Original scientific paper
Religion, cult and morality in Salona (III) Ethical thought on the tombstone inscription
Luka Donadini
; Archaeological museum in Split
Abstract
The last paper in the series Religion, Cult and Morality in Salona studies the emergence of
ethical thought on the Salonitan inscription, where the form of a well-known moral principle was applied to protect the grave site; so called the golden rule. The aim of the work is to correlate the principle from the Salonitan inscription with the moral values and principles of ancient ethical systems with a special focus on the Roman, Judaic and early Christian literary heritage. By studying the material on the Roman literary heritage, the appearance of various forms of the aforementioned principle was observed in the Stoic philosophy of Seneca and Epictetus and in the works the Proverbs of Isidore and the Historia Augusta; in the Judaic tradition, the rule appears in the Book of Tobit and the teaching of Hilel, and lastly, Christianity knew the rule through the Gospel texts and the early Christian works Didaché and Didaskalia. By establishing a correlation between the Salonitan inscription and fragments from ancient literature, it will confirm the persistence of ethical thought in the Salonitan records, which allows us insight into the thought life of the ancient city. An interesting addition to the research is that, considering the preservation of written historical
sources and epigraphic materials, we can recognize the Salonitan inscription as the earliest
trace of the so-called golden rule in Latin.
Keywords
golden rule; morality; religion; cult; Salona; ethics
Hrčak ID:
322472
URI
Publication date:
15.11.2024.
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