DiscussionBase for statue of Flavius Victor Calpurnius, governor of Tripolitania, patron of Lepcis. Lepcis Magna (Tripolitania). 340-350. INSCRIPTION:In 20 lines, the first ten of which are badly damaged: [- - -]NI[- - -] [- - -] [- - -] [- 12? -]OM[…]M[- 3? -] (5) [- 12? -] honestiss[im - 3? -] [- 11? - c]ognoscendi [- 3? -] [- 12? -] perpenso • qu[- 2? -] [- 12? -]MEATO[..] ob [- 3? -] [- c.10 -] qu+ [r]em pub[l](icam) exqu[isit] (10) [is ..]++isionum g[ene]ribus feceri[t am-] pliorem • instauratori moenium pub[li] corum • quod eius innumera circa se ac suos officia supra genitalis c[i]vis affectum Lepcis magna inclita fide (15) devotione praestans multifariam sense- rit merito[ru]m eius tenacissime memor per ordini(s) sui [et] popul[i v]iros Fl(avio) Victori Calpurnio v(iro) p(erfectissimo) praesidi prov(inciae) Tripol(itanae) patrono suo statuam de- crevit et ob individuum mutui amoris affec- (20) tum eamdem se propter constituit ac dedicavit '...most honest ......of judging ...carefully considered who ... made the republic (rem publicam) greater by noteworthy ... renewer of public buildings. Because Lepcis Magna, outstanding in its celebrated loyalty and devotion, experienced on many occasions his innumerable services concerning themselves and theirs, going beyond a native citizen’s affection, and tenaciously mindful of his merits, through the men of its council and people (ordo et populus) decreed a statue for Fl(avius) Victor Calpurnius, a man of perfectissimus rank, governor (praeses) of the province of Tripolitania, its patron, and set it up and dedicated it on account of the indivisible good-will of mutual love between him and it.' PROVENANCE Old Forum. It was visible even before excavations at the end of the 19th century near the Severan exedra. It remains in situ. According to Bartoccini, a togate statue, LSA-2411, was found in front of the base. DESCRIPTION Tall moulded base of Pentelic marble; H 131, W 56, D 56. The top is broken on all sides, and the back is badly damaged. The right side is not visible. The surface is badly eroded. It has been re-used upside down. The crown moulding is now at the base and vice versa. The lower frame of the panel which received the inscription has been removed to enlarge the epigraphic field. HONORAND AND DATE The base is for a governor and patron, Fl. Victor Calpurnius (PLRE I, 177, Fl. Victor CALPURNIUS 2). An inscription from Sabratha places his term as praeses of Tripolitana under Constantius and Constans, c. 340-350. He is honoured, as is typical for governors, as an honest judge and for his restoration of public buildings (for which he is also lauded at Sabratha). If the togate statue (LSA-2411) assigned by Bartoccini to the base is correctly associated with it, he was honoured with the most appropriate and common form of statue for a governor of the fourth century. The portrait head of this older, high-imperial statue would have been re-cut so as to give Calpurnius his own identity. Main ReferenceTantillo, I. and F. Bigi (eds.), Leptis Magna. Una città e le sue iscrizioni in epoca tardoromana, Cassino 2010, 377-381, no. 35, fig. 10.40, pl. XIIReynolds, 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. 569 Discussion ReferencesBartoncini, R. 'Museo Leptitano', Notiziario Archeologico. Ministero delle Colonie 3, Rome 1922, 80, fig. 4 Linkhttp://inslib.kcl.ac.uk/irt2009/IRT569.html |
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