The Nicene Age · AD 313–400 · External witness
Comes Valerius
fl. fourth century (dates unrecorded) · Comes · Husband of Adelphia · Syracuse, Sicily
External witness
Who Comes Valerius was
Named on his wife’s sarcophagus as Valerius the comes, and depicted beside her in the portrait medallion on the lid. Three different identifications with known fourth-century Valerii have been proposed and none has been established; the archive records them as conjecture and adopts none. Distinct from Valerius of Saragossa and from the Valerius named in Fortis’ letter to the clergy of Cirta.
Named once, on a contemporary inscription, fresco or object. No text of any period mentions him.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When was Comes Valerius active?
Comes Valerius is dated fl. fourth century (dates unrecorded) in the archive, which places Comes Valerius in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400).
Which early sources mention Comes Valerius?
Comes Valerius 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 Comes Valerius from?
The archive associates Comes Valerius with Syracuse, Sicily. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Comes Valerius’ contemporaries?
The archive links Comes Valerius to 1 other figure, including Adelphia. 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 inscription on the lid of the Adelphia sarcophagus
c. AD 360…CONPAR VALERI COMITIS — named as Adelphia’s consort, with the title comes.Epigraphic · Syracuse, Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi
A fourth-century Christian sarcophagus from the catacomb of San Giovanni at Syracuse, now in the Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi. Published in the Sicilian corpora of early Christian inscriptions.
Names proposed by later tradition
Valerius, comes of Sicily
The simplest reading of the title in a Syracusan monument; no independent attestation of such an officer survives.
A comes of the imperial household on the island
Proposed from the rank alone; unsupported by any text.
A private honorific rather than an office
Comes is used loosely on some fourth-century epitaphs; on this reading the title says nothing about a career.
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Comes Valerius, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.