DiscussionBase for statue of Flavius Ortygius, military commander (comes et dux) of Tripolitania. Lepcis Magna (Tripolitania). 408-423. INSCRIPTIONIn ten lines: Ortygii. / Florentissimis saeculis / dd(ominorum) nn(ostrorum) Honori et Theodosii / p(er)p(etuorum) semper Augustorum, /(5) Fl(avio) Ortygio v(iro) c(larissimo), sp(ectabili), p(rimi) o(rdinis) com(iti) et duci p(rovinciae) T(ripolitanae), / ob insignia meritorum et labore(m) / fidemque exhibitam, / Austurianorum rabia (sic, for 'rabie') repraessa (sic, for 'repressa'), / ordo splendissimus et populus /(10) Lepcimag(nensis) civita[t]is conlocavit. '(Statue of) Ortygius. In the flourishing era of our lords Honorius and Theodosius, perpetual eternal Augusti. To Flavius Ortygius, of clarissimus rank, of spectabilis rank, count (comes) of the first order and military commander (dux) of the province of Tripolitania, on account of the tokens of his merits and his toil and loyalty diplayed; when the rage of the Austurians was repressed, the most splendid council (ordo) and people of the city of Lepcis Magna set this up.' Letter height 3.5 cm. DESCRIPTION Monolithic base of brown limestone with mouldings at top and bottom; H 120, W 56, D 56 cm. The bottom and top left corners are broken; the top face is chipped. The front and lateral faces are smoothly finished, the back face is roughly finished with a point. At the front, the top moulding was decorated with acroteria (the left one is broken). Our inscription is the second use of the base. It is carved on the right side, while an earlier inscription on the front face has been erased. The form of the mouldings suggests a date of origin (and therefore of first use) in the Severan era. PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION The base was first recorded in 1953 on the Severan forum, in front of the eastern colonnade, where it is still standing (Tantillo & Bigi 2010 map I). HONORAND, AWARDER AND DATE Flavius Ortygius, the honorand, is only known from this inscription (PLRE II, 813 Fl. Ortygius). He was of the second highest senatorial rank (spectabili, line 5), held the title of comes primi ordinis, line 5, and was military commander of the province of Tripolitania (duci provinciae Tripolitanae, line 5). The inscription makes explicit allusion to his military achievements (lines 6-8; see also below, ‘Further Discussion’). The inscription was set up by the civic bodies (ordo and populus) of Lepcis Magna.It is probably the last honorific monument that was set up on the Severan forum. The inscription is dated by the imperial names mentioned in line 3: Theodosius II was Augustus 402-50 and became sole ruler in the East after the death of his father Arcadius (not mentioned in our inscription) in 408; Arcadius’ year of death provides the terminus post quem. Honorius was Augustus 393-423; his year of death is the terminus ante quem for our inscription. FURTHER DISCUSSION This inscription testifies to the importance that the military commanders had attained in Tripolitania in the last phase of Roman dominion. Moreover, it shows that the barbarian incursions that had started in the 360s, and were temporarily suppressed in the late Valentinianic period, lingered on into the late 4th and early 5th century. Main ReferenceTantillo, I. and F. Bigi (eds.), Leptis Magna. Una città e le sue iscrizioni in epoca tardoromana, Cassino 2010, 370-371, no. 31, figs. 7.20, 10.36, pl. X |
Last Statues of Antiquity
LSA Database