UilfrietI luoghi e le forme dei mestieri

e della produzione nelle province afncane

Atti del xvlr convegno di studioOlbia, rr-14 dicembre zoo8

A cura diMarco Milanese, Paola Ruggeri,

Cinzia Vismara

Estratto

Carocci editore

Ari Saastamoinen

The Common People in North AfricanBuilding Inscriptions

Introduction

In the Colloquio Internazionale di Epigrafia Latina held in Genoain September 2oor, an eminent Tunisian epigraphist, MustaphaKhanoussi, presented a fascinating building inscription found atThibaris in northern Tunisia and also provided a careful commen-tary that set the text in its historical context. His reading was alsopresented one year later in Tozeur in the fifteenth L'Afica rornanacongress by Cecilia Cazzona and Esmeralda Ughi and was subse-quently published in the acts of both congresses' anå in AE,2oo3, 2oro. The published text runs as follows:

* Ari Saastamoinen, Departrnent of Classics, University of Manitoba, Vinnipeg.I want to thank warmly prof, Attilio Mastino who very kindly helped my re-

search by pointing out a parallel case from Uchi and provided me with several pho-tos of extremely high quality and a copy of an article, I want to express my acknowl-edgements to prof. Antonio Ibba for sending me funher photos. I am very gratefi.rl

to prof. Lea Stirling who read a draft of this paper and improved it by her valuablecomments and suggestions. Most of the research was carried out at the Center forArt and Social Identities in Late Antiquity in the Aarhus University in NovemberzooS and I vould like to thank its whole staff and especially Lektor Birte Poulsenfor friendly assistance. This article was written during the tenure of a postdoctoralfellowship supported by the Canada Research Council, through the Canada Research

Chair in Roman Archaeology.r. M. KuaNoussr (with A. MasrrNo), Il calto inperiale a Tbibaris ed a Thagga

tra Diocleziano e.Costantino, in M. G. ANcelr BennxErl-r, A. DoNarr (a cura di),Usi e abasi epigrafici, Aui del Colloquio Internazionale di Epigrafia lttina, (Genoaa,

zo-zz setternbre:oor), (Seria antiqua e medievalia, vr), Roma 2oot, pp. 4rr-36, esp.

4tr-23. C. CazzoNa, E. Ucm, Presentazione dei posters: Nuoue scoperte epigraficbe inAfica Proconsolarc. Ucbi Maius, Uchi Minas, Tbibais, Thaga, n L'Afice romafla xv,pp. rrr-34, esp. rz3-6. This inscription is carved on a big limestone slab the left partof which is missing. The preserved part of the stone is formed of 16 fragments andmeasures t98x72.j x5 cm (wxhxd). The text is divided into seven lines (there are

L'Afica lomtfla xwil, Olbia zoo8, Roma zoro, pp. t63r-t644.

r632 Ari Saastamoinen

Genti Valeriae aete[r]nae dd(oninorum) nn(ostrorurn) / [Imp(eratois)Caes(aris) C.l VaUerli Diocletiani pii felicis inuicti Aug(usti) et lrnp(e-ratoris) Caedaris) / tttM. Aureli Valei Mlaxirnianill pii felicis inuictiAug(usti) et Flaui Valeri Constanti / [et Galeri Valeri Ma]ximini for-tissirnorurn felicissimorurnque Caesarurn templum / [cum ornni cultu?plebls municipii Mariani Thibaritani deuota nurnini rnaiestatique ipso-rum et / [ordo? pecunia statai?]s eorum curnukta participantibus securnciuibus suis uotiu(a)e deuotionis / [rnagno exenplo? in]cohatum perfecitet pedectum ac dedicaturn consecrauit [[[ex auaoritate?]ll / tttL. AeliiHeluii Dionysii c(krissini) u(iri) proconsulis prouinciae Africae? et ---legatorum eius?lll.

One is immediately struck by the uniqueness of the text. To beginwith, though the consecration and dedication were separate acts,African building inscriptions' usually referred to the dedicationonly; or, occasionally, to the consecrations. But here they are bothrecorded, a feature which is attested only this once in Africa andfew times in Latin inscriptions in the whole Imperium Romanum4.The rhetorical repetition perfecit - pelfectum is also a rare featurein African building inscriptionss. The participle curnulata is nor at-

erasures in the lines I and Z) and is written inside a tabula ansata; the writing fieldmeasures fi3x54 cm; the letter size is 5.5 cm; the number of missing letters variesbetween 14 and ry.

z. By the term "African building inscriptions" I refer to a corpus of rooz NorthAfrican Latin building inscriptions (minor fragments are excluded) that I collectedfor my dissertation (The Phraseohgy and Structure of Latin Building Inscriptions inRoman Nortb Afica, University of Helsinki, Deparrment of Classics zoo8, the chair-man being prof. O. Salomies and the opponent prof. M. Horsrer, Humboldt Univer-sität zu Berlin) and that fit the definition of a prose building inscription as definedby me in A. SaasranotNeN, On tbe Problem of Recognising African Building Inscrip-frbas, <<Arctos>>, xxxrr, 2oo2, pp. 8z-5. This corpus can be downloaded from the ad-dress: http://www.helsinki.filhum/kla,/htrn /Appendices randz.pdf

3. The consecration meant uansforming an object into a res sacra and the dedi-cation meant giving it to divine o'*'nership (see ThesCM rrt, s.v. conseoatio, p. 3o4).For the rare cases mentioning consecration, see: AE, 1989, 87o; AE, ry76, 7oo; CILvttt, 8426; CIL vnt, 8457; AE, ry99, x784 cf.. AE, ry82, 93:c templ(um) Miner(aae)Aag(ustae) sacr(auit?). In addition to these rexts, there is one possible fragmentarycase, ILPB, 443, which was not included in my material.

