The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Projecta
married c. AD 380 · Roman bride · Owner of the Esquiline casket · Rome
The Nicene Age
Who Projecta was
A Roman bride of about 380, named on the rim of a silver toilet casket from the Esquiline Treasure now in the British Museum. The inscription is Christian and the decoration is not: Venus, nereids and tritons on a casket that wishes the couple life in Christ. The object is the clearest surviving evidence that a wealthy Roman household of the late fourth century could be Christian and still commission pagan mythological silver without apparent difficulty.
Named once, on a contemporary inscription, fresco or object. No text of any period mentions her.
Common questions
When did Projecta live?
Projecta is dated married c. AD 380 in the archive, which places Projecta in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). 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 Projecta?
Projecta 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 Projecta from?
The archive associates Projecta with Rome.
Who were Projecta’s contemporaries?
The archive links Projecta to 1 other figure, including Secundus. 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 rim of the Projecta casket, Esquiline Treasure, British Museum
c. AD 380SECVNDE ET PROIECTA VIVATIS IN CHRISTO — ‘Secundus and Projecta, may you live in Christ.’Epigraphic · British Museum 1866,1229.1
The Projecta casket from the Esquiline Treasure, a silver marriage casket of the later fourth century inscribed for a Christian couple; British Museum, registration 1866,1229.1. Published in Kathleen Shelton, The Esquiline Treasure (British Museum, 1981).
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- 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
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Projecta.
- 1Rome