DiscussionRe-used base for statue of Diocletian, emperor. Luna (Tuscia et Umbria). 286. INSCRIPTIONIn ten lines. Letter height 6-3 cm. Magno et / invicto / imp(eratori) Caes(ari) C(aio) Val(erio) / Diocletiano, /(5) p(io), f(elici), Aug(usto), pont(ifici) max(imo), / trib(unicia) pot(estate) III, co(n)s(uli) II, / p(atri) p(atriae), pro co(n)s(uli), ordo / populusq(ue) Lunen(sium) / d(evoti) n(umini) m(aiestatique) /(10) eius. 'To the great and unconquered emperor Caesar Caius Valerius Diocletianus, pious, fortunate, Augustus, pontifex maximus, with tribunician power for the third time, consul for the second time, father of the country, proconsul; the council and people of Luni [set this up], devoted to his divine spirit and majesty.' DESCRIPTION Marble base, 83.5 x 57 x 52.5 cm. The base was originally used for a dedication to a local notable in the 1st-2nd c. A.D. It was re-used and a new inscription was carved at the back. This inscription was thoroughly erased, and the base was used a third time for a statue dedicated to the emperor Carinus in 283. This inscription, carved on the left side of the original dedication, was soon erased, and a new inscription on the opposite side recorded the dedication of our statue, to Diocletian. The top of the base has a square hole and a channel for pouring lead (Frova 1984, 22). The statue was not affixed directly onto the base, but onto a circular plinth (Frova 1984, 23). PROVENANCE AND LOCATION Our base was found out-of-context, re-used as part of pillar of the basilica of S. Marco, in Sarzana (province of La Spezia) (Podestà 1890, 376-377). Other statue-bases were found on the same occasion, including one used twice in the early fourth century (LSA-1618 and LSA-1619). As our inscription records, however, these bases came from nearby Luni (http://www.trismegistos.org/place/31016). Frova 1984, 20 suggests that these bases might have come from the area of the Capitolium, due to their number and importance. Our base is now in La Spezia, at the Archaeological museum. HONORAND, AWARDER AND DATE Our base was dedicated to the emperor Diocletian in 286, when he held the tribunician power for the third time and the consulship for the second time (Kienast 1990, 267-268). The base was dedicated by the ordo and people of Luni. Main ReferenceCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum; , XI, 6956cBertinelli, A. and A. Frova, Marmora Lunensia Erratica, Sarzana 1983, pp. 183-189 Discussion ReferencesFrova, A., "De statuarum basibus", Quaderni del Centro di studi Lunensi, 9, 1984, Kienast, D., Römische Kaisertabelle : Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie, Darmstadt, 1996, pp. 267-268 Podestà, P., "Sarzana - Nuove scoperte nell'antica Luni", Notizia degli Scavi di Antichità, 1890, |
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