4. For those exceptions, see, for example, CIL vr, 3rz4z (IIS, ea6). This estima-tion is based on searches conducted by using the Clauss-Slaby epigraphical database,as are the others in this paper thar concem epigraphic material outside Africanbuilding insciptions (unless otherwise stated). See http://wr*nr.manfredclauss.de.

5. There are some parallels, however. See, for example, AE, ryg, rz4 (from thefirst century AD): In tenplum Plutonis factum porticunt fecerant.

Tbe Conmon People in North Afican Building Insciptions t633

tested elsewhere in African buiiding inscriptions and even outsideAfrica it is quite rare6. Finally, the ending naiestatique ipsorunt,the ablative absolute participantibus secum ciuibus suis and the gen-itive attribute uotiu(a)e deuotionis are all 'dnc! er,' grlpevcr. Thisuniqueness means that scope for possible restorations is much wid-er than usually is the case. Restoration of imperial titulature, forinstance, leaves litde room for the imagination and the results arecorrespondingly quite reliable; but when one encounters unusualcases such as this, there are more alternatives to be considered,and the results are less certain. To give just one example: CIL v:rt,9zz8 is an inscription carved on a stone slab the left half of whichwas missing when the editors were publishing it. This did not dis-courage the editors, however, and they reconstructed the wholemissing part which consisted of the imperial titulature of SeptimiusSeverus and his sons plus one u/ord, [burgu]m. Then, much later,a lucky discovery brought the missing half of the stone to lightand it was published by N. BenseddikT. Now it became clear thatthe restored imperial titulature was surprisingly comect, and atmany places it corresponded to the original letter by letter. On theother hand, the only restored word that was not parr of the titula-ture turned out to be wrong: it was not guestion of [burgu]m Usi-nazensern but [oppidu] m U sinazensem.

It is due to these facts that r am suggesting some complemen-tary readings. They are not meant to replace the older restorationsbut merely to offer a possible alternative.

An attempt at restoration

My first suggestion is that one could replace nagno exemplo by a

fundarnentis. The latter is possible an alternative because there areseveral building inscriptions where the idea of beginning the pro-ject is complemented by adding this adverbial phrase8 while the

6. The result was obtained by using the Clauss-Slaby epigraphical database andconsulting the entry camalo in TbLL. For examples, see below.

7. N. BoNseoorc, Usinau 6aneg): afl flouuedt tömoignage de lactiuitd de P. Ae-lius Peregrinus sur h praetentura seoåienne,in L'Afica romalta rx, pp. 42j-37.

8. See, for instance, CIL vm, 9o6z: a fundamentis coeptufi perfecit dedicauitque;AE, ry89, 869: a fundarnen[t]is inchoatam; AE, ry75, 873: a fundamentis coeptaniILPB, 4o8: a fundamentis coeptam ex[truxit]; ILAlg, n, 596: a funikmentis coEtan etconlsftructam; Il-41g, u, 4677: a fanda[men]tis coeptas expleait dedic[aoit]. Cf. alsoAE, r9o5, 75: a solo coeptun perfecit; CIL vtrt, 6o8 a solo coeptam et perfectdm.

r634 Ari Saastamoinen

former phrase is not attested elsewhere. In a similar manner, theword proconsuktu is a real alternative for ex auctoritate becausethis form of dating was very common during Late Antiquity. InAfrican building inscriptions proconsulatu is attested z8 times bet-ween years AD 298 and 4o8 while ex auctoritate appears just sixtimes, and moreover, the latest attestation of this phrase dates toAD ry39. Furthermore, as Khanoussi has remarked, our provincialgovernor is already attested in nearby Thugga in the context of theabove mentioned dating phrase'o.

My third suggestion concerns the head noun of the substantivemunicipi, Now, given that the missing feminine word is described tobe as devoted to the empefors' nurnen and maiesta.r, one would sug-gest that that word was res publicat'. This, however, seems impossi-ble because the final and only remaining'letter of that mysteriousmissing word is s. Another good candidate, [ordo splendidissirnu]s,must be declined because it has the wrong gender (accepting a rategender error as a basis for restoration would be too hazardous) tt.

9. AE, ry97, t673 (Ucbi Maius): ex aactoritate Iuni Sabiniani proco(n)s(ulis) c(laris-simi) u(iri). Although there are Late Antique attestations of this phrase outside build-ing inscriptions (see, for example, CIL vrl, rz96 + CIL vnr, 14798), generally speak-ing this expression seems to be typical of the High Empire in Africa. See CIL vrrr,index xvn, p. y4: all examples are datable before the reign of Marcus Aurelius and,moreover, most are milestones erected ex auctoritate inperatoris; see also DE, s.v.

auctoitai b and TbLLE, s.v. auctoitas 3d that cites only one example of auctoritasproconsulis, na. CIL vrn, 5367 GILAlg, r, 288): accedente auctoitate proconsulum;the former offers numerous examples of. ex auctoritate iruperatoris and almost all ofthem date from the High Empire.

ro. KsaNouss4 Il caho inzpeiale, cit., pp. 4r9-zo. ILAfr, 53r: [[pro[co]nsulatuAel[i Helui Dionysi]I.

