# Epitaph of Abercius

- Author: Anonymous
- Latin title: *Epitaphium Abercii*
- Date: ca. 160–220 (approximate)
- Source: J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, Part II: S. Ignatius, S. Polycarp, vol. 1 (London: Macmillan, 1889), 495-497 (Scan from the Internet Archive (University of Toronto copy))

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/
- Passages: 7

## Epitaph of Abercius (title)

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-0
- Source: Lightfoot 1889, 495
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The supplied title of the inscription.

### Greek text

Ἐπιτάφιον Ἀβερκίου

### English translation (Claude)

The Epitaph of Abercius

### Translation notes

- The title is supplied; the stone has none. Abercius was bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia in the late second century; parts of the inscription survive on the stone (now in the Vatican Museums), and the rest is restored from the Life of Abercius. The text is Lightfoot's restoration (1889). The epitaph speaks in veiled terms ('the Shepherd', 'the Fish', 'the Virgin') that most interpreters read as Christian. No public-domain English translation was compared; checked against the Greek. Line breaks follow the verse lines.

### Citation (SBL)

Ep. Aberc. pref. (Lightfoot 1889, 495; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-0).

## Lines 1–4

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-1
- Source: Lightfoot 1889, 496
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Abercius, citizen of a chosen city, names himself a disciple of the pure Shepherd who tends his flocks.

### Greek text

Ἐκλεκτῆς πόλεως ὁ πολίτης τοῦτ᾽ ἐποίησα ζῶν, ἵν᾽ ἔχω καιρῷ σώματος ἔνθα θέσιν. οὔνομ᾽ Ἀβέρκιος εἰμὶ μαθητὴς ποιμένος ἁγνοῦ, ὃς βόσκει προβάτων ἀγέλας ὄρεσιν πεδίοις τε,

### English translation (Claude)

Citizen of a chosen city, I made this
in my lifetime, so that I might have here in due season a resting place for my body.
Abercius is my name, a disciple of the pure Shepherd,
who feeds flocks of sheep on mountains and plains,

### Scripture references

- John 10:11: allusion, medium confidence
- Ps 23:1–2 (22:1-2 LXX): echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- 'The pure Shepherd' is read as Christ (compare John 10:11).

### Citation (SBL)

Ep. Aberc. 1 (Lightfoot 1889, 496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-1).

## Lines 5–8

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-5
- Source: Lightfoot 1889, 496
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Shepherd taught Abercius faithful writings and sent him to Rome to see royalty and a golden-robed queen.

### Greek text

ὀφθαλμοὺς ὃς ἔχει μεγάλους πάντῃ καθορῶντας· οὗτος γάρ μ᾽ ἐδίδαξε … γράμματα πιστά· εἰς Ῥώμην ὃς ἔπεμψεν ἐμὲν βασιλῆαν ἀθρῆσαι καὶ βασίλισσαν ἰδεῖν χρυσόστολον χρυσοπέδιλον.

### English translation (Claude)

who has great eyes that look down on every side.
For he taught me … faithful writings.
He sent me to Rome to behold royalty,
and to see a queen in golden robe and golden sandals.

### Translation notes

- A word is lost on the stone in the second line, marked …; restorations differ. 'Faithful writings' are probably the Scriptures. The 'queen' has been read as the church at Rome, or as Rome itself.

### Citation (SBL)

Ep. Aberc. 5 (Lightfoot 1889, 496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-5).

## Lines 9–12

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-9
- Source: Lightfoot 1889, 496
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Abercius tells of seeing a people with a shining seal at Rome and of travelling through Syria beyond the Euphrates, finding fellow believers everywhere, led by Faith.

