DiscussionBase for statue, with inscription to Constantine I and Crispus (later altered to Constantius II), emperors. Ephesus (Asia). 317 (alteration 326-337) INSCRIPTIONIn nine lines: [ --------- ] / [d]oct[rina, aequita]/te(?), iudic[io rei pu]/[b]l[i]cae rec[tori, et] / [F]l(avio) Iul(io) Con[stantio, nob(ili)]/ (5) Caesari, / Petron[ius Annianus], / v(ir) cl(larissimus), et Iu[lius Iulianus], /v(ir) em(inentissimus), prae[f(ecti) praet(orii), nu]/mini eius sempe[r dica]/tissi[mi]. '[To Constantine] ... ruler of the commonwealth (res publica) with learning, equity and good judgement, and to Flavius Iulius Constantius, noble Caesar. Petronius Annianus, of clarissimus rank, and Iulius Iulianus, of eminentissimus rank, praetorian prefects, both most dedicated to his divine spirit, [set this up].' Letter height 3.5 - 4.5 cm. In line 4, the name of Constantius II is written over an erasure; the former honorand (together with Constantine I) must have been Constantine's son Gaius Flavius Iulius Valerius Crispus, who suffered damnatio memoriae after his fall and murder in 326 (see below, 'Honorand, Awarder and Date'). DESCRIPTION Fragment of a greyish-blue marble block, broken and lost on all sides except for the lower left corner; H 86, W 29, D 11 cm. The top face is not preserved. The thinness of the block (11 cm) suggests that the fragment is part of a plaque or revetment from a base built primarily of some other material; it is possible, but unlikely, that it was cut, at a later date, from a full marble base. PROVENANCE AND MOST RECENTLY RECORDED LOCATION The inscription's exact provenance is unknown, but it is presumably from Ephesus. It was first recorded by J. Keil in 1935 in the Selcuk museum (as mentioned in sketchbook no. 2558), where it perhaps remains (though we have not seen it). HONORAND, AWARDER AND DATE The monument was originally dedicated to Constantine I and his son Crispus after he was elevated to the rank of Caesar in 317 (see above, 'Inscription'). Crispus was murdered in 326. After his death, his name was erased and replaced by that of Constantine's son Constantius II. The inscription was awarded by two praetorian prefects, Petronius Annianus (PLRE I, 68-9 Petronius Annianus 2) and Iulius Iulianus (PLRE I, 478-9 Iulius Iulianus 35) (lines 6-7). Petronius Annianus was Constantine's prefect and held office in 315-17 after he had been consul in 314; his consulship is not mentioned here, probably to create an image of equal rank of the two prefects. Iulius Iulianus was Licinius' prefect in 315-24. The inscription is precisely dated to 317 by their shared time in office and by the date of Crispus' elevation. The precise date of the rededication, with the name of Constantius II, cannot be ascertained; it is likely to have occurred very soon after Crispus' fall in 326, but might have happened at a later date, up to 337 (when Constantine I died, and when Constantius II was elevated to the rank of Augustus). FURTHER DISCUSSION The same prefects in common set up a dedication to Constantine I and Licinius in Tropaea (LSA-1120). Main ReferenceWankel, H. et al., Die Inschriften von Ephesos II. Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien vol. 12, Bonn 1979, 112-113, no. 312 |
Last Statues of Antiquity
LSA Database