rr. There are several African building inscriptions where a devoted republic, co-

lonia or municipium acted as the builder or dedicator: CIL vl., rzqS: Col(onia) Iu-l(ia) Assuras deuota nanini eorurn; AE, t934, 8o: res p(ublica) nuni[cipi Sigensiun]deuot[a namini naiestatique eius --?]; ILAlg, ry 7824: res publica C[uic]ulitanoruru de-

uota numini m[aiestat]ique eo[rum --]; CIL vn, 14o6: m[uni]cipiurn Septimium Aure-liun Antoninianum [[[Alexandrianun]ll Herculeum Frugiftrum Thignica deaotam nu-mini maiestatiq(ue) eorum; CIL vur, r55r6b: [c]ol(onia) Tbagg(ensis) deuo[ta]; ILPB,zz7 : [clolonia Tbugg(ensis) deuota.

rz. See, for example, AE, r99r, x688: ordo splendidissimas col(oniae) Lamb(aesi-tanae) deootus nunini maiestatique eius; CIL vrn, rzi36 (IIS, 6816): splendidissimusordo municipi Tubernuc dnot[us] numini naiestatique eius; ILAlg, u, 7875: splendidis-simus ordo col(oniae) Cuiculitanorum deuotus numini maiestattq(ue) eius, For a raregender mistake, see CIL vIII, 96r: Manictp(iutn) Aarelia Vina dcuota numini nzaiestati-que eias.

Tbe Cotnmon People ix Nortb Afican Buildixg Inscriptions 1635

To solve this problem, editors suggested restoring [pleb]s. Thisword does have the merit of having s in its end, of being relatedto the municipal sphere and of being in the feminine gender. Ne-vertheless, it seems to me a problematic restoration because of therarity and the nature of the usage of this word in African buildinginscriptions or, indeed, in African inscriptions in general.

Among the rooz African building inscriptions, plebs is attestedjust eight times; only t'wice does it designate a builder, and both ofthese examples occur outside of a municipal context. In the olderof these two cases, plebs denotes the coloni of a certain estate:

plebs fundi [--]itani maceiam don(inae) Cerer(is) dua) p(ecunia)

f(ecit) idenq(ue) d(e)d(icauit)'t.

In the more recent case, plebs means the ordinary men of a tribeas opposed to its leaders:

seniores et plEs Titulitan(orum) aere conlato fontem [...] [fec]e-ru[nt] et dedi[caueru]ntt4.

\lZhen the word plebs appears in building inscriptions from a mu-nicipal context, it is in a subordinated position. Either it is descri-bed as a recipient of benefactions (four cases)': or as a participantin the activities of a certain magistrate (two cases) 16. Thus, tosummarize: in building inscriptions plebs is rarely mentioned'7, it

4. CILvrrr,23c.22, AD 164-169. Fundas [--]itanus (Proconsalais).

x4. CIL vttr, 27828, ltD ryoryg. Titali (Proconsularis).

ry. CIL vtrr, u774, AD z9o-293, Mididi: Ordo [splmdidissimus epulurn plebi?plr(a)estantibus cuialibus aniuersis d(ono) d(edit) (instead of plebi one could just as

well read populo); CIL vrn, r44z (AD too-299, Tbubursicum Bure): [--]PAWT[--]plebi [-- deditl; CIL vnt, 4964 (AD 267-299, Municipium Aarelium C[onmodianum--1, Proconsalais): et uniuers(a)e plepi epulu(n) per tida(u)m ded;t CIL vrn, 23965(a gemella): uniaers(a)e plni epulu(m) per tridu(am).

Å. ILPB, 3j7^ Q\D 3fi, Tbuburbo Maius): Nanptoius fl(a)n(en) p(er)[p(etuus)]iuisconsubus [magixer] studi[or]am cur(ator) rei p(ublicae) can Tbu[burbitan]ae urbisflorentissimo sena[tu] c[u]n[ct]aque eius pUebe per]feci[t e]xcoluit dedicau[i]t; ILPB,

3j7b (^ gemelh\: Ann[i]us Namptoiu{iu)s fl(a)n(en) [p(er)]p(etuus) iuisconsultus ma-gister stfudiorum] cur(ator) rei p(ublicae) cum Thub[ur]bi[t]anae [u]rbis ordine amplis-sim[o cuncta]qu[e] eius plebe [per]fecit excoluit dedicau[it].

ry. Cf. also B. E. Snaw, The structure of local society in the early Maghib: tbeelders,'rn Rulers, Nomads and Christians in Roman North Africa, (Variorum CollectedStudies Series, 4gl), Grcat Yarmouth rygj, p.3o who discusses CIL vtn, 27828 and

1636 Ari Saastamoinen

is always in a subordinated position when compared with other ac-tors and it usually has a passive role.

The modest role that the common people had in building ins-criptions is further underlined when we take the term populu.s intoconsideration. This term that can be a synonym'8 to plebs is atte-sted no less than 55 times in African building inscriptions'e but itneuer appe rs with certainty as a builderto. As there are no fre-quently attested synonyms", it does seem that the common people

notes: <<The people or plebs arc rarely recognized in formal municipal [..,] dedica-tions of this type>.

