| Pertaining to Basilica S.Petri apostoli (via Cornelia) |
| Titulus sepulchralis |
| Lost |
| Date: 500-599 |
| Edition(s): ICVR II, 4209; ILCV, 3484; PLRE II, 537-538, s.v. Helpis; Troncarelli 2011; AE, 2011, 125; CLE II (nn.860-1858), 1432 |
| Helpis dicta fui Siculae regionis alumna quam procul a patria coniugis egit amor quo sine maesta dies nox anxia flebilis hora nec solum caro sed spiritus unus erat lux mea non clausa est tali remanente marito maiorique animae parte superstes ero porticibus sacris iam non pregrina quiesco iudicis aeterni testificata thronum ne qua manus mustum violet nisi forte iugalis haec iterum cupiart iungere membra suis ut thalami tumulique comis nec morte revellar et socios vitae nectat uterque cinis |
| ICVR edits the longest-known version of the carmen, but five more shorter versions of the text do exist in manuscripts. Uncertainty surrounds the identity of Helpis, who from the 10th-11th cents. onwards has been believed to be the wife of Severinus Boethius, the Late Antique philosopher. However, the name of Boethius's wife is known to be Rusticiana. Troncarelli thoroughly deals with the matter, concluding that the shorter versions of the text (four/five verses long) could be the genuine core around which revolved later additions; moreover, these versions show two references to the De consolatione philosophiae of Boethius. On this grounds he cautiously proposes that the original inscription actually remembered Boethius's wife, Rusticiana, and that Helpis could have been her additional name. But – as Troncarelli also infers – this argument needs further evidences to be confirmed (Vilella). |
| Antonio Enrico Felle, 11/11/2003 |
| Last update by Antonello Vilella on 12/09/2020 |