DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0256
Roman Africa
unusual form, mention may be made of a large panel discovered
at El Outhaia,1 in a mass of ruins that are probably the remains
of the amphitheatre referred to.
IMP CAESARES M AVRELIVS ANTONINVS ET
L AVRELIVS COMMODVS AVG GERMANICI
S ARM AT ICI F ORTISSIMI AMPIIITH E ATR VM
VETVSTAE CORRVPTVM A SOLO RESTI
TVERVNT PER i™™:-:::::: COH VI COMMAG
A IVLIO POMPILIO PISONE LAEVILLO LEG
AVG PR PR CVRANTE AELIO SERENO PRAEF
From this we learn that the joint Emperors rebuilt the
amphitheatre, and that the work was done by the sixth cohort
of the Commageni,2 an auxiliary force quartered in that locality.
The usual form of erasure, similar to the method adopted with
the third legion during the period of its disgrace, may be
exemplified in the two following inscriptions. The first was
discovered at Henchir Ain Zaga,3 and the other at Vallis,4 both
in the proconsular province.
IMP • CAES • M • AVRELIVS SERAPI AVG SACR
[COM MOD VS xxxxxxx* PRO SALVTE IMP CAES
ANTONINVS AVG SARMATI M ' AVRELI iCOMMODI) ANTO
CVS GERMANICVS MAXIMUS NINI PIIxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Some years ago an interesting inscription bearing the name
1 C.I.L. No. 2488. El Outhaia, as it is now called, is an Arab village on the
site of the Roman town of Mesarfalta, lying on the highway between El-Kantara
and Biskra. At a late period of the Empire it must have been a place of some
importance, and is mentioned as the seat of a Christian bishopric.
2 The word Commageni frequently occurs in Roman military history*, and refers
to the auxiliary troops raised in Commagena, a district in Syria lying between Mt.
Taurus and the Euphrates, and forming part of the kingdom of. Antiochus. The
last of that name was deposed by Pompey, B.C. 69, Syria becoming a Roman
province, and the name of Antiochus, which had been associated with the rulers of
Syria for about 250 years, becoming extinct. According to Tacitus {Hist. b. ii.
c. 81), Antiochus IV. of Commagena was the richest of all the kings who submitted to
the authority of Rome. There were no less than thirteen successive kings bearing that
name, the last of them alluded to by Tacitus being sometimes called king of Comma-
gena, and not of Syria. His career was an eventful one. Dethroned by Caligula
and reinstated by Claudius, he was ultimately deposed by Titus, after a reign of thirty-
four years, for alleged conspiracy against the Romans. His army rendered great
service to its new masters, especially during the reign of Vespasian. At a later period
detachments were quartered in North Africa.
3 C.I.L. No. 14451. 4 C.I.L. No. 14792.
unusual form, mention may be made of a large panel discovered
at El Outhaia,1 in a mass of ruins that are probably the remains
of the amphitheatre referred to.
IMP CAESARES M AVRELIVS ANTONINVS ET
L AVRELIVS COMMODVS AVG GERMANICI
S ARM AT ICI F ORTISSIMI AMPIIITH E ATR VM
VETVSTAE CORRVPTVM A SOLO RESTI
TVERVNT PER i™™:-:::::: COH VI COMMAG
A IVLIO POMPILIO PISONE LAEVILLO LEG
AVG PR PR CVRANTE AELIO SERENO PRAEF
From this we learn that the joint Emperors rebuilt the
amphitheatre, and that the work was done by the sixth cohort
of the Commageni,2 an auxiliary force quartered in that locality.
The usual form of erasure, similar to the method adopted with
the third legion during the period of its disgrace, may be
exemplified in the two following inscriptions. The first was
discovered at Henchir Ain Zaga,3 and the other at Vallis,4 both
in the proconsular province.
IMP • CAES • M • AVRELIVS SERAPI AVG SACR
[COM MOD VS xxxxxxx* PRO SALVTE IMP CAES
ANTONINVS AVG SARMATI M ' AVRELI iCOMMODI) ANTO
CVS GERMANICVS MAXIMUS NINI PIIxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Some years ago an interesting inscription bearing the name
1 C.I.L. No. 2488. El Outhaia, as it is now called, is an Arab village on the
site of the Roman town of Mesarfalta, lying on the highway between El-Kantara
and Biskra. At a late period of the Empire it must have been a place of some
importance, and is mentioned as the seat of a Christian bishopric.
2 The word Commageni frequently occurs in Roman military history*, and refers
to the auxiliary troops raised in Commagena, a district in Syria lying between Mt.
Taurus and the Euphrates, and forming part of the kingdom of. Antiochus. The
last of that name was deposed by Pompey, B.C. 69, Syria becoming a Roman
province, and the name of Antiochus, which had been associated with the rulers of
Syria for about 250 years, becoming extinct. According to Tacitus {Hist. b. ii.
c. 81), Antiochus IV. of Commagena was the richest of all the kings who submitted to
the authority of Rome. There were no less than thirteen successive kings bearing that
name, the last of them alluded to by Tacitus being sometimes called king of Comma-
gena, and not of Syria. His career was an eventful one. Dethroned by Caligula
and reinstated by Claudius, he was ultimately deposed by Titus, after a reign of thirty-
four years, for alleged conspiracy against the Romans. His army rendered great
service to its new masters, especially during the reign of Vespasian. At a later period
detachments were quartered in North Africa.
3 C.I.L. No. 14451. 4 C.I.L. No. 14792.