### Greek text

λαὸν δ᾽ εἶδον ἐκεῖ λαμπρὰν σφραγῖδαν ἔχοντα· καὶ Συρίης πέδον εἶδα καὶ ἄστεα πάντα, Νίσιβιν, Εὐφράτην διαβάς· πάντῃ δ᾽ ἔσχον συνομίλους· Παῦλον ἔχων ἐπό[μην], πίστις πάντῃ δὲ προῆγε,

### English translation (Claude)

And there I saw a people bearing a shining seal.
And I saw the plain of Syria and all its cities, and Nisibis,
having crossed the Euphrates; and everywhere I had companions in faith.
With Paul in my hands I followed, and Faith everywhere led the way

### Translation notes

- 'A shining seal' is commonly read as baptism. 'I followed' (ἐπό[μην]) is Lightfoot's restoration of a damaged word; 'with Paul in my hands' renders Παῦλον ἔχων, probably meaning that he carried Paul's letters, though some take it as 'having Paul as companion'.

### Citation (SBL)

Ep. Aberc. 9 (Lightfoot 1889, 496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-9).

## Lines 13–16

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-13
- Source: Lightfoot 1889, 496
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Faith everywhere sets before him the Fish caught by a pure Virgin, with wine mixed and bread, given to her friends.

### Greek text

καὶ παρέθηκε τροφὴν πάντῃ ἰχθὺν ἀπὸ πηγῆς πανμεγέθη, καθαρόν, ὃν ἐδράξατο παρθένος ἁγνή· καὶ τοῦτον ἐπέδωκε φίλοις ἔσθειν διὰ παντός, οἶνον χρηστὸν ἔχουσα, κέρασμα διδοῦσα μετ᾽ ἄρτου.

### English translation (Claude)

and set before me everywhere as food a Fish from the spring,
very great and pure, which a pure Virgin caught;
and this she gave to her friends to eat at all times,
having good wine, giving the mixed cup with bread.

### Scripture references

- John 6:51: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- These lines are usually read as eucharistic: the Fish (ἰχθύς, an early acrostic for 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour') as Christ, the pure Virgin as Mary (or the church), and the mixed cup with bread as the eucharist. The epitaph itself speaks only in images; translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Ep. Aberc. 13 (Lightfoot 1889, 496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-13).

## Lines 17–20

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-17
- Source: Lightfoot 1889, 496
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Abercius dictates the epitaph in his seventy-second year and asks those who understand and agree to pray for him.

### Greek text

ταῦτα παρεστὼς εἶπον Ἀβέρκιος ὧδε γραφῆναι· ἑβδομηκοστὸν ἔτος καὶ δεύτερον ἦγον ἀληθῶς. ταῦθ᾽ ὁ νοῶν εὔξαιτο ὑπὲρ μοῦ πᾶς ὁ συνῳδός. οὐ μέντοι τύμβῳ τις ἐμῷ ἕτερον ἐπιθήσει·

### English translation (Claude)

These things I, Abercius, standing by, ordered to be written here;
I was truly in my seventy-second year.
Let every one who understands these things and is in harmony with them pray for me.
But no one shall place another in my tomb;

### Translation notes

- The request for prayer by 'every one who understands' (the one in harmony, ὁ συνῳδός) suggests a reader who shares the faith.

### Citation (SBL)

Ep. Aberc. 17 (Lightfoot 1889, 496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-17).

## Lines 21–22

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-21
- Source: Lightfoot 1889, 496
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Anyone who puts another body in the tomb must pay fines to Rome's treasury and to Hieropolis.

### Greek text

εἰ δ᾽ οὖν, Ῥωμαίων ταμείῳ θήσει δισχίλια χρυσᾶ, καὶ χρηστῇ πατρίδι Ἱεροπόλει χίλια χρυσᾶ.

### English translation (Claude)

if he does, he shall pay to the treasury of the Romans two thousand gold pieces,
and to my good native city Hieropolis a thousand gold pieces.

### Translation notes

- A standard fine-clause of Greek epitaphs in Asia Minor.

### Citation (SBL)

Ep. Aberc. 21 (Lightfoot 1889, 496; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-abercius/0/#p-21).