Amiternum

AMITERNUM. - Ancient diocese of Latium in the land of the Sabines, and a city on the site where the village of S. Vittorino now stands, so called in memory, it seems, of the local martyr Victorinus, who fell for the faith between

AMITĀBHA - Japanese panel.
Rome, Museo Miss. Etnol. Lateranense.

the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Hieronymian Martyrology commemorates him under the date of 24 July. A late (and hardly trustworthy) Vita ss. Victorini et Severini (BHL, 7659-60) led some, such as F. Ughelli and P. Gams, to include St. Victorinus in the episcopal list of Amiterno, but wrongly. The diocese of A. lasted until the Lombard conquest, and the Acta Cethei episcopi amiternini (BHL, 1730-31), the last bishop of this see (6th-7th century), relate that he was massacred by the Lombards under the pretext of an understanding with the Byzantines.

Mario Scaduto

THE CATACOMB OF AMITERNO

In a hill outside the ancient city, the early Christians dug that catacomb in which their martyr St. Victorinus was also buried. It currently extends beneath the church of St. Michael, formerly dedicated to the holy martyr. Few galleries and some cubicula remain of it, deeply altered in their original structure by later restoration work. In the floor of one of these a burial slab is set, on which is carved a fine scene of the introduction of a deceased person before Christ the judge through the intercession of a saint. In another, which must have been the martyr's original burial place, there is an altar, on whose mensa is the votive inscription iubente deo Christo nostro, sancto martyri Victorino Quodvultdeus epis(copus) de suo fecit. The bishop is represented in the corner, prostrate in an act of veneration. Traces of reworkings and medieval paintings are noticeable in other crypts. Especially the upper church of St. Michael still bears in the apse a large fresco painting of the 12th century, representing the Savior among the archangels, St. Victorinus and other saints. Among the ruins of ancient Amiternum a small lead reliquary box for relics was also found, with very simple ornaments (cross and palm) of the 4th-5th century.

Antonio Ferrua