DiscussionLost base for statue of Constantine I, emperor. Corduba (Baetica). 312-324 INSCRIPTIONIn ten lines: D(omino) n(ostro), imp(eratori) Caes(ari) / Flav(io) [Val(erio)] Constantino, max(imo), / pio, felici, aeterno Aug(usto), / Q(uintus) Aeclanius Hermias, v(ir) p(erfectissimus), / (5) a(gens) v(icem) praef(ectorum) praet(orio), et / iudex sacrarum / cognitionum, / numini maiestatiq(ue) / eius semper / dicatissimus. 'To our lord, the emperor Caesar Flavius Valerius Constantinus, most powerful, pious, fortunate, eternal Augustus. Quintus Aeclanius Hermias, of perfectissimus rank, acting deputy for the praetorian prefects (agens vices praefectorum praetorio), judge in the imperial court of appeal (iudex sacrarum cognitionum), always most dedicated to his divine spirit and majesty, [set this up].' Letter height not recorded. DESCRIPTION Statue base. No measurements are given. There is no published image. PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION The statue was recorded in 1624 by the 'Puerta de Sevilla' just outside the palace of the Christian kings (CIL II; the source quoted there, Rivas 1624, which also gives an illustration, was not available to us). The inscription is now lost. HONORAND, AWARDER AND DATE The honorand, Constantine I, was Augustus 306-37. The inscription styles him maximus using the title awarded him by the Senate in 312 (Barnes 1982) and applied regularly in epigraphy from 315 onwards (Grünwald 1990), which provides a terminus post quem. However he is not styled victor or triumphator, titles he adopted after his defeat of Licinius in 324, which suggets that our inscription was set up before that date. The awarder, Quintus Aeclanius Hermias, is known only from this inscription (PLRE I, 422, Hermias 3). He was agens vices praefectorum praetorio ('acting as deputy for the praetorian prefects'), rather than vicarius (as he might be styled later), because in the very early 4th century the praetorian prefectures and their vicariates had not yet been fixed (Noethlichs 1982). Main ReferenceCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum; , II 2203Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum; , II²/7, 263 Discussion ReferencesBarnes, T. D., The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine, Cambridge (Mass.) 1982, p. 24 Grünewald, T., Constantinus Maximus Augustus. Herrschaftspropaganda in der zeitgenössischen Überlieferung, Stuttgart 1990, pp. 86-92 |
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