The epigraphic poetry of the Pope Damasus

The paper includes latin text and commented poetic translation of the epigrams by Damasus I (305–384), who was the bishop of Rome from 366 to 384 The collection numbers more than 60 epigrams (the autencity of some of them is under the question).Damasus came to power during the period of the Church troubles and had many adversaries, so he skillfully used his literary gift for the strengthening of his authority. Almost all of his literary legacy was immortalized in inscriptions; most of them were engraved by Philocalus, who was a famous calligrapher and a friend of Damasus. Damasus' poetic talent was mediocre, but he had good education and composed epigrams, widely using the formulas by Virgil and other school latin authors. Nevertheless he became a creator of the special literary genre: elogium, praise for the martyrs. The elogia by Damasus are of great value as a source on the history of the cult of martyrs to the approval of which he made a significant contribution, continuing the work of the emperor Constantine I and his successors. Thirty five of his epigrams a dedicated to the martyrs; the epigrams commemorate their deeds and the Pope's own memorializing labours, such as the decoration of shrines, construction of staircases in the catacombs, building of churches etc. Damasus who grew up in Rome, in the Christian family knew the loca sacra and the local traditions of the cult pf martyrs very well, although they were rather meager at that time. The peculiarity of his approach to the memorialization is that he doesn' t transfer the relics from the catacombs to the central churches, but establish their veneration at their burial place, laying the foundations of the sacral topography of Rome.Epigrams of Damasus usually reflect the information about martyrs that tradition had brought to his time, he has no inclination to fictitious inventing. In many cases his poems turn out to be the first (and sometimes singular) evidence about the cult of this or that martyr. In his epigrams he uses mostly hexameter, the elegiac distichi are rare.The elogia by Damasus are of great value as a source on the history of the cult of martyrs to the approval of which he made a significant contribution, continuing the work of the emperor Constantine I and his successors. Thirty five of his epigrams a dedicated to the martyrs; the epigrams commemorate their deeds and the Pope ҆ own memorializing labours, such as the decoration of shrines, construction of staircases in the catacombs, building of churches etc. Damasus who grew up in Rome, in the Christian family knew the loca sacra and the local traditions of the cult pf martyrs very well, although they were rather meager at that time. The peculiarity of his approach to the memorialization is that he doesn' t transfer the relics from the catacombs to the central churches, but establish their veneration at their burial place, laying the foundations of the sacral topography of Rome.Epigrams of Damasus usually reflect the information about martyrs that tradition had brought to his time, he has no inclination to fictitious inventing. In many cases his poems turn out to be the first (and sometimes singular) evidence about the cult of this or that martyr. In his epigrams he uses mostly hexameter, the elegiac distichi are rare.