Inscriptions: Epitaph of the medicus Felix

Identification

Reference as:	MPL02165
Title	Epitaph of the medicus Felix
Trismegistos-No.	487715

Object

Provenance and Location

Find Place	Lugdunum
Find Context	Find place of Lugdunum provided in 9th century manuscript (Cod. Val. 393, 89v) by association with another inscription written beside it, from that location. No evidence supports this conclusion.
Latitude	0.0
Longitude	0.0
Current Location	Lost
Inventory number
Current Location Details
Vicinity	[{"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 2165, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2165", "long_id": "MPL02165", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "Praeteriens hominum sortem miserare, viator, deque\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph of the medicus Felix"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 796, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/796", "long_id": "MPL00796", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "Manet hic iuvenis pia mater. D(is) M(anibus) et m\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/L021editadamejorada-scaled.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of Varia Restituta by her husband"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 797, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/797", "long_id": "MPL00797", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "[\u2066 - - - - - - - - - - \u2069]FI[---] [---]ien curio[su\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Lugdunum \u2013 Lyon (Lugdunensis) - HD000465"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 2134, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2134", "long_id": "MPL02134", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "D(is)\u2003 M(anibus) Lucretiae Valeriae Sexavius ((int\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Funerary inscription for Lucretia Valeria and Sexavius Hermeros"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 2185, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2185", "long_id": "MPL02185", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "[D(is) ((ascia)) M(anibus)] Architrave: [et m(emo\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/L005Concha-scaled.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of Lucius Claudius Rufinus"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 2186, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2186", "long_id": "MPL02186", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "Architrave: D(is) ((ascia)) M(anibus) et memoriae\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/L013Alberto-scaled.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of Matia Vera by her husband Pusinnonius Dubitatus"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 2187, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2187", "long_id": "MPL02187", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "Architrave: D(is) ((ascia)) M(anibus) et memoriae\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/L009-scaled.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of Claudia Felicitas by the veteran Messorius Florus"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 2188, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2188", "long_id": "MPL02188", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "Pediment: ((ascia))Diis Manib(us) Camill(ae) Augus\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/bilder/$CIL_13_02087_1.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of Camilla Augustilla by her brother Silenius Reginus"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 2189, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2189", "long_id": "MPL02189", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "Murrae et Verecundo, Murrani filis. Qui legis \u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph of Murra and Verecundus by their parents"}, {"coords": [45.7589, 4.81948], "id": 2190, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2190", "long_id": "MPL02190", "place": "Lugdunum", "text": "Pediment: D(is) ((ascia)) et ((ascia)) M(anibus) \u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://institucional.us.es/cleo/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/L030Concha-scaled.jpg", "title": "Epitaph of Blandinia Martiola by her husband Pompeius Catussa"}, {"coords": [43.8432, 4.35418], "id": 50, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/50", "long_id": "MPL00050", "place": "Nemausus", "text": "Hoc monimentum maesoleumque mo-nimentorum caus{s}a\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Funerary monument of Hostilia"}, {"coords": [44.2404, 5.07335], "id": 806, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/806", "long_id": "MPL00806", "place": "Vasio Vocontiorum", "text": "Front \u03b5\u1f30\u03b8\u03c5\u03bd\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c1\u03b9 \u03c4\u1f7b\u03c7\u03b7\u03c2 \u0392\u1f75\u03bb\u1ff3 \u03a3\u1f73\u03be\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b8\u1f73\u03c4\u03bf \u03b2\u03c9-\u03bc\u1f79\u03bd,\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://db-edcs-eu.uaccess.univie.ac.at/epigr/bilder/$CIL_12_01277_1.jpg", "title": "Votive inscription by Sextus on an altar to Belus"}, {"coords": [45.7797, 3.08682], "id": 982, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/982", "long_id": "MPL00982", "place": "Augustonemetum", "text": "Sanctis [contiguus sacroque patri] vivit sic [meri\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Augustonemetum \u2013 Clermont-Ferrand (Aquitania) - HD051640"}, {"coords": [45.5556, 6.65042], "id": 1049, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/1049", "long_id": "MPL01049", "place": "Axima", "text": "Silvane sacra semicluse fra[xino] et huius alti su\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Votive inscription from Axima (Forum Claudii Ceutronum) \u2013 Aime-en-Tarentaise (Alpes Graiae) - HD065379"}, {"coords": [47.2372, 6.02792], "id": 1053, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/1053", "long_id": "MPL01053", "place": "Vesontio", "text": "[[..]]rginiae Marius Vitalis coniunx \|(centurio) l\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Vesontio (Civitas Sequanorum) \u2013 Besan\u00e7on (Germania superior) - HD066902"}, {"coords": [47.2372, 6.02792], "id": 2081, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2081", "long_id": "MPL02081", "place": "Vesontio", "text": "Ave vita", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Fibula with love dedication from Vesontio"}, {"coords": [44.7524, 5.37041], "id": 848, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/848", "long_id": "MPL00848", "place": "Dea Augusta Vocontiorum", "text": "[D(is) M(anibus)] G(ai) Iuli Ica[ri?] G(aius) Iuli\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph from Dea Augusta Vocontiorum \u2013 Die (Narbonensis) - HD018851"}, {"coords": [46.202, 6.1438], "id": 2060, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2060", "long_id": "MPL02060", "place": "Genava", "text": "Uror amore tuo.", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Fibula with love dedication from Genava"}, {"coords": [46.202, 6.1438], "id": 2146, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2146", "long_id": "MPL02146", "place": "Genava", "text": "Uror amor-e tuo.", "thumbnail_url": "https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/bilder/$CIL_12_05698-18.jpg", "title": "Fibula with love dedication from Genava"}, {"coords": [45.5242, 4.87325], "id": 2093, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2093", "long_id": "MPL02093", "place": "Vienna", "text": "((palma)) ((columba)) ((chi-rho)) ((columba)) ((pa\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://db.edcs.eu/epigr/bilder/$RICG_15_00039.jpg", "title": "Christian funerary inscription for Foedula"}, {"coords": [44.1368, 4.80792], "id": 2074, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2074", "long_id": "MPL02074", "place": "Arausio", "text": "Amo te.", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Fibula with love dedication from Arausio"}, {"coords": [43.8766, 5.39368], "id": 2083, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2083", "long_id": "MPL02083", "place": "Apta Iulia", "text": "[Dis in]fernis memoriaeq(ue) semper habendae H[ipp\u2026", "thumbnail_url": "https://db-edcs-eu.uaccess.univie.ac.at/epigr/bilder/$ILN-04_00032_1.jpg", "title": "Funerary inscription to Hippodamia by her husband"}, {"coords": [47.4508, 6.80205], "id": 2085, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2085", "long_id": "MPL02085", "place": "Epamanduodurum", "text": "Da cito amica. \u00a0\u00a0\u2190", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Fibula with love dedication from Epamanduodurum"}, {"coords": [47.4527, 6.65168], "id": 2139, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2139", "long_id": "MPL02139", "place": "Longevelle-sur-Doubs", "text": "Succurre amanti si me amas.", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Fibula with love dedication from Longevelle-sur-Doubs"}, {"coords": [45.5326, 4.86261], "id": 2163, "item_url": "https://db.mappola.eu/r/Inscriptions/show/2163", "long_id": "MPL02163", "place": "Saint-Romain-en-Gal", "text": "Aetherius moriens dixit: \"Hic condite corpus, terr\u2026", "thumbnail_url": null, "title": "Epitaph of Aetherius"}]

