DiscussionBase for statue of Constantine II, emperor. Ulpia Augusta Traiana (Thracia). 337-340 INSCRIPTIONIn 14 lines: τὸν εἰρήνης πρόμ̣[αχον] / καὶ ἁπάσης εὐδαιμο[νίας] / χορηγόν, τὸν τὰς ὅ̣[λας ?] / ἀναιμωτὶ νείκας ἀπ[ὸ τῆς] /(5) ἑσπέρας μέχρι τῆς ἕ[ω] / ἀν[αιρ]η̣σάμενον καὶ τὴ̣[ν] / τῶν Αὐτοκρατόρων τε [καὶ] / ἀε̣[ιδί]ων Αὐγούστων πισ[τω]/σάμενον προσηγορί[αν] /(10) Φλ(άβιον) Κωνσταντεῖνον τ[ὸν] / μέγιστον ἡ βουλὴ κα[ὶ] / [ὁ δ]ῆμος Τραιανέων ἡγε̣[μο]/νευόντος Φλ(αβίου) Παλλαδίο[υ] / τοῦ διασημοτάτου. 'To the champion of peace and chorus leader of all good fortune, who renewed all victories from West to East without bloodshed, who guarantees the friendship of the emperors and eternal Augusti, Flavius Constantinus, the most powerful. The council and the people of the Traianeans [set this up] when Flavius Palladius, of perfectissmus rank, was governor (praeses) [of the province of Thrace].' Letter height 4.3 cm. DESCRIPTION (from Kalinka 1906 and the published drawing) Tall rectangular base: H 180, W 62, D 65 cm. The base was possibly once moulded, the mouldings being worked back for a later use of the block. The surface above and below the epigraphic field is only roughly finished, possibly the result of the later reworking. The epigraphic field, 80 cm high, is slightly cut back from the surface and extends across the whole width of the block. PROVENANCE AND LOCATION The base was found in the village of Kjuse Mahala in the district of Nova Zagora, about 35 km east of Stara Zagora (ancient Augusta Traiana), from which it presumably came. There is no published record of its present location. HONORAND, AWARDER, AND DATE The honorand, Constantine II, the oldest son of Constantine I, was Augustus 337-40. When after his father's death in 337 the empire was divided amongst the three sons, Constantine II held the western prefecture with Gaul, Spain, and Britain. The province of Thracia, in which Augusta Traiana lay, belonged to the eastern empire ruled by Constantius II. However, Constantine II asserted a degree of seniority over his brothers, a claim reflected in our inscription, with its grandiloquent claims that he was the guarantor of the unity of the family, and victor from West to East. (Tantillo 1999 provides a full discussion of the inscription with a penetrating analysis of the text. The honorand has usually been identified as Constantine I, 306-37; however, the dates of Flavius Palladius' governorship appear to exclude this, as indeed does the mention in line 8 of the inscription to 'the friendship of the Augusti', in the plural) The awarder Flavius Palladius, (praeses) of the province of Thracia, (PLRE I, 661 Fl. Palladius 17) is also known from an inscription of 341, set up in Augusta Traiana to the emperor Constans (LSA-1112). Since governors very seldom held office for more than a couple of years, and since Palladius is known to have been governor in 341, our dedication is likely to date from 339 or 340, its terminus ante quem being determined by the death of Constantine II. Main ReferenceL'Année épigraphique, , 1907 no. 47Kalinka, E., Antike Denkmäler in Bulgarien (Schriften der Balkankommission, Antiquarische Abteilung, IV), Vienna 1906, pp. 69-70 no. 75 Beševliev, V., Spätgriechische und spätlateinische Inschriften aus Bulgarien, Berlin 1964, 128-9 no. 190 Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, , 52, 2002 no. 695 Discussion ReferencesJones, A. H. M. et al., The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I 260-395, Cambridge et al. 1971 (1975), Tantillo, I., L'ideologia imperiale tra centro e periferie. A proposito di un 'elogio' di Costantino da Augusta Traiana in Tracia, Rivista di Filologia e di istruzione classica 127, 1999, 73-95, |
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