Furius Dionysius Filocalus

Furius Dionysius Filocalus was a Roman scribe and stone engraver, specialized in epigraphic texts, who was active in the second half of the fourth century.

[1] The archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi suggests that his inscriptions were reserved for the cult of the martyrs.

[2] For these inscriptions, called the Epigrammata Damasiana,[3] Filocalus created an original letterform that is known as filocalian letter[2] or philocalian script.

[5] Three fourth-century fragments of the filocalian letter engraved in stone are known, which seem to have been signed in the same way, with the inscription Furius Dionysius Filocalus scribsit.

[2] These fragments were part of the transcription of a series of poems that Pope Damasus I had written in honor of the martyrs, and which were employed to decorate their tombs.

Sample of the Filocalus typeface, published by type designer Ellmer Stefan in 2016, and based on the Filocalian Letter.