The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Alexamenos
fl. c. AD 200 (dates unrecorded) · Christian mocked in a Palatine graffito · the Palatine, Rome
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Alexamenos was
A man scratched onto a wall of the imperial pages’ quarters on the Palatine around 200, drawn worshipping a crucified figure with the head of a donkey, over the caption ‘Alexamenos worships his god.’ It is the earliest surviving depiction of the crucifixion anywhere, and it was made to humiliate him. The witness is hostile, pagan and contemporary — which is exactly why it is good evidence: nobody invents a Christian in order to mock him. A second graffito nearby reads ‘Alexamenos fidelis’, apparently a reply.
Named once, on a contemporary inscription, fresco or object. No text of any period mentions him.
Common questions
When was Alexamenos active?
Alexamenos is dated fl. c. AD 200 (dates unrecorded) in the archive, which places Alexamenos in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Alexamenos?
Alexamenos is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Epigraphic. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Alexamenos from?
The archive associates Alexamenos with the Palatine, Rome. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Alexamenos’ contemporaries?
The archive links Alexamenos to 1 other figure, including Jesus of Nazareth. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Alexamenos graffito, Domus Gelotiana on the Palatine — a hostile pagan witness, contemporary
c. AD 200ΑΛΕ ΞΑΜΕΝΟΣ ΣΕΒΕΤΕ ΘΕΟΝ — ‘Alexamenos worships [his] god.’Epigraphic · Palatine Antiquarium, Rome
A graffito scratched into plaster in the Domus Gelotiana on the Palatine, usually dated c. AD 200 and among the earliest surviving depictions of the crucifixion. Removed from the wall and held in the Palatine Antiquarium, Rome. Published in the standard corpora of Roman graffiti; no public-domain translation is needed — the inscription is the six words quoted.
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
- AD 144 · Marcion expelled at Rome, AD 144
- AD 156 · The New Prophecy erupts, AD 156
- AD 177 · Persecution at Lyon and Vienne, AD 177
- AD 180 · The Scillitan martyrs, AD 180
- AD 190 · The Quartodeciman controversy, AD 190
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Alexamenos.
- 1Rome