithraeum, which might contain some images, but without a lot of success. There was one by Sangiorgio (title contained works Prisca and Mitreo), but it seems inaccessible.

Roger Pearse

I've placed an ILL for the Vermaseren volume, and I'll upload the plate when I get it.

Roger Pearse

Could we consider a split of posts unrelated to Servasti?

Thanks,

Roger Pearse

Toto

off topic posts split to here

Roger Pearse

Many thanks.

Roger Pearse

What is the Turcan reference? Does he give more from that inscription?

andrewcriddle

Turcan The Cults of the Roman Empire (or via: amazon.co.uk) p 227. There is a discussion of Et nos servasti eternali sanguine fuso on p 226 which admits that eternali is dubious and then speculates about what "eternal blood" might mean in this context.

Andrew Criddle