Object Details

Object Type	slab
Material	unknown
State of Preservation	complete?
Dimensions	width: unknown height: unknown depth: unknown
Letter Size in cm (min)	0.0
Letter Size in cm (max)	0.0
Execution Technique	chiselled
Religion	Christian

Decoration

Decoration and Iconography
Decoration Tags

Verse Layouts

Text

Function	funerary inscription
Language(s)	Latin
Verse Type(s)	Elegiac couplet
Rhythmisation	Quantitative scheme

Inscription & Translations

Diplomatic Interpretative Verse Visualisation

PRAETERIENSHOMINVMSORTEMMISERAREVIATOR
DEQVEMEISRESTENTQVAETIBIFATAVIDE
ENMIHITERRADOMVMPRAEBETCINISQVESEPVLCHRVM
VERMISETEXIGVVSMEMBRACADVCAVORAT
5CONDITOROMNIPOTENSPARADYSIQVEMESSECOLONVM
IVSSERATHANCTRIBVITCVLPANEFANDAVICEM
NOMINEFELICEMMEOLIMDIXEREPARENTES
VITADICATAMIHIHICARSMEDICINAFVIT:
AEGROSMVLTORVMPOTVIRELEVAREDOLORES
10MORBVMNONPOTVIVINCEREABARTEMEVM

Praeteriens hominum sortem miserare, viator,
deque meis restent quae tibi fata vide.
En mihi terra domum praebet cin<er>isque sepulchrum,
vermis et exiguus membra caduca vorat.
5Conditor omnipotens paradysi quem esse colonum
iusserat, hanc tribuit culpa nefanda vicem.
Nomine Felicem me olim dixere parentes,
vita dicata mihi hic ars medicina fuit:
aegros multorum potui relevare dolores,
10morbum non potui vincere ab arte meum.

Praeteriens hominum sortem miserare, viator,
deque meis restent quae tibi fata vide.
En mihi terra domum praebet cin<er>isque sepulchrum,
vermis et exiguus membra caduca vorat.
Conditor omnipotens paradysi quem esse colonum
iusserat, hanc tribuit culpa nefanda vicem.
Nomine Felicem me olim dixere parentes,
vita dicata mihi hic ars medicina fuit:
aegros multorum potui relevare dolores,
morbum non potui vincere ab arte meum.

