The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Quintus the Gravedigger
fl. fourth century (dates unrecorded) · Fossor of the cemetery of St Cyriacus · Rome
The Nicene Age
Who Quintus the Gravedigger was
A gravedigger named in an inscription recording the sale of a double grave: two women bought a bisomus from him, and the transaction was cut in stone. It is direct evidence that the fossores sold burial space as a trade and that the money went through named individuals — the commercial side of the catacombs, which the literary sources never describe.
Named once, on a contemporary inscription, fresco or object. No text of any period mentions him.
Common questions
When was Quintus active?
Quintus the Gravedigger is dated fl. fourth century (dates unrecorded) in the archive, which places Quintus in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400).
Which early sources mention Quintus?
Quintus the Gravedigger 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 Quintus from?
The archive associates Quintus the Gravedigger with Rome.
Who were Quintus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Quintus the Gravedigger to 2 other figures, including Diogenes the Gravedigger and Victor of Samsuricum. 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 grave-sale inscription of the cemetery of St Cyriacus
c. AD 350[Recording the purchase of a double grave from Quintus the fossor by two women, with the price.]Epigraphic · ICVR VII 17997
A grave inscription from the Roman catacombs, published in Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae septimo saeculo antiquiores (ICVR), volume VII.
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 Quintus.
- 1Rome