§342 Marius Vitalis

Marius Vitalis

(0342) Text: [Vi]rginiae Marius Vitalis coniunx Ɔ leg(ionis) | et Marius Nigidianus fil(ius) q(uaestor) matri e lon- | ginquo adportatae et hic conditae sex et | triginta ann(os) vixit inculpata marito ob- | sequio raro solo contenta marito.

Translation: Marius Vitalis, spouse of Virginia, legionary centurion, and Marius Nicidianus, her son, quaestor, made this tomb for his mother, carried from far away and interred here, and she has lived thirty-six years while blameless in the sight of her husband, with rare quarreling, and she was content with her husband alone.

Commentary: Christian soldier

Provenience: Besancon (Germania Superior) 200-300 CE

Bibliography: CIL 13.5383; AE 1999.1125; ILCV 400; Henri Leclercq, “Militarisme,” in Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, ed. Fernand Cabrol and Henri Leclercq (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1932), 11.1:no. 12; Ronald J. Sider, The Early Church on Killing: A Comprehensive Sourcebook on War, Abortion, and Capital Punishment (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 147*.