Apparatus

l.5 reg., orig. paradysi

Text follows CLE.
l. 1: miserare, ICUR (G. B. De Rossi); CIL 13 (O. Hirschfeld); B. Rémy 1984; B. Rémy and P. Faure 2010; T. Fögen 2018.

Main Translation

Translation	Traveller passing by, pity the fate of men, and see from my remains what destiny awaits you. Look! the earth provides me with an abode and my ashes with a grave, and a small worm eats through my perishing limbs. The almighty Creator, who has decided that I should dwell in heaven, bestowed this condition on me for heinous guilt. My parents once called me by the name of Felix, and the art of medicine was the life ordained for me in this world: I could alleviate the troublesome pains of many, but I could not use my skills to vanquish my own sickness.
Citation	Fabio Spalla

Other Translations

Passant, prends pitié du sort des hommes et vois ce qui reste à tes yeux de mes destins funestes. Voici la demeure que la terre me fournit, le sépulcre que me prête la mort et le ver minuscule dévore mes membres périssables. Le créateur tout puissant qui avait ordonné que je fusse l’habitant du paradis m’a octroyé cette destinée pour une faute abominable. Mes parents autrefois m’avaient donné le nom de Felix. L’existence qui me fut dévolue en ce bas monde, fut l’exercice de la médecine: j’ai pu soulager les douleurs de bien des malades, mais je n’ai pu vaincre par mon art ma propre maladie. (French , B. Rémy)
Wanderer, wenn du vorbeigehst, beklage das Los der Menschen, und sieh’ anhand meines Schicksals, welches dir noch bevorsteht. Sieh’, die Erde erweist sich mir als Wohnstatt und als Grab für meine Asche, und ein kleiner Wurm macht sich über meine vergänglichen Glieder her. Derjenige, dem der allmächtige Schöpfer befohlen hatte, Siedler des Paradieses zu sein, dem teilte die grausliche Schuld dieses Los zu. Einst riefen mich meine Eltern mit Namen ‹Felix›, hier war die Heilkunst mir als Lebensglück zugewiesen. Die mühseligen Schmerzen vieler vermochte ich zu lindern, meine eigene Krankheit konnte ich mithilfe meiner Kunst nicht besiegen. (German, T. Fögen)

Prosopographical Information

Name Felix
Gender Male
Profession Other profession
Role Dedicatee

Name	Felix
Gender	Male
Profession	Other profession
Role	Dedicatee

Further Information

Comment

Dating proposed by B. Rémy 1984, B. Rémy and P. Faure 2010, due to the formula "conditor omnipotens paradysi" and similarities with other late epitaphs from the area of Vienne. The existence of the inscription before its record in Cod. Val. 393, 89v remains uncertain.

Squeeze

Have Squeeze?	no

Dating

Date (From)	301 AD
Date (To)	500 AD
Date (Criteria)	archaeology formulae

Bibliography

ICUR 02.1, 261, nr. 4
CIL 13, 02414
ILCV 01, 00612
CLE 02516
E. Le Blant, Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule antérieures au VIIIe siècle, 2: Les sept provinces, Paris 1865, 553, nr. 666. 🔗 link
J. Cholodniak, Carmina sepulcralia latina epigraphica, Petersburg 1904, 435-436, nr. 1160d. 🔗 link
H. Gummerus, Der Ärztestand im Römischen Reiche nach den Inschriften, Vol. 1, Helsingfors 1932, 90, nr. 354 (ll. 7-10) 🔗 link
B. Rémy, Les inscriptions des medécins en Gaule, Gallia 42, 1 (1984), 139-140, nr. 19 (with French translation) 🔗 link
B. Rémy, P. Faure, Les médecins dans l'Occident romain (Péninsule Ibérique, Bretagne, Gaules, Germanies), Bordeaux 2010, 1182-183, App. 3, B (with French translation) 🔗 link
T. Fögen, Zum Sterben und Tod von Tieren in lateinischen Trauergedichten, Ant. Abend. 1 64 (2018), 134-135 (with German translation) 🔗 link
P. Cugusi, M. Sblendorio Cugusi, Carmina latina epigraphica non-Bücheleriani delle Galliae, Cesena 2019, 62, nr. 51. 🔗 link
EDCS-10501391 🔗 link

Images

Editing History

Created	2025-06-18, by Fabio Spalla
Work Status	Confirmed
Import Notice

Revisions

by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-06-05 12:41
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-06-05 14:01
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-06-05 14:05
by Chiara Cenati
at 2025-06-09 13:35
by Chiara Cenati
at 2025-06-16 11:33
by Fabio Spalla
at 2025-06-16 14:31
by Chiara Cenati
at 2025-06-18 14:13

Download

Download as XML