18. S. Mnozxr, Les tetntes se rappoftant au peuple dans les insctiptions dcs prouinces'du baut empire romain, <iEpigraphico>, Lv, t993, p. rr7-8: <Plebs 1...1 est probablementå identifier avec la variante du populus la plus 6loignde de celle qui comprend les non-citoyens 1...J plebs signifiant la population libre n'est pas toujours synonyme åe populus.Mais, d'autre part, plebs, analogiquement ä populus, n'est pas ä identifier avecles ca-iales>>. Cf. T6LL, s.v. plebs rA <<stictius et fere tecbnice in re publica: Ronanorum>>. za<<In ltalia exfta urbem et in prouinciis: o. <respicitur -s ntunicipiorun, coloniarum, oppido-rum>>, F <<disting. Decuiones>>; y <rdisting. quilibet orilo honestior sim. Ciuitatis>; OLD, s.v.

plebs t <<The general body of citizens at Rome (as distinct, from the paticians)>>; rb:<(acting as a legislative body or judiciary body often dist. from populus)>; OLD, s.v. po-pulus r <<A human community, people, natioo>; zb: <(at. Rome) the whole people (exer-

cising legislative and judicial power); (in other cities)>; zc <(excluding the plebs)>>.

19. The cases are: AE, ryrz, 156; AE, r9jr, 7r (uncertain); AE, ry52, 4t; AE,1973, 6ry; AE, ry75, 873; AE, 1994, t885 AE, ry97, 1643 (uncertain\; AE, zoo3,zory; L'Afica lorzana xI, p. ry6gi CIL v:l;r, rco; CIL vtrl., 7o3i CIL vtl, 1574; CIL vnt,848o; CIL vrrr, 9o64; CIL vnt, gzaz CIL vur, rt774 br plebs); CIL vn, ;:tz6; CILvrrt, r2285i CILv:,:a,4378; CIL vrrr, r48jj (rwice); CIL v:rrr, 11178; CILv:rrt,21862;CIL vtn, 488o; CIL vrr, 2399t; CIL vtrt, 24o44; CIL vrr, 2537t; CIL vrn, 2j%j (rn-certain); CIL vm, z6rzr (twice); CIL vm, z6xz6; CIL vtn, z6z*4; CIL vm, 26482; CILvn4 26549; CIL wn, 26559; CIL vrr, 27432 (twice); Il,Afr, yo; Il,Alg,4 zo55; ILAlg,r, 2roo; ILAlg,4 zroz; ILAlg, \ 2r3oi ll,Alg, t,2996; Il,Alg, r, 3otz (twice); ILAlg,4lo4o (twice); lLAlg, ry 379; Il,Alg, n, 6191 ILAlg, tt, 7596 (twice); ILAle, ry 7653;IRTrip, 3r8 IRTrip, 347; IRTip, 353.

zo. For potential cases, see IRTip,353t [ord.o et populus] cohniae tJlpiae Trfaia-nae fidlelis kpcis [Magnae arcum] cam ornanent[is pecunia pub]hca feceru[nt|; CIL vrn,25915: [populus Sustrita?]nus ex aere collato restituit idemque dedicauit. The latter is mys"ggestion, based on CIL vtl, 25937. For the very rare cases (only CIL vrl, :.4372 and,

CIL vur,258o8 are certain) where populus appears alone as a dedicant of an bonoraryinscription, see Mnozer, Les termes se npportant aa peuple, cit., p. rr5.

zr. Popalares, for instance, is attested only once as a builder and even then itdoes not appear as the subject, See CIL urr, 8828: Inp(erator) Caes(ar) M. Aur(elius)Seaerus Alexander [...] nuros [...] per popul(ares) suos fecit. Besides, this is not necessar-

ily even a synonym. See M. Honsren, Bauinschiften römischen Kaiser. IJntersucbungen

zu Inschriftenpraxis und Bauttitigkeit in Städten des uestlichen Impeium Ronanum inder Zeit des Prinzipats, (Historia, r57), Stuttgart 2oor, p. r5z: <<Die Arbeit wurde hier

Tbe Conznon People ix Nortb Afican Build.ing Ixsciptions 1637

very seldom had the honour of being described as builders - andthey never had the exceptional honour of having a more promi-nent place than did the ordo.

Before considering the religious role of. plebs, we must take aquick look at how it was recorded in African inscriptions in gene-ral. As I have already noted, plebs is a r^re term in African inscri-ptions. Outside building inscriptions, it can be found in eight ins-criptions22. Three of these belong to Christian funerary monu-ments and are not useful as parallels2s. Thus, we have just five at-testations of. plebs in pagan epigraphic material outside buildinginscriptions; they all appear in honorary inscriptions. Two attesta-tions belong to the context where reasons are given why the hono-rand was honoured - because of his benevolence towards the ordoand the plebs2a or towards the town and the plebs (note the or-der)'r. The remaining three cases are more relevant, however. Theoldest of these dates from the reign of Claudius and there a cer-tain Iulius Venustus constructs an honorary monument togetherwith his wife and son in the name of his father and brothers Fzr-

allerdings nicht durch die Be'sohner durchgdiihrt, sondern von einer lrt Mtln>, Ciues

is attested as a builder several times, but that is different hom plzbs because that wordemphasizes the uniting legal status of the people and not their social status; see e.g.

AE, ry74, 69o ciues Ronani Almenses. Nevertheless, according to Mnozrr, Les termesse ruppoltafi.t au peuple, cit., p. 116 (see also OLD, s.v. populus zb), sometimes auescould be identific with populus. lncoke, anorher term that refers to the people is notattested in African building inscriptions. Besides, in other kinds of African inscriptionsit means 'resident aliens" as opposed to citizens. See Mnozrx, ks tennes se rupportantaapeaple, cit., p. 116; see also ThlL,s.v. incola tAz <,sensu stictiore de eo, qai in ali-qaa ciuitate [...] domiciliun habet neqae in ciuitatem asc-riptas est...>>.

zu. Estimation based on a search in Clauss-Slaby database and cases listed inMnozrr, Les tennes se ldpportafi au peaple, cit., pp. rr7-8 and in C/L vur, index xt,p. zaz (plebs). I have not counted in CIL vm, zoz63 though Clauss-Slaby edit it as /e-c(reto) dec[ur(ionan)] p(lebs) municipii [S]a[taf(ensis)] don(o) ded(it) dcd[icaluitque be-cause it is an obvious mistake. See CIL vm, index x, p. 263 [res] p(ublica) municipii[S]a[taf(ensis)]. We can also mention CLE, Å3z [--] ornatus lluir pleb[is] pert-Jwhere the context is unclear.

