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Epitaphia

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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(ἐπιτάφια ), funeral orations. It was usual in the early Church to make funeral orations (λόγοι ἐπικήδειοι ) in praise of those who had been distinguished during life by their virtues and merits. Several of these are extant, as that of Eusebius at the funeral of Constantine; those of Ambrose on the deaths of Theodosius and Valentinian, and of his own brother Satyrus; those of Gregory of Nazianzus upon his father, his brother Csesarius, and his sister Gorgonia; and that of Gregory of Nyssa upon the death of Melitus, bishop of Antioch. — Riddle, Christ. Antiq. book 7, chapter 3.