DiscussionBase for statue of 'Liber'. Lepcis Magna (Tripolitania). Third century. INSCRIPTIONIn three lines: Sum Liber / Amorq(ue) deus / et pulcher Apollo. 'I am Liber, and the god Amor and beautiful Apollo.' Letter height 9 cm. DESCRIPTION Monolithic base of compact grey limestone, moulded at top and bottom; H 97, W 64, D 59 cm. The epigraphic field is set back against the horizontal bands at the upper and lower mouldings. PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION The inscription is standing in situ on the decumanus east of the Chalcidicum. There it was possibly part of the decoration of the entrance of a monumental building. The statue on top of the base was possibly older than this structure and may have been set up here in a process of redeployment of older statuary, similar to the one inaugurated by the governor Rusticus in the 4th century (LSA-2219, LSA-2220, LSA-2221, LSA-2222). HONORAND AND DATE The statue on top, found nearby, combined features of the three divinities named in the inscription, Liber, Amor and Apollo. The letter form suggests a date in the 3rd century for our inscription. Main ReferenceTantillo, I. and F. Bigi (eds.), Leptis Magna. Una città e le sue iscrizioni in epoca tardoromana, Cassino 2010, 480-481, no. 87, figs. 7.15, 10.103Reynolds, 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. 299 |
Last Statues of Antiquity
LSA Database