DiscussionLost plaque, possibly from base for statue of Diocletian, emperor. Fons Timavi (Venetia et Histria). 285-286. INSCRIPTIONIn five lines: [Magno et in]victo imp(eratori) Caesari / [C(aio) Aur(elio) Di]ocletiano, pio, fel(ici) / [Augusto, po]nt(ifici) max(imo), trib(unicia) pot(estate) III, / [co(n)s(uli) II, p(atri) p(atriae), p]roco(n)s(uli), Acilius Clarus, /(5) [v(ir) c(larissimus), corrector I]tal(iae), dev(otus) num(ini) mai(estatique) ei(us). 'To the great and unconquered emperor, Caesar Caius Aurelius Diocletianus, pious, fortunate, Augustus, highest priest (pontifex maximus), holding tribunician power for the third time, consul for the second time, father of the fatherland, proconsul. Acilius Clarus, of clarissimus rank, governor (corrector) of Italy, devoted to his divine spirit and majesty, [set this up].' Letter height not recorded. We reproduce the inscription with the completions suggested by Sticotti 1951 (= Inscriptiones Italiae X, 4). The epigraphic formula with the honorand in the dative, and an awarder in the nominative, suggests that this was possibly a statue base; but see below, ’Description’. DESCRIPTION (from Inscriptiones Italiae X.4 and the published image) Portion of a white marble plaque, H 43, W 81, D 6.5 cm. The plaque is vertically broken, the beginnings of all lines are lost. The inscription is framed on all extant sides. The epigraphic formula would fit a statue base (see above, ’Inscription’); however, the oblong format of the block suggests that it was rather a building inscription (as suggested by Sticotti 1951). PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION The inscription was found in the region of modern Duino, between Tergeste and Aquileia. This is the area of ancient Fons Timavi (http://www.trismegistos.org/place/12273). According to CIL the inscription was found in the Castello di Miramare, north of Trieste. The inscription is now lost (Sticotti 1951 thinks it was lost in World War I). HONORAND, AWARDER AND DATE Diocletian, the honorand, was Augustus 284-305. The extant portion of the inscription records his third holding of tribunician power (line 3), from 10 Dec 285 - 9 Dec 286 (Kienast 1996, 264); our inscription was therefore most probably set up in 286. Acilius Clarus, the honorand, was governor (corrector) of Italy (PLRE I, 206 Acilius Clarus 2; Thomasson 1996, 194 no. 74). At the time he held office, Italy was not yet split up into provinces; there were only one or two correctores to administer the peninsula (Chastagnol 1982, 170). Main ReferenceCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum; , V, 8205Inscriptiones Italiae, Rome 1931-, X.4, 330 Discussion ReferencesJones, A. H. M. et al., The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I 260-395, Cambridge et al. 1971 (1975), Kienast, D., Römische Kaisertabelle : Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie, Darmstadt, 1996, Thomasson, B. E., Fasti Africani. Senatorische und ritterliche Amtsträger in den römischen Provinzen Nordafrikas von Augustus bis Diokletian, Stockholm 1996, 194 no. 74 Linkhttp://www.edr-edr.it/edr_programmi/res_complex_comune.php?do=book&id_nr=EDR092730&provinz=&land=&fo_antik=&Bibliografia=&Testo=&booltesto=AND&Testo2=&bool=AND&ordinamento=id_nr&javasi=javascriptsi&se_foto=tutte&lang=ita |
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