Expert: Maria - 11/3/2011

Question
I am trying to find out about recorded engraved honours given to senior politicians or military commanders throughout the empire, during the end years of the Republic and the early Principate.

Are there records of stone inscriptions in the provinces for people who are not legate governors, senior military commanders especially.
I came across Lucius Artorius Castus on wikipedia and he does not sound like he was a governor at the time of the inscriptions being made. However he is of a later period.

Did ambitious people pay for their own testimonials or inscriptions to make a record of their achievements in a province, or were they all centrally authorised?

Answer
Hello,

First of all I have to tell you that the inscription you refer to (CIL 03, 01919, i.e. Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum) mentions a certain Lucius Artorius Castus (or “Iustus” ), who, from time to time,  was a centurion ( Latin, “centurio”) and chief centurion (Latin, “primus pilus”) of many legions,  prefect of Misenum fleet (i.e. the senior fleet of the imperial Roman Navy stationed in Misenum, not so far from Naples),  prefect of the Sixth Legion Victrix, commander of three  British legions,  procurator of Liburnia province ( between Istria and Dalmatia) with the life-or-death power over all.

This inscription -he set up for himself and his family in his lifetime- lists, according to the Roman usage,all the military offices held by Lucius Artorius Castus/Iustus, and was found in the town of Podstrana, on the Dalmatian coast in modern Croatia, on fragments of a sarcophagus, where it was  engraved by order of this Roman military commander who probably lived between the late 1st. century AD and the early 2nd.century AD, since we know that he was the prefect of the VI Legion Victrix (Sixth Victorious Legion) that was based in Britain from about 122 AD onward.


As for your questions, please note that:

1.the records of stone inscriptions in the provinces were usually for people who were legate governors or military commanders.

2-Lucius Artorius Castus  was in fact a governor  and military commander just at the time of the inscription was  made, since he probably served in the Roman army sometime between the late 1st. century AD and early 2nd. century AD.

3-Ambitious people paid  for their own testimonials or inscriptions to make a record of their achievements in a province as the inscriptions were engraved at one's own expense.

Best regards,
Maria