DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0149
Africa under Trajan
99
or panels that were to receive inscriptions. In addition a white
limestone, in texture and appearance like white marble, was
reserved for columns and decorative features of public and other
buildings of an ornate character. This excellent material was
quarried some twenty miles distant.
The inscriptions found at Timegad have an interest quite
apart from the architectural remains. It seems to have been
the custom here from the time of Trajan till the reign of
Gordian III., A.D. 238-244, to record on marble or stone the
names and titles of citizen benefactors, and consequently an
unusually large number of dedicatory pedestals and slabs have
been brought to light during the systematic exploration of the
city. Here, for instance, is a dedication on a stone found in
the forum to a citizen of renown, who had filled several offices
of the highest distinction.1
P IULIO IVNIANO MARTIALINO C ■ V • COS • LEG ■ AVG ■ PR
• PR • PROVINCIAE
NVMIDIAE PROCOS PROVINCIAE MACEDONIAE PRAEF ■
AERARI. MI
LITARIS CVRATORI VIAE CLODIAE PRAETORIAE TRIBVNO
PLEBEI
QVAESTORI PROVINCIAE ASIAE PATRONO COLONIAE ET
MVNI
CIPI RESPVBLICA COLONIAE THAMVGADENSIVM DE
CRETO DECVRIONVM
It was also not unusual throughout the Empire to record
the payments made by magistrates and others on their election
to posts of distinction. The amounts of such payments were
fixed beforehand by statute, but they were generally far exceeded
by donations of various kinds, sometimes for the erection of some
public work, at other times to defray the cost of a statue to be
placed in the forum. For instance, a citizen named L. Germeus
Silvanus, upon whom the dignity of augur had been conferred,
paid to the municipality the sum of 21,200 sesterces (170/.), and,
in addition, gave a statue of Mercury and defrayed the expenses
of several performances at the theatre. Another inscription,
still standing on the west side of the forum, narrates the dedi-
cation of a shrine to Fortuna Augusta costing 4,400 sesterces,
by two women Annia Cara and Annia, the daughters of two
1 C.I.L. No. 2392, I.R.A. 1505 ; copied and explained by De la Mare and
Renier.
H 2
99
or panels that were to receive inscriptions. In addition a white
limestone, in texture and appearance like white marble, was
reserved for columns and decorative features of public and other
buildings of an ornate character. This excellent material was
quarried some twenty miles distant.
The inscriptions found at Timegad have an interest quite
apart from the architectural remains. It seems to have been
the custom here from the time of Trajan till the reign of
Gordian III., A.D. 238-244, to record on marble or stone the
names and titles of citizen benefactors, and consequently an
unusually large number of dedicatory pedestals and slabs have
been brought to light during the systematic exploration of the
city. Here, for instance, is a dedication on a stone found in
the forum to a citizen of renown, who had filled several offices
of the highest distinction.1
P IULIO IVNIANO MARTIALINO C ■ V • COS • LEG ■ AVG ■ PR
• PR • PROVINCIAE
NVMIDIAE PROCOS PROVINCIAE MACEDONIAE PRAEF ■
AERARI. MI
LITARIS CVRATORI VIAE CLODIAE PRAETORIAE TRIBVNO
PLEBEI
QVAESTORI PROVINCIAE ASIAE PATRONO COLONIAE ET
MVNI
CIPI RESPVBLICA COLONIAE THAMVGADENSIVM DE
CRETO DECVRIONVM
It was also not unusual throughout the Empire to record
the payments made by magistrates and others on their election
to posts of distinction. The amounts of such payments were
fixed beforehand by statute, but they were generally far exceeded
by donations of various kinds, sometimes for the erection of some
public work, at other times to defray the cost of a statue to be
placed in the forum. For instance, a citizen named L. Germeus
Silvanus, upon whom the dignity of augur had been conferred,
paid to the municipality the sum of 21,200 sesterces (170/.), and,
in addition, gave a statue of Mercury and defrayed the expenses
of several performances at the theatre. Another inscription,
still standing on the west side of the forum, narrates the dedi-
cation of a shrine to Fortuna Augusta costing 4,400 sesterces,
by two women Annia Cara and Annia, the daughters of two
1 C.I.L. No. 2392, I.R.A. 1505 ; copied and explained by De la Mare and
Renier.
H 2