L'epitaffio di santa Marcellina

For the tomb of Marcellina, sister of st. Ambrose, placed in the Milanese basilica martyrum at the time of Bishop Simpliciano (397-401), was composed an epitaph in hexameters, but the original stone has been lost. The poem, however, is transmitted by two medieval manuscripts (IX and XI century), and by the Collectanea of Andrea Alciato (1492-1550), who modified the brief poem in several passages in order to make it more appropriate to the his tastes of humanist. This work examines the transmission and the fortune of the epitaph of Marcellina (inc. «Marcellina tuos cum life resolveret artus»), providing the critical edition of the text with translation and commentary.