# Epitaph of Pectorius

- Author: Anonymous
- Latin title: *Epitaphium Pectorii*
- Date: 3rd–4th century (disputed) (disputed)
- Source: J. B. Pitra, ed., Spicilegium Solesmense 1 (Paris: Didot, 1852), chapter VIII on the Autun inscription

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-pectorius/
- Passages: 1

## Epitaph of Pectorius (lines 1–11)

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-pectorius/1/#p-1
- Source: Pitra 1852 1:557
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: A Christian epitaph from Autun: the faithful, born anew from divine waters, are urged to receive the Saviour's food, holding the Fish in their hands, and Pectorius asks his dead father to remember him.

### Greek text

Ἰχθύος οὐρανίου θεῖον γένος, ἤτορι σεμνῷ
χρῆσε, λαβὼν ζωὴν ἄμβροτον ἐν βροτέοις·
θεσπεσίων ὑδάτων τὴν σὴν, φίλε, θάλπεο ψυχήν
ὕδασιν ἀενάοις πλουτοδότου σοφίης.
Σωτῆρος δ᾽ ἁγίων μελιηδέα λάμβανε βρῶσιν·
ἔσθιε, πῖν᾽ ἄδην, Ἰχθὺν ἔχων παλάμαις.
Ἰχθύι χεύοιτ᾽ ἀρὰ λιλαίω, δέσποτα σῶτερ·
Ἵλαος μοι ἡγητήρ, σὲ λιτάζομε, φῶς τὸ θανόντων.
Ἀσχανδεῖε πάτερ, τὠμῷ κεχαρισμένε θυμῷ,
σὺν μητρὶ γλυκερῇ σύν τ᾽ οἰκείοισιν ἐμοῖσιν,
Ἰχθύος εἰρήνῃ μνήσεο Πεκτορίου.

### English translation (Claude)

Divine race of the heavenly Fish, keep a holy heart,
having received among mortals immortal life
from divine waters. Refresh your soul, friend,
with the ever-flowing waters of wealth-giving wisdom.
Receive the honey-sweet food of the Saviour of the saints;
eat, drink your fill, holding the Fish in your hands.
With the Fish … I long, Master and Saviour.
Be my gracious guide, I pray you, light of the dead.
Aschandius, my father, dear to my heart,
with my sweet mother and with my kinsfolk,
remember Pectorius in the peace of the Fish.

### Scripture references

- John 4:14: echo, low confidence
- John 6:54: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The 'Fish' (ἰχθύς) is Christ: the initial letters of lines 1–5 spell ΙΧΘΥΣ, the acrostic of 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour'.
- Lines 1–4 speak of baptism (life received 'from divine waters'), lines 5–6 of the Eucharist, received in the hands.
- Line 7 is damaged in the stone; Pitra prints Ἰχθύι χεύοιτ᾽ ἀρὰ λιλαίω, which cannot be construed as it stands, and the gap is marked '…'. Later editors restore 'Feed me, then, with the Fish, I long for it'.
- Line 8: the first word is illegible in the scan and is given as Pitra's Latin reads it ('be my gracious guide'). Other editors read this line as a prayer for the writer's mother ('May my mother rest well, I pray you, light of the dead').
- The father's name is printed Ἀσχανδεῖε; later editors give Ἀσχάνδιε.
- Date and place: found at Autun in Gaul; the inscription is commonly dated to the 3rd or 4th century, the first lines perhaps older (uncertain).

### Citation (SBL)

Ep. Pect. 1 (Pitra 1852 1:557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/epitaph-pectorius/1/#p-1).