Travel in Abercius's Epitaph

Abstract: The epitaph of Abercius of Hieropolis foregrounds his travel to distant communities in Rome and Syria. I contest the oft-cited claim that Abercius's travelogue expressed anti-Montanist sentiments, a reading that misinterprets the epitaph as polemical and ignores the function of Roman tombs to convey personal identity. When contextualized in light of imperial-era cultures of travel, the travel topos instead portrays Abercius as an itinerant sage and sacred spectator. As a "learner," Abercius felt divinely guided in his journey, during which he learned which texts Christians should consider "trustworthy texts" (γράμματα πιστά). Like a sacred spectator (θεωρός), Abercius journeyed as a citizen of his "chosen city" to distant communities, where he witnessed sacred events and participated in sacred rituals. These two mobile identities, in conjunction with the monument's physical features as a large quadrilateral monolith prominently displayed at the city gates, depict Abercius as an elite member of Roman society. Rather than using ostensibly literal references as a guise for his secret Christian identity, the epitaph's language signals an elite status to all his neighbors, both Christian and pagan. This interpretation of travel in Abercius's epitaph has implications for our notions of how early Christians incorporated conventional symbols into their evolving social identity.