Site logo
Discussion
Thumbnail

Discussion

Lost inscription for statue of Valentinian II, emperor, re-using LSA-2201. Lepcis Magna (Tripolitania). circa 378.

INSCRIPTION
In ten lines:

Divina stirpe progenito, / d(omino) n(ostro), fortissimo principi, / Valentiniano, victori, pio, / felici ac triumphatori, /(5) semper Augusto; / Fl(avius) Vivius Benedictus, v(ir) p(erfectissimus), / pr(a)eses provinciae / Tripolitanae, numini / maiestatique eius /(10) semper devotus.

'To our lord, born of divine stock, the most powerful emperor Valentinianus, victor, pious, fortunate and triumphant, forever Augustus. Flavius Vivius Benedictus, of perfectissimus rank, governor (praeses) of the province of Tripolitania, always devote to his divine spirit and majesty, [set this up].'

Letter height not recorded.

DESCRIPTION
Only two fragments of the back face are today extant. Our inscription was recorded by travellers of the late 17th and 18th centuries (see below, ‘Provenance and Current Location’); the back face carries an earlier inscription to the local notable Titus Flavius Vibianus iunior from the mid- or earlier 4th century (LSA-2201).

PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION
The inscription was first recorded on the Severan forum in 1694 by the French traveller Durand, then again in 1731 by a Dutch traveller. The face with our inscription has been untraceable since, and is probably lost.

HONORAND, AWARDER AND DATE
Valentinian II, the honorand, was Augustus 375-92.

Flavius Vivius Benedictus, the awarder, was governor (praeses) of the province of Tripolitania (PLRE I, 160 Benedictus 4). He set up another, almost identical inscription to Valentinian II in Gigthis (LSA-1758). He himself was honoured with a statue in Lepcis (LSA-2188; Tantillo & Bigi no. 42), that is very precisely dated to 8/9 June 378 by a consular date, and that provides the closest dating for our inscription.

FURTHER DISCUSSION
It is very possible that this dedication to the youngest member of the imperial college of 378 was accompanied by statues to the other emperors (his elder brother Gratian, and their uncle Valens). However, an inscription to Gratian from the Severan forum (LSA-2157) was set up by the people of Lepcis, not the governor, and so was almost certainly dedicated on another occasion.

The historical context in which the dedication was probably set up was the end of the legal process by the province of Tripolitania against the comes Romanus (Tantillo & Bigi 2010, 22-4).

Ignazio Tantillo & Francesca Bigi

Main Reference

Tantillo, I. and F. Bigi (eds.), Leptis Magna. Una città e le sue iscrizioni in epoca tardoromana, Cassino 2010, 334, no. 12

Reynolds, J. M. & J. B. Ward-Perkins, The Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania. In collaboration with S. Aurigemma, R. Bartoccini, G. Caputo, R. Goodchild, P. Romanelli, Roma 1952, no. 476