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Base for statue, with dedication to Valentinian II, Theodosius I, Arcadius and Honorius, emperors. Antinoopolis (Thebais). 388-390

INSCRIPTION
In eleven lines:

Τοὺς τῆς ὑφ’ ἡλίῳ γῆς αὐτοκρά/τορας, καὶ τροπαιούχους δεσπότας / ἡμῶν, Οὐαλεντινιανόν, Θεοδόσιον, / Ἀρκάδιον, τοὺς αἰωνίους Αὐγούσ/τους, καὶ Φλάυιον Ὁνώριον, τὸν / (6) ἐπιφανέστατον, Φ.[λ(άυιος) Εὐτόλμιος] / Τ̣α̣[τιαν]ό̣ς̣, ὁ λαμπρότατος ἔπαρχος / τοῦ ἱεροῦ πραιτωρίου, τῇ συνήθει / καθοσιώσει ἀφιέρωσε(ν), ἐπὶ Φλαυίου / Σεπτιμίου Εὐτροπίου τοῦ λαμπροτάτου / ἡγεμόνος.

'Flavius Eutolmius Tatianus, of clarissimus rank, prefect of the sacred praetorium (set this up to) the emperors of the land under the sun, our victorious Lords Valentinian, Theodosius, Arcadius the eternal Augusti, and to Flavius Honorius the most noble, with the usual offerings, when Flavius Septimius Eutropius, of clarissimus rank, was governor'

Letter height not recorded.

The text is layed out in eleven lines with an erasure of the honorand's name in lines 6-7. We reproduce it here as given by Bernand 1984.

DESCRIPTION (from Bernand 1984, Kraus 1962, and the published images)
Large base of red granite, moulded at top and bottom. H 139, W 91, D 71 cm. Our inscription is on the back side of an earlier one to Antinoous from A.D. 130/40 (Bernand 1984 pp. 57-62 no. 2). On the side with the first use inscription (now the back side) and on the left and right sides the lower mouldings are broken or (possibly) worked back. On top there are foot holes for an over life-size bronze statue, which must belong to the first use since they point towards the first-use front side (Kraus 1962, 131).

Fragments of a white marble statue, including part of a torso, were found near the base, which may have been from our statue; but shortly after their discovery they were destroyed for lime (Kraus 1962, 128-9; Wescher 1866, 150-1: 'C’etait une figure colossale, en marbre blanc. Quelques fragments, et notamment une partie du torse, trouvés avec le piédestal, ont servi à faire de la chaux; ...').

PROVENANCE AND MOST RECENTLY RECORDED LOCATION
The base was found in Antinoopolis (Cheikh Abadeh) and brought to the Cairo Museum (Catalogue no. 9274); from there, in 1925, it was transferred to the Alexandria Museum, inv. no. 21783. Most recently recorded in the Alexandria Museum garden.

HONORAND, AWARDER, AND DATE
Valentinian II was Augustus 375-92, Theodosius I 379-95, and Arcadius 383-408. Honorius, here styled 'the most noble', later became Augustus, 393-423.

The awarder Flavius Eutolmius Tatianus held the praetorian prefecture of the East 388-92 (PLRE I, 876-8 Fl. Eutolmius Tatianus 5). He fell from grace and was exiled in 392, which explains why his name in lines 6-7 is erased. He was a pagan.

The inscription was set up under the governor (praeses) of the province of the Thebaid Flavius Septimius Eutropius (line 10). Eutropius is recorded as governor in a papyrus dated to 26 Dec 389. His predecessor and his successor in the governorship of the Thebaid are also fairly precisely documented. Flavius Eutolmius Arsenius was in office in June 388 (PLRE I, 111 Fl. Eutolmius Arsenius 5), and Flavius Asclepiades Hesychius in September 390 (PLRE I, 429 Fl. Asclepiades Hesychius 4). This dates our inscription to 388/90, most probably to 389.

FURTHER DISCUSSION
Flavius Eutolmius Tatianus set up statue monuments for the same emperors at Aphrodisias, of which all the bases except that for Theodosius I (and two statues), have been found (LSA-164, LSA-166, LSA-167). The inscriptions from Aphrodisias resemble ours in their unusual formula. The emperors are 'emperors of the land under the sun' (τῆς ὑφ’ ἡλίῳ γῆς αὐτοκράτορες lines 1-2); Honorius who was not yet Augustus at this time is 'the most noble' (ἐπιφανέστατον, lines 5-6, using the standard epithet for Caesars in the earlier 4th century); Tatianus styles himself 'prefect of the sacred praetorium' (ὁ λαμπρότατος ἔπαρχος τοῦ ἱεροῦ πραιτωρίου, lines 7-8). Last but not least, Tatianus mentions 'the usual offerings' (τῇ συνήθει καθοσιώσει, lines 8-9), referring to the pagan rites that accompanied the dedication. This ostentatious and highly distinctive formula must have been chosen by the awarder, since there is no other plausible explanation for it appearing both in Egypt and in Aphrodisias.

Although dedicated to four emperors, our base can only have supported one statue. It was perhaps accompanied by further bases with identical or similar inscriptions.

Ulrich Gehn

Main Reference

Bernand, A., Les portes du désert : recueil des inscriptions grecques d'Antinooupolis, Tentyris, Koptos, Apollonopolis Parva et Apollonopolis Magna , Paris 1984, 102-4 no. 19 pl. 8

Discussion References

Jones, A. H. M. et al., The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I 260-395, Cambridge et al. 1971 (1975),

Kraus, Th., Die Basis des Epistrategen Fidus Aquila aus Antinoopolis, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Römische Abteilung 69, 128-35, Heidelberg 1962,

Wescher, C., Bullettino dell'Instituto di corrspondenza archeologica Roma 38, 150-5, Roma 1866,

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