Plaque from base for statue of Claudius Claudianus, poet; commanded by the emperors. From Rome, Forum of Trajan. 400.
PROVENANCE AND LOCATION
City:
Roma
Province:
Roma
Region:
Rome (including Ostia and Portus)
Details:
Forum of Trajan
Current Location:
Naples, Museo Nazionale, magazzino epigrafico, inv. 2648
OBJECT
Object:
Base
Material:
Marble, coloured
Re-Use?
No
Form:
Rectangular
Height(cm):
117
Width(cm):
59
Depth(cm):
3.2
Language:
Bilingual
Text Type:
Prose and Verse
SUBJECT
Honorand:
Claudius Claudianus, poet
Position:
Intellectuals, Lawyers and Doctors
Gender:
Male
Awarder:
Arcadius and Honorius, Emperors, at request of the Senate
Position:
Emperors
DATE
Earliest:
400
Latest :
400
MAIN REFERENCE
Camodeca, G. et al., Catalogo delle iscrizioni latine del Museo nazionale di Napoli , Naples 2000, no. 48
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum; , CIL VI, 1710 (+p. 4740)
Inscriptiones Graecae, XIV 1074
INSCRIPTION
Text:
[Cl(audi)] Claudiani, v(iri) c(larissimi). / [Cla]udio Claudiano, v(iro) c(larissimo), tri/[bu]no et notario, inter ceteras / [de]centes artes praegloriosissimo /(5) [po]etarum. Licet ad memoriam sem/piternam carmina ab eodem / scripta sufficiant adtamen / testimonii gratia ob iudicii sui / fidem dd(omini) nn(ostri) Arcadius et Honorius, /(10) Eilicissimi (sic) ac doctissimi / Imperatores, Senatu petente / statuam in foro divi Traiani /(13) erigi collocarique iusserunt. / Εἰν ἑνὶ Βιργιλίοιο νόον / καὶ μοῦσαν Ὁμήρου / Κλαυδιανὸν Ῥώμη καὶ / βασιλῆς ἔθεσαν.
Trans:
[Statue] of Claudius Claudianus, of clarissimus rank. To Claudius Claudianus, of clarissimus rank, tribune and notary, among other fitting arts most glorious of poets. While the poems written by him are sufficient to gain him eternal memory, yet, as a testimony, because of their faith in their judgement our lords Arcadius and Honorius, the most fortunate and most learned emperors, at the request of the Senate, commanded that [this] statue be erected and set up in the forum of the deified Trajan. (In Greek): Rome and the emperors set this up to Claudianus [who combines] in one the genius of Virgil and the muse of Homer.