4. AE, r9o3, 96; per lnanus beati Columbi ep(i)s(cop)i dan)dtae) ec(c)l(e)s(ia)e Ni-ciuensi(s) istius plebi(s); Il,Alg, ry 8299: cuius doctina floret innanera pleps Caiculitana;this same verse also appears in CIL vrrr, zo9o5: caius doctina floret innumeru pleps Ti-pasensis (the beginning of this text, not quoted here, appears 'rn CIL vtn, zo9o3,too).

24. CIL vru, 15883: ob eias [-- obse]q[uen]tiam e[r]ga uniuersa[m] ordinem cunc-tamque plebem Cirtensiun Siccensium ordo [--].

25. CIL vrrr, 21822: [ob] insignem ergd ren p(ublicam) [et] pil]ebem.

t618 Ari Saastamoinen

mus, Satur and Institor because the local senate and the plebs de-creed that he should be given ornam(enta) sufetis without a pay-ment26. Next, there is a badly preserved inscription from UchiMaius that dates before AD zrz.It was erased in Antiquity and ishardly legible today but it might record that after

^ pagus had de-

cided to honour a Carthaginian decurion with a statue, the localplebs also made a decision to honour him somehow - how exacdyis unknown since the end of the text is completely illegible'7. Fi-nally, the only Late Antique case we have is a fragmentary titulusfrom Sabratha where the ordo and the plebs seem to honour a

provincial governor 28.

It is noteworthy in these three cases that the plebs always ap-pears together with the local senate and is mentioned only after it- quite unlike in our inscription where thie plebs takes precedencyover the ordo. E;qually important is the fact that in all these threeinscriptions the honorand is either a municipal magistrate or a

provincial governor. In our inscription the honoured person is noother than the emperor himself to whom a whole temple has beenbuilt. Thus, if the suggested reconstruction is correct, the plebs isenjoying of an exceptionally exalted position2e.

Moreover, plebs is here described not only as a builder but also

26. ILPB, zz4: Iulias Venustus Thinobae filius, honoibus peractis, fhmen diui Au-g(usti), et Gabinia Felicula uxor et Faastus f(ilius) eius - huic senatils et plebs, ob me-

rita patis, omnium portaraffi sententis, oman(enta) sufetis gratis decreuit - suo et FaustiThinobae patris, bonoibus peractis, flam(inis) dfui Aug(usti), et Fitmi <c>ui cioitas or-

nanzenta safetis ob neita sua decreuit, et Saturi, sufetis n, qui a ciuitate et plebe sffia-gio creatus est, et Institoris, honoribus peractis, flam<i>n<is> diui Aug(usti), fratrumsuorum nomine s(ua) p(ecunia) f(ecerunt); cilratore Iulio Firrno filio.

27. A. Iaoa (a cura di), Ucbi Maius z. Le iscrizioni, Sassari zoo6, 83: [[cui campagus ob merita eius statuan decreuisset p[le]ps menor abstinentiae quarn rci p(ublicae)

suae praestitit decreui[t] et iloclo [d(ato) d(ecreto)] d(ecurionunn) ---llxt---1. Ibba notesin his commentary that <<Non si puö dimenticare, tuttavia, che sulla pietra si legge

PWS e che solo per congettura si ricava plebs. PWS potrebbe essere una sigla perpopulus Ucbitanus pecunia sua [...]>>.

za. IRTip, roz; [-- prJaesidi [proa(inciae) Tip(olitanae) ordo] et plebs [-- Sabra]-

th(ensium) patron[o praestantisl simo statu[am --].29. See in Mnoztx, Les termes te rapportant au peuple, cit., p. rz7: glebs ou po-

pulus comme d6dicants dans les provinces: ceux-ci se monffent accompagn€s d'ordodecurionun, leur apparition toute seule restant exceptionnelle>> and ibid. nz: <<jamais

1...) la plebs ne pr6cöde ordo>>, and ibid. r:t: <<Nous ne connaissons pas une plöbe au

niveau imp6rial dans les inscriptions>>. For the role of the common people in LateAntique Africa, see C. Lnernuv, Les citds de l'Afrique romaine au Ba*Empire, r, Pal-is 1979, p. r4o-9.

Tbe Cornnon People in Nortb Afican Building Insriptions 1639

as a dedicator and a consecrator of this temple. This is somethingquite extraordinary. People actively involved in the imperial cult weretypically of considerable status3o and, in general, consecration of thetempies was performed by a priest3'. Likewise exceptional is theepithet deuotus.In African building inscriptions, usually only provin-cial govemors or towns are described as deuoti32. In fact, the Impe-ium Romanurn in general seems to offer only very few epigraphic at-testations of plebs with this epithel3l. It seems inevitable then, thatif we are going to restore [pleb]s, we should also restore [ordo].Tlrcis, however, stylistically challenging, because if we suppose that bothplebs and ordo govetned the same predicates, one would expect tho-se predicates to be in plural3+. It would be odd, too, that only plebs

would be described as devoted.

