A new inscription from Sirmium and the basilica of St. Anastasia

Abstract

A fragmentary marble inscription, preserved in the Museum of Srem in Sremska Mitrovica, seems to mention the basilica of St. Anastasia: [In dom]o beati[ssimae dominae nost]re Anast[asiae. This monument provides epigraphic evidence on the cult place of the martyr in Sirmium, already recorded by written sources. According to the Passion of St. Demetrius, the church of St. Anastasia had already existed in Sirmium when Leontius, praetorian prefect of Illyricum, started the construction of the basilica of St. Demetrius. Although the find spot of the plate is not known, the finds of Ostrogothic coins next to the northern city wall imply that the basilica of St. Anastasia was located in that zone of the city, as the Ostrogoths highly respected the Martyr. It is possible that it should be identified with a martyrium leaning against the northern city wall that had been unearthed and then destroyed at the end of the 19th century.

Keywords

• Sirmium
• Early Christianity
• martyrs
• St. Anastasia
• inscription
• basilica