ISic003588: Honours for Emperor Volusianus

Latin, honorific, plaque

edited, View in current site

Photo J.Prag courtesy Soprintendenza BBCCAA di Messina
1[...]CAESivy-leaf
2[.......]ivy-leafAFINIOivy-leaf
3[....].ivy-leafBEL
4[...........]
5[......---]
[---]

Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy and study for edition of 2017

English translation

To Imperator Caesar Caius Vibius Afinius Gallus Veldumnianus Volusianus...

Physical description

Support

Description
[object Object]
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 35.5 cm, width: 38 cm, depth: 2.0-2.7 cm

Inscription

Layout
Parts of three lines of Latin text are preserved, with guide lines top and bottom of each line.
Text condition
No data
Lettering
The letters are V-cut, less neatly executed than the inscription on the other side of the stone (77-78 mm tall, except for final O of line 2, 35 mm). The letters are relatively tall and narrow and become more condensed in lines 2 and 3. All letters have pronounced serifs, acutely angled away from the line on horizontal strokes. N in line 2 leans to the right; F and E have shorter second horizontal; B is open with a smaller upper eye; A on occasion has an extended upper stroke. Word breaks are marked by use of an elegant hedera, often with a long stem.
Letter heights
Lines 1-3: 77-78mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation: not measured

Provenance

Place of origin
Halaesa
Provenance found
Excavated in 1971, in room 7 of the west portico of the agora
Map

Current location

Place
Halaesa, Italy
Repository
Antiquarium e sito archeologico di Halaesa, 30600B
Autopsy
On display in the lapidarium on site
Map
TODO: use the geo information in the museums dataset

Date

AD 251 – AD 253
Evidence
internal-date

Text type

honorific

commentary

The presence of CAES(ari) and AFINIO provide the key to this text, which appears to be preserved for about 50% of its width, since the first part of the standard titulature of the emperor Volusianus is Imperator Caesar Caius Vibius Afinius (June 251-October 253 AD; see Peachin, M. 1990. Roman Imperial Titulature and Chronology, A.D. 235-284. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, at 277-280 for titulature). Given this identification, the most plausible interpretation of the letters BEL (note absence of interpunct after the L, suggesting this is not the end of the word), would seem to be the name Veldumnianus, which follows the name Gallus in most dedications to this emperor. Variant renderings of this presumably unfamiliar (in Sicily) name are fairly common (e.g. AE 1953 no.12, Uldum[nia]no, CIL 8 no.22465, Voldumiano), but in this case we have an example of the very standard confusion of B and V. The substitution of B for V is more common generally in intervocalic positions, but well attested, particularly in Rome and southern Italy, in the initial position also (see Adams, J. 2007. The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC - AD 600. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, at 624-666). Although good statistics for Sicily are not available, the phenomenon is attested on the island.

It is impossible to be certain exactly which of Volusianus’ other titles followed in the rest of this text, although the apparent narrowness of the stone implies a shorter rather than a longer text. Most simply one might expect Imperator Caesar Caius Vibius Afinius Gallus Veldumnianus Volusianus Pius Felix Augustus, and at the end perhaps Res Publica Halaesinorum, given that this was the body named in the honorific for the immediately preceding Emperor, Traianus Decius ISic003587

The earlier inscription ISic003589 is on the reverse of this stone.

Bibliography

Digital editions

Citation and editorial status

Citation
No data