The Nicene Age · AD 313–400 · External witness
Junius Bassus
b. AD 317; d. 25 August 359, aged 42 · Praefectus urbi of Rome · Neophyte · Rome
External witness
Who Junius Bassus was
Prefect of the city of Rome, who died in office on 25 August 359 at the age of forty-two. His sarcophagus survives, and its inscription supplies a fact no literary source records: he died NEOFITVS — newly baptised. A senior imperial official at the top of the Roman cursus took baptism on his deathbed while still holding the prefecture, and the stone says so. The carving itself is among the finest surviving Christian sculpture of the century.
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 did Junius Bassus live?
Junius Bassus is dated b. AD 317; d. 25 August 359, aged 42 in the archive, which places Junius Bassus in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400).
Which early sources mention Junius Bassus?
Junius Bassus 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 Junius Bassus from?
The archive associates Junius Bassus with Rome.
Who were Junius Bassus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Junius Bassus to 1 other figure, including Bassus. 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 sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, from Old St Peter’s
c. AD 359IVN BASSVS V C QVI VIXIT ANNIS XLII MEN II IN IPSA PRAEFECTVRA VRBI NEOFITVS IIT AD DEVM VIII KAL SEPT — ‘Junius Bassus, of senatorial rank, who lived 42 years and 2 months, went to God as a neophyte while still in the prefecture of the city, on 25 August.’Epigraphic · CIL VI 32004; ICVR II 4164
The dedicatory inscription of the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, prefect of the city, who died in AD 359; the sarcophagus is in the Museo Storico del Tesoro della Basilica di San Pietro, Rome. Published in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum VI and in Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae II.
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 one place the sources put Junius Bassus.
- 1Rome