ISic001831: Fragment of a clipeus with a dedication to a Julio-Claudian Princeps

I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana; photo J. Prag 2023-05-09
ID
ISic001831
Language
Latin
Text type
dedication
Object type
shield
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy

Physical description

Support

Description
Lower central marginal fragment with a curvilinear edge, likely part of a clipeus framed by a wreath of oak leaves and acorns oriented toward the lower center. The frame is separated from the epigraphic field by a very fine chiseled groove. The surface is smoothly finished in the inscribed field, while the rear shows traces of working.
Object type
shield
Material
marble
Condition
fragment
Dimensions
height: 27 cm, width: 32 cm, depth: 2-5 cm

Inscription

Layout
Part of three Latin letters: NCI
Text condition
incomplete
Lettering

Letter heights
Line 1: greater than 35mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Centuripae
Provenance found
Discovered by Guido Libertini in 1925 in one of the spaces of the so-called "Edificio degli Augustales" near the former Mulino Barbagallo. The report does not clarify the exact findspot; the archaeologist merely places the fragment among other inscribed pieces discovered in the area: "un altro (scil. fragment) con una corona di foglie di lauro, scadente lavoro dei bassi tempi imperiali, ed un’epigrafe inscritta di cui rimangono le tre lettere ...NCI”
Map

Current location

Place
Centuripe, Italy
Repository
Museo Archeologico Regionale di Centuripe , KA0863
Autopsy
Prado 2023-05-09
Map

Date

Late 1st century BCE - first half of the 1st century CE (5 BC – AD 54)
Evidence
lettering, textual-context

Text type

dedication

commentary

Dedication to a princeps, presumably of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. This interpretation is supported by the find context, the form of the object, and the decoration of the frame. The fragment likely belonged to a group of portraits and dedications to members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, discovered in Vallata Difesa. The oak leaves with acorns, symbol of the corona civica, evoke Augustan propaganda. However, princeps is not part of the titulature used for Augustus in epigraphic attestations. The dedicatee may be identified as one or both sons of Julia and Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius, principes iuventutis.

Bibliography

Digital editions
  • TM: -
  • EDR: -
  • EDH: -
  • EDCS: -
  • PHI: -
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Francesca Prado
Contributors
Last revision
7/27/2025