3o. See, for instance, D. FtsnwIcr, The Imperial Cult in tbe Latin Vest. Studies

in tbe Ruler Cuh of the Vestern Prouinces of the Roman Empire, (Etudes pr6liminaires aux religions orientales dans I'empire romain, ro8), II. r, Leiden r99r,pp. jz8-32.

y. ThesCRA nr, p. )o4i <Dedicatio [...] was accomplished by a high official of the

state or by an officially designated private person who represented the dedicating com-munity or individual. The pontifex officiated the consecratio>>.

32, C| H. G, GuNoEI-, Deuotus numini rnaiestatique eius. Zur Deuotionsfornelin Veibinscbiften der fimischen Kaiserzeit, <Epigraphico, xv, rg13, p, t39l <<Ordo,

res publica, colania, municipium u. a. erscheinen recht oft in den Inschriften als Stift-er>>; Mnozex, Les termes se rappoftant au peuple, cit., p. rr4: <<Soulignons qu'il est

trös rare que populus tout seul fasse une dedicace ä l'empereur, en principe il 6tait

accompagn€ dans cet acte pff ordo decuionum>>.

33. Nor is such a combination mentioned in C/L vm, index rvn, p, y7 (deuotus

numin) or n TbIL, s.v. deuotus za, fornuk in titulis solemnis. The nearest equivalent Ifound in Africa is I. Altava a (CIL vrrl, zt74): ordo et aet(erani) <et> popillares Ab(a-

uenses) deaoti numini eius. See also KnaNoussi, Il cuho imperiale, cit., pp. 4t7-8: <4,a

singolaritä ö rappresentata dal fano che sembra che sia stata la [pleb]s (d'intesa con I'or-

do?) ad aver effettuato la rcnsectatio, secondo una formula che appare abbastanza isolata

in ambiente africano: e viceversa ci saremmo attesi in materia di consecratio un ruolodei sacerdoti addetti al culto imperiale>. Outside Africa I found only CIL v, 77zo: plebs

urbana Albingaunensium numini ipsius deuota and CIL xt, 3785: [plebs Veilentiu[m de-

ulota nurn[ini] maiestati[que eorun] (on this latter, see also GuNoeI-, Daotus numinimaiestatique eius, cit., pp. r3r-z) and some Christian texts.

34. This was noted by KHaNoussI, Il cubo inpeiale, cit., p.4r9: <il verbo perfecit

alTa tena persona singolare dovrebbe presupporre un soggetto unico>>. See J. B. Horr'-uaNN, A. SzaNrvn, lateinische Syntex und Stilistik, Miinchen 1965, pat zlz, D (p. +ll);J. B. Pourcr.rs, Syntaxe dcs insctiptions latines d, {riqa <d\tluSe Befuo, xn, r9t2, p. r42i<dr verbe cofirmun å plusieurs sujets se met generalernent au pluriel. Cette regle est d'or-

dinaire observde en Afrique [...] Les rares exemples du singulier s'expliquent tous par les

r640 Ari Saastamoinen

For these reasons, we should perhaps try to look for another alter-native. This is far from easy, hourever. As I(hanoussi has pointed out,sefiatus and populus are not feminine words and urbs does not fit thecontext. It seems that we have reached an impasse: plebs seems diffi.-cult but cannot be replaced by any orher more fitting word.

At least one possibility is still left, although I am first to admitthat it is not a completely satisfactory one. Khanoussi has notedthat the nearest parallel to our inscription is II-Alg., l, 7824 fromCuicul which runs: c[ell]am res publica C[uic]ulitanorurn deuota nu-mini n[aiestat]ique eo[rum ---]35.If. we follow this lead and restoreres publica with a frequent epithet splendidissimus, -a, -urn in an

. abbreviated form, we have [res pfublica) splendidisldini) rnunicipiiMariani Thibaritani deuota numini maiestatique ipsorum. This ex-pression does fit the context, because res publicae are attested nu-merous times as either buildefs or dedicators 36 and because theepithet deuotus most often qualifies a community in African inscri-ptions37. Nevertheless, some problems remain. Firsr, res publica

m6mes motifs, pour lesquels la langue litt6raire elle aussi a souvent admis le singulier:c) Le verbe pr6cöde les sujets [...] p) Les sujets ne forment qu'une id6e>. Though theexamples cited by Poukens for p do resemble our case (e.g., qL vrrr, rrJ4o: spbtädissi-mus ordo et uniuersus popul(us) cariaram al(oniae) Sufetulensis [...] posuit) they are alsodifferent in that the subjects are listed one ir-.diut ly after another. In any case, sudr anemor in agreernent u/as not cornmon. CIL vm, indcx rv, p. 3zo cites iust two cases uÄerea predicate is mistakenly in the singular: CIL vm, zo4rz md, zo6oo; in both there are t&osubjects immediately preceded by the predicate, and both are Christian funerary texrs.

35. Kuanouss\ Il calto imperiale, cit., pp. 416-7. Cf. also almost contemporary(AD z8a) clLvnt, 4zzr (Ils,6o9) from verecunda: [Pro salute] Impp(eratorum) ff(eli-cissimorum) dd(oninorum) nn(ostroram) Caini e[t Numeiani diui Cai] genitois eoramtem[plum a funda]mentis {es) p(ublica) nun(icipi) Verecundensium consti[tait]. For theinterpretation of this temple see also H. Jourrnov, I-a mnstruction publique en Itdlie etdans lAfique Romaine, (Groupe de recherches d'histoire romaine de I'Universit6 desSciences humaines de Srasbourg. Etudes et Travaux, u), Strasbourg 1986, p. 256: <<rem-

ple du culte imperial>.

