DiscussionPlaque, probably from base for statue, with dedication to Maximian and Constantius I, emperors. Rome. 302-303. INSCRIPTIONIn nine lines. Pace ac bello maxim[is ---] / dominis nostris, M(arco) Au[r(elio) Val(erio) Maximiano], / pio, felici, Augusto, semper [---] / Flavio Valerio Constant[io, nobilissimo Caes(ari)], /(5) pietate eorum et cle[mentia ---] / aucto honore conseṛ[vatus---]. / Nummius Tuscus, v(ir) c(larissimus), pra[ef(ectus) urbi], / curator aquarum et [Miniciae], / numini eorum sem[per devotus]. 'To our lords, greatest in peace and war, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus, pious, Fortunate, Augustus, forever …, and Flavius Valerius Constantius, most noble Caesar, with their devotion and clemency… honour augmented… Nummius Tuscus, of clarissimus rank, prefect of the City, supervisor of the aqueducts and of the porticus Minicia, forever devoted to their divine spirit [set this up].' Dessau suggests, on l. 3, '[et ubique victori et]'. On line 6, last word partially preserved might be 'consen[su...]'. The restoration on line 7, 'pra[ef(ectus) urbi]', is certain. This is a dedicatory inscription, probably of a statue, although we cannot be certain of it. It is interesting to notice that, contrary to the usual, our inscription records not only the position the awarder held at the time of the dedication, but also his precious post. DESCRIPTION (CIL) Marble slab. There was an earlier inscription on the back, to the emperor Gallienus (253-268). PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION The inscription was discovered during works on the Quirinal, near the crossing of via XX Settembre and Via Firenze, during destruction of a building identified as a private house (CIL). Other inscriptions related to Tuscus were found in this area, including some of more private character. It is possible that this was the house of the Nummii (Guidobaldi 1995, 146), in which case this would be an imperial dedication in a domestic context. the current location of our monument is not recorded. HONORAND, AWARDER AND DATE The inscription records a dedication to Maximian and Constantius I, respectively Augustus and Caesar, from 295 to 303. Nummius Tuscus was consul in 295 (not mentioned in the inscription), supervisor of the aqueducts some time between 295 and 302, and prefect of the City between 302 and 303 (PLRE I, 926-927 Tuscus 1), when this inscription was commissioned. Main ReferenceCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum; , VI, 31378b (+p. 4344)Dessau, H., Inscriptiones latinae selectae, Berlin 3rd ed. 1962, 643 Discussion ReferencesGuidobaldi, F., "Domus: Nummii", Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae, vol. 2, Rome 1995, pp. 146-147 Jones, A. H. M. et al., The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I 260-395, Cambridge et al. 1971 (1975), pp. 926-927 (Tuscus 1) |
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