Titus Colosseum SestertiusLinked to Judaea (original) (raw)
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Roman Britain in 2019 INSCRIPTIONS
Britannia , 2020
Irregular block of buff sandstone, the inscribed face 0.50 by 0.28 m, 0.70 m thick, found 4 in 2013-17. This face is more or less flat but untooled, and into it has been cut a rectangular lewis hole. Nearby, three letters have been incised with a gouge: SII[.. .], probably s(inistra) II [.. .]. 'On the left, 2 (or more)'. 5 1 Inscriptions on STONE ('Monumental', but including graffiti) have been arranged as in the order followed by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright in The Roman Inscriptions of Britain I (Oxford 1965) and (slightly modified) by R.S.O. Tomlin, R.P. Wright and M.W.C. Hassall in The Roman Inscriptions of Britain III (Oxford 2009), which are henceforth cited respectively as RIB (1-2400) and RIB III (3001-3550). Citation is by item and not page number. Inscriptions on PERSONAL BELONGINGS and the like (instrumentum domesticum) have been arranged alphabetically by site under their counties. For each site they have been ordered as in RIB, pp. xiii-xiv. The items of instrumentum domesticum published in the eight fascicules of RIB II (Gloucester and Stroud 1990-95), edited by S.S. Frere and R.S.O. Tomlin, are cited by fascicule, by the number of their category (RIB 2401-505) and by their sub-number within it (e.g. RIB II.2, 2415.53). Non-literate graffiti and graffiti with fewer than three complete letters have generally been excluded. When measurements are quoted, the width precedes the height. 2 Associated with Roman pottery in a Roman triple-ditched enclosure, during excavation by AC Archaeology, from where Naomi Payne sent details and a photograph. It will be deposited in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. 3 The lower edge is broken, and the bottom of the letters lost. Thus it is not certain they should be read this way up, but there is a horizontal line above IX which continues downward, cutting the arm of X, which must have been there already. This would have marked IX as a numeral, and also the end of the graffito. The incomplete first letter is probably L, made with an initial leftward 'serif' that continued downwards and then to the right, judging by the space before IX. It would have resembled the L in RIB 394 ('LXX'). L is not expressly marked as a numeral, and might otherwise be an abbreviation such as l(atum) ('wide') or l(ongum) ('long') found on some grave-markers, but the numeral which then follows is always identified as 'feet' (p(edes)). In view of the next item, L might even be l(aeua), 'on the left', but there is no explicit instance of this. Two of the Richborough fragments mentioned below (RIB 61 and 62) are inscribed with a bold L followed by a smaller IIII, III or XIV, which also raises this possibility. 4 During excavation by Northern Archaeological Associates before the upgrading of the A1 (Dere Street). Julie Shoemark sent details and photographs. It will be published with the graffiti from these excavations (see below, note to no. 34). 5 The bottom of the letters is now lost, and it is also unclear whether the inscription once extended further to the right. Since a sequence STT is almost impossible, the 'T'-like figures must be the barred digits of a numeral. In Britain, some building stones carry a numeral (e.g. RIB 1326, 1370-2, 1379), but none is preceded by S. Instead, compare the building stone from Mainz inscribed SIIII (CIL XIII 11909, as drawn in Mainzer Zeitschrift 6 (1911), 126, no. 18) and especially the two fragments of marble casing from Périgueux (J.-P. Bost and G. Fabre, Inscriptions Latines d'Aquitaine (2011), 132, 133) inscribed S II[.. .] and S III, which the editors understand as s(inistra) II[.. .] and III. These recall the fragments of marble casing from Richborough (RIB 58-65) and Wroxeter (RIB III, 3142) inscribed with numerals on the reverse which must be a guide to assembly, like the groups of voussoir stones from Corbridge (RIB 1196), Halton Chesters (RIB III, 3289) and Vindolanda (RIB 1720; III, 3361-2) inscribed with numerals to mark their position in the arches they would constitute. The annotation SI̅ I̅ [.. .], s(inistra II[.. .], may thus be understood to mark the stone's position in the structure into which it was to be lifted by means of the lewis hole; this was quite likely the river Swale bridge-abutment at Catterick, just as most of the large facing stones of the Chesters bridge-abutment are cut with lewis holes (D.J. Breeze, J. Collingwood Bruce's Handbook to the Roman Wall (2006), 192-3), although they are not numbered.