36. There are 34 cases when uncertain restorations are left out: CIL vttt, roz96;CII vrrI, Å5rc; CIL vur, rSjrr; CIL vtn, 18498; II-Alg, t, 7796-7797; ILAlg, l,78o4 ILAlg, l, 77jti ILAlg, n, 9ro4; ILAlg, u, 78o6; Il,Afr, 525; CIL vtn, 26593;AE, ry5o, ry6; ILAlg, 4 6o94: AE, ry48, xn; CIL vnr, 2369i CIL vnt, z37oi ILAlg,u, 7818; CIL vm, 4598; IAMar., lat., 31j; IAMar., lat., 39o; CIL vnt, r55o; AE, ry34,8o; AE, 1898, 87; ILAlg, u, 7Ez4; CIL vrn, 9o6z; CIL vrrt, 9og; AE, zooz, 168r;CIL vnt, r8zz7; CIL vrl, 422ri CIL vm, ry655; CIL vrn, z3o6z; Il,Afr, y4 CIL vrn,26472; Il,Alg, ry 7677. For devoted res publicae, see nore rr above.

37. See CIL vIn, index xtrn, p, y7 (deaotus nunini) where the heading <<coloniauel ordo uel sim> has much more attestations than any other alternative.

Tbe Common People ia North Afican Building Inscriptions 164r

splendidissimi municipii is not a very common phrass38. Second,the abbreviation splendidiss. (or splendidis.) is not common either,and is not attested with certainty in this kind of contexrse. Third,this inscription does not make a lot of use of abbreviations - thiswould be the only abbreviation outside the imperial titulature. Allin all, these inconvenient facts mean that considerable uncertaintywili remain about the correctness of my suggestion.

A positive factor in this restorarion is that it enables us to re-move the second subject, ordo (tnth plebs tlis restoration is neces-sary because it is impossible to think that plebs alone could havemade the consecration ao) and thus frees us to employ the partici-ple cumulata in a way that follows more closely the attested epigra-phic practice. Though the verb cumulare has many meanings, ininscriptions it is typically used in the contexr of giving or receivinghonours, thanks or benefactions4'. The Oxford Latin Dictionary rc-

38. For examples, see Il,Alg, ry 4669: res publica splendidissini municipi Tbibili-tanoram; CIL vrrr, zz67o (115, 6815): curatoi rei publicae splendidis[sini n]unicipiAbthugnitanorun. C| CIL vru, 26618: [res] publica splendi[dis]simae col(oniae) Thug-gensis; CIL vtu, 26576b; [--sple]ndidis[sim -- col(oniae) T]buggensi; CII vnr, 848o(IIj, >sg6): [curatore] rei p(ublicae) splend[i]d(issirnae) col(oniae) Sitifenfsis].

39. There is at least one possible case: AE, 1992, x763: [col(onia) splendidi]s(si-mn) Sufes. For a certain attestation of this abbreviation, see AE, ry75,878: splendidi*s(imus) ordo rnun(icipi) Uruensis. Cf. CIL vrrr, 86j: [--] splendidiss(inae) col[oniae?].

4o. Cf. KuaNousst, Il cubo impeiale, cit., p. 4r8: <Pii probabile sembra inveceI'ipotesi che la congiunzione et precede un secondo soggetto che si ö associato alla[pleb]s cittadina nella dedica, dunque l'otdo 1...1>>.

4r. These participles ^re

tatei CIL x, 5zoo: cuius innzensis beneficiis patria co-gnoscitur cunuhta; CIL vr, zr35 QlS, aya): otnnes gradus laude camakta sacla saaaiaiti CIL vt, 30973 QlS, 3992): cuffiulata omni erga se benignitate; CIL x, 5349: tan-tis be[ne]ficiis circa nos conulatis; the following two are Christian: ICL]R, z, p. t55:quae cumulata uides digna in ecclesia Chisti praemia; ILCV, n35i tanto laudun cumu-latus hanore. Other verbal forms of camulare are not common either. See AE, ry7r,5o3 miros subito cumulabit honores; CIL vt, zr1z (IIS, 4928): aeterna hude publicecumulaait; CIL vtl, fz (CIL vrn, tr546; /Ll, 68ro): stataae honore cumulauit; CIL x,3725: cuius aetatis laudabilis constcntia et recens patrcndtus dignitas prouisione cunula-uit rei publicae aires; IRTrip, 565 quod idem ordines [...J prouinciales iuridicendo fidebeniuolentia <a>uitiis beneficiis cumulauerit; cf, AE, ry98, fi4 Q Chistian text): di-latans digno curnulauit honore; CIL vr, 36954 (IIS, lz6): felicitatem publicam clemen-tia et uirtute cumulanti; CIL x,4755: omnibus honoibus [...] innocenter [...] functocumulanti dignitate(m) originis suae; CIL vr, 41177: iter Italiam nagno camulandusbonore; CIL x, )7o4 @5, 5o54\ ad bonorem quoque duumuiratus ad cumulanda ma-nera patiae suae libenter accessit. Cf. also the related substantive in AE, x993, 473adieceritq(ue) cumalum beneficiorum suorun dando.

r642 Ari Saastamoinen

cords two meanings that this verb has in the epigraphic context:<<to heap, load, overwhelm (a person, etc., with honours, misfortu-nes, etc.)>>4t and <<to increase, augment, enhanco>43. Now this for-mer meaning could perhaps be the most fitting here. If we presu-me that this participle qualified the same subject that deuota drd,we could try to restore [tantis beneficii?]s eoruln curnulata44. Inthis way, the builder would be a res publica which is not only de-voted to the emperors but also overwhelmed by their benefactions.Although this could neady explain the emphatic4, expression uoti-a(a)e deuotionis, it also has its drawback: participantibus securn ciui-bus suis becomes clumsy. It would be måre naiural to say that anordo burlt together with the ordinary citizens than to state that a

town built while its citizens participateda6. Nonetheless, a res pa-blica can very occasionally be contrasted with ciues4Ti here thisphrase can only mean that the building costs were for the mostpart publicly paid for but the citizens contributed to them too, eit-h.t by donäting money or by offering labour contributions48.

