The Inscription of Roveos

The Inscription of Roveos

INSCRIPTION DETAILS

Findspot and Place of Origin

Country
Italy
Region
Veneto
Ancient Region
Regio X Venetia et Histria
City
Concordia Sagittaria
Ancient City

Chronology

Date of the inscription

Date
Last Quarter of the Fourth Century A.D.
Dating criteria
palaeography, onomastics

Autopsy

Institution
Location within museum
set into the wall of the right nave
Date of observation
2024

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Type
Frontal slab of the sarcophagus.
Material(s)
Limestone.
Execution
Inscribed.
Dimensions
32 × 111 cm
Epigraphic Field
32 × 111 cm
Letters Height
4-5 cm

Palaeographic comment

Inscribed front panel of a limestone sarcophagus
The iscription of Roveos. Photograph courtesy of the Museo Nazionale Concordiese, Portogruaro; photo by Ortolf Harl (Ubi Erat Lupa). Courtesy of the Ministry of Culture - Regional Directorate of National Museums of Veneto. Any commercial or for-profit use of these images is strictly prohibited and must be subject to a specific authorization request to the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Veneto.

INSCRIPTION

INTERPRETATIVE TRANSCRIPTION

Fl(avius) Roveos, centenarius de <numero> equitum comitis (!) seni(orum) sagit(tariorum), de propio (!) suo arcamarca sibi posuit. Si quis eam ap⸢e⸣rire v⸢o⸣lu(erit), dabit fis(ci) viribus argenti pondo cinque (!).

APPARATUS CRITICUS

2. PROPRIO, Bertolini 1875b, ILCV 506 . 3. APERIRE, Bertolini 1875a, Bertolini 1875b VOLV(ERIT), Bertolini 1875a, Bertolini 1875b, CIL V 8758, ILCV 506, Holder 1904 .

TRANSLATION

Flavius Roveos, centenarius of the numerus of comitatenses seniores horse-archers, set up this sarcophagus for himself at his own expense.

If anyone should wish to open it, he shall pay five (roman) pounds of silver to the fiscus.

COMMENTARY

Flavius Roveos was the centenarius of a numerus of horse-archers, the equites sagittarii seniores, recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum (Not. dign, occ. VI, 43; VII, 159). It appears that the equites sagittarii, along with other cavalry units, were originally part of the emperor's elite guard during the time of Gallienus, before being deployed to garrison the Danubian and Eastern provinces starting from the reign of Aurelian (Rocco 2012, 87).

The cognomen Roveos has Celtic origins according to Holder (Holder 1904, 1236).

PEOPLE

Flavius Roveos

NOMEN
Flavius
COGNOMEN
Roveos
GENS
Flavia
ORIGIN (of the name Roveos)
celtic
GENDER
male
OCCUPATION
soldier
RANK
centenarius
NUMERUS
Equites Sagittarii Seniores
ROLE
dedicator/deceased

Bibliography

Bertolini 1875a, 112, nr. 50.
Bertolini 1875b, 112, nr. 4.
CIL V 8758
ILCV 506
Holder 1904, 1236.
Hoffmann 1963, 27-28, nr. 3.
Lettich 1983, 65, nr. 23.
EDR
EDR097906
Author of the record:
Damiana Baldassarra
Date:
22-11-2007