On the inscribing in stone of Augustus' Res Gestae, ZPE 220 (2021) 281-289
ZPE 220, 2021
This paper explores the implications of the often neglected fact that the Res Gestae Divi Augusti (RGDA) at Ankara formed part of an extensive epigraphic display at the Temple of Augustus and Rome. It is suggested that the initial design of the epigraphic décor on the temple intended the viewer to relate Augustus’ euergetism with the euergetism of the earliest Galatian priests of the imperial cult, and that those same local notables who had served as priests, and who sought to present the emperor as their role model, are more likely candidates for having initiated the inscribing of this set of texts than (as is usually assumed) the Galatian provincial governor. The argument is based on: a) a comparison of the RGDA with epigraphic ensembles of Roman imperial times that are related to euergetism; b) a re-evaluation of the fact that the so-called “Appendix” and the headings of both the Latin and the Greek versions of Augustus’ deeds all deliberately highlight one and the same aspect of Augustus’ legacy: his euergetic donations, and c) the consequences of a recent re-dating of a list of priests of the imperial cult, which included a detailed record of each successive office-holder’s donations for euergetic purposes.
Materials for the Study of Late Antique and Medieval Greek and Latin Inscriptions in Istanbul
2020
This six-line dodecasyllable epigram is inscribed on the east face of the base of the Masonry Obelisk (Built Obelisk) in the Hippodrome in Constantinople (fig. 1). It is still in situ, although damaged; it is also recorded in several surviving manuscripts. The most recent edition of the text can be found in A. Rhoby, Epigramme auf Stein, no. TR 53, with previous bibliography. The Masonry Obelisk was likely constructed in the fourth century CE, perhaps as an Ersatz-monument for a monolithic Egyptian Obelisk that had been delayed in transport (possibly the one later erected as the Theodosian Obelisk in the Hippodrome) (See, Ine Jacobs, Chapter 2). The Masonry Obelisk is said to be 32 meters high, the same height as the Lateran Obelisk in Rome, which was erected under Constantius II in the Circus Maximus in 357. Whatever the date of the original construction of the Masonry Obelisk in Constantinople, it had apparently fallen into disrepair by the tenth century, when Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (r. 913-959) had it renovated and covered with bronze platting (now lost). This activity was commemorated in the epigram inscribed on the obelisk's base. It is unclear how, or whether, the bronze platting was attached to the ashlar stones of the obelisk itself, or whether it covered only the obelisk's base, where numerous revetment holes are apparent on every side of the base (fig. 2), except for the east side, which bears the inscription. Written in majuscule letters without accents, with a regular layout, the epigram emphasizes the "wonder" and "spectacle" aspects of the obelisk. The top two lines of the inscription are badly abraded, although it is unclear whether it was intentionally damaged at some late date or it has simply been worn over time. Constantine VII's son, Romanos, is mentioned in the text, which gives a date for the composition between 945-959, when Romanos was co-emperor with this father. The praise given to Romanos as Constantine's "child" may suggest the need to legitimize this Romanos in contrast with Constantine's deposed father-in-law, Romanos Lekapenos, or alternatively, it may indicate that the epigram was composed late in Constantine VII's reign by someone more closely affiliated with the young heir to the throne, as recently suggested by P. Magdalino.
Roman inscriptions. Millenarian messages in the Eternal City
2020
On the streets of Rome there are not only posters, advertising hoardings or plaques bearing the names of avenues, but you can also read texts that were written two thousand years ago. For example, you can find the name of Agrippa on the Pantheon’s façade, or that of the Emperor Titus on the triumphal arch in the Forum. The Romans were the first to use these types of texts engraved on stone consistently. They called them tituli and today they are known as inscriptions. They were engraved on durable materials to ensure their survival and they were placed in public spaces to maximize the circulation of their message. The Romans even developed the ideal script for writing on stone, capitalis quadrata, which is characterized by its elegance and legibility. This monumental form of writing was used to create solemn timeless messages, that became so popular they ended up inundating the city of Rome. This book explains why the Romans used these inscriptions and what they were used for. To do so it draws on the views of the Romans themselves – Cicero and Pliny amongst others – , which are illustrated with some of the most renowned inscriptions that can still be found on the streets of Rome. PEAI project: Public Epigraphy in Ancient Italy (III-I BC) This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement Nº 794476 This publication provides a didactic summary of the theoretical aspects within this project, specifically, the concept of public epigraphy, accompanied by examples of inscriptions in the ancient period that visitors may find within the city. Nine inscriptions were selected as illustrative instances of Latin inscriptions still visible in Roman streets: 1. Pons Fabricius, 2. Caecilia Metella funerary monument, 3. funerary monument to Gaius Cestius, 4. the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, 5. the Arch of Titus, 6. the Arch of Septimius Severus, 7. the Arch of Constantine, 8. Pantheon and 9. Trajan’s column. See also the Instagram account @writtenrome Epigraphein 1 Ignacio Simon Cornago 2020 Arbor Sapientiae Editore - Roma ISBN: 978-88-31341-26-4