Debitum reddere (and similar formulae) with the meaning of 'dying' in Latin inscriptions.

This paper examines the Latin formula debitum reddere ('settling a debt'), found in both pagan and Christian inscriptions with the meaning of 'dying'. In this formula, death is depicted as the fulfilment of a legal obligation, a debt typically owed to Nature, Fate or the Christian God. Although the primary focus is epigraphic, both inscriptions and literary sources are analysed to trace the origin and development of this metaphor, which is interpreted in light of its Stoic philosophical background. The paper also explores other related formulae with similar meanings (e.g. uitam/spiritum/animam reddere), possible folk-etymological associations (such as obitum reddere and uotum reddere in funerary contexts), and further developments of the concept of dying as the return of a borrowed existence (including the absolute use of reddere to mean 'dying' and the use of redditio as a synonym for 'death'). Several references suggest that the metaphor debitum reddere may have been particularly popular in Roman Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]