Dixerunt thrηnus: ortografia, allografia e lessico nell’epitaffio di Faustina da Venosa

Abstract

Dixerunt thrηnus: ortography, allography and lexicon in Faustina’s epitaph from Venosa

This note discusses a number of issues regarding the well-known epitaph of Faustina filia Faustini, one of the best-known inscriptions from the catacombs of Venosa. In particular, these regard the spelling in both Latin and Hebrew texts, with particular attention to the instances of allography and the spelling of some proper names, Faustina included, which in the Hebrew version of the text are written according to the current late Latin pronunciation and not following their standard version. In the final section of the contribution, some considerations are added concerning the expression dixerunt threnus, showing that threnus was specifically used to indicate a poetic dirge, which at that time (presumably, first half of the 6^th century) did not yet had a specific name and will hereafter be referred to as qinah.