42. OLD, s.v. camula 3c; it mentions the following example: M. Corneliam [...]splendidissiruus ordo [...] statuae honore cunukuit (CIL vnr, 11546). This same exam-ple is given a more vague sense by TblL s.v. cumulo za (i.q. fficere, donare). rJnderthe same heading another example is also given: CIL vr, zr34: cuius sinceraru pudici-tian senatus combrobatan aeterna kude publice cumulauit.

a3. OLD, s.v. camulo 5; it mentions the following example: uiro cuias aetatis ku-dabilis cdnstantia [...] cumulauit rei pablicae uires (CIL x, yz5). This correspondswith TbLL, s.v. camulo r (i.q. augere, amplificare). In addition to CIL x, 3721, twofurther examples are given: CIL x, 4755 anå CIL x, j2oo (cited above). TLIL alsohas one further category. See T|IL, s.v. cumulo 3 fi.q. coaceruare, in unum conicere,colligere) with the following examples: CIL x, 5349; CIL vr, 3o973; CIL x, 37o4 fti-ted above).

44. For parallels, see CIL x, 12oo (Casinum): cuius immensis beneficiis patia co-

gnoscitur camulata; perhaps also ILPB, z, 9: colonia Con[cordia Iulia Knthago -Jbeneficiis eius au[cta ---]. Cf, CIL xw, z9r9 $IS, rzr9, Praeneste): uniuersus ordo fo-tus ad4fue) adiutus beneficiis eius.

45. Noted already by KnaNoussr, II culto imperiale, cit. p. 4r9.a6. Cf. ibid.: <da precisazione participantibus secum ciuibus szrri sembra instituire

un'opposizione ta plebs (con l'ordo?) ed i ciues al posto di quella pii comune traplebs eå ordo>>.

47. See CIL vnt, index xt, p. 278: CIL vrrr, ru96: beneficiis in ciues remq(ue)p(ublicam); CILvnt, zo87o; amatori reci> p(ublicae) <e>t ciuium.

4s. Cf., for example, CIL vrn, 9oz3 from Auzia (AD z3o): res p(ublica) col(o-niae) Septimiae Au(eliae) Aazi[e]nsiun sum(p)tibus tdm sais qaam ex sportulis deca-ionum operisqae populariunt. See also CILvtn, rrr84 (Biia, AD 34o35o): [-- sumptil-bas parte ex pec(unia) pub(lica) parte ex oblatione [decuionum].

The Common People in Nortb Afican Building Inscriptions 1643

Conclusion

\fhen we put all the pieces together we could restore the inscri-ption as follows:

Genti Valeriae aete[r]nae dd(ominorum) nn(ostrorum) / [Irnp(eratoris)Caes(ais) C.l Va]erli Diocletiani pii felicis inuicti Aug(usti) et Imp(e-ratoris) Caes(aris) / tttM. Aureli Valeri Mlaximianill pii felicis inuictiAug(usti) et Fkui Valei Constanti / [et Galei Valei Ma]ximini fortis-simorum felicissimorumque Caesarum tefttplum / [res p(ublica) splendi-dis??ls(ini) municipii Mariani Thibaritani deuota nurnini maiestatiqueipsorum et / [tantis beneficii?]s eorum cumukta participantibus secumciuibus suis uotiu(a)e deuotionis / [a fundamentis? in]cohatum perfecitet perfectum ac dedicatum consecrauit [[[proconsulatu?]ll / tttL. AeliIlelui Dionysi c(larissirni) u(iri) --lll.

It must be remembered, however, that restoring idiosyncratic ins-criptions such as this one, is always an uncertain business. Let uslook how the fragmentary end of CIL vtrt, 2369 was reconstructed:

[...] ambitum fontis cancellis aereis / fconcludendum curauit porticus

-Jri piauis exorftatas ianuis et pronais ad/[ditis marmoibus constrauitusque ald introitum perfectum res publica Tbarn(ugadensiurn) d. d.

Despite the fact that the editors tried to use parallels from otherinscriptions and were able to borrow some words from another, al-most identical (though partly fragmentary) case, CIL vtrt, 237o,their reconstruction proved to be far from correct when a thirdexample of this same text was eventually found. This version wascomplete and when it was published in AE, 1948, trr it turnedout to be much more unique than the editors had thought. Butfrankly, who could have ever guessed that the fragmentary part in-cluded so many participles but no predicate:

[...] ambiturn fontis cancellis aereis conclusurn iternque porticus uir(i)-diari picturis / exornatas ianuis et pronais ad easdern porticus apertisitern opus pkteae / a thermis usque ad introit(um) perfectun respu-blica Tam[u]g(adensium) d. d.

In our case too, it might well turn out that the correct restorationis neither [pleb]s nor [res p(ublica) splendidis??]s(ini) but some-thing unexpected. In other words, tertiurn datur.