DiscussionBase for statue of Constantine II, emperor. Verecunda (Numidia). 317-337 INSCRIPTIONIn ten lines: Perpetuo ac / fortissimo / Caesari, Flavio / Constantino / (5) iuniori, ordo / municipii / Verecunden/sium, devotus nu/mini maiestatiq(ue) / eorum. 'To the perpetual and most powerful Caesar, Flavius Constantinus the Younger, the council (ordo) of the city(municipium) of the Verecundenses, devoted to their divine spirit and majesty, [set this up].' DESCRIPTION (from CIL) Of this base, CIL gives no description, other than its measurements: H 125, W. 65 cm, depth unrecorded. PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION Found in the forum. There is no published record of its subsequent location. HONORAND, AWARDER AND DATE The honorand, Constantine II, was Caesar from 317 to 337, when (on the death of his father Constantine) he became Augustus. As usual for imperial statues in Africa, the awarder was the city, here specifically the council (ordo). Our base was certainly set up with another statue (or statues), since its inscription ends with the words 'devoted to their divine spirit and majesty', rather than the usual 'devoted to his divine spirit and majesty'. One of these other statues may have been dedicated to Crispus, who was elevated to the rank of Caesar at the same time as Constantine II (in 317), but fell from grace in 326 (LSA-2381). If so, and if the two bases are contemporary, then our base was erected before Crispus' fall in 326. Main ReferenceCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum; , VIII, no. 4226Lepelley, C., Les cités de l'Afrique romaine au Bas-Empire, t. 2, Notices d'histoire municipale, Paris 1981, p. 489, no. 2 |
Last Statues of Antiquity
LSA Database