L'Africa romana - UnissResearch - Università degli Studi di Sassari

504 Michael Speidel
15 [V]al(erius) Ma[ ... ]atius, dec(urio)
[al]ae III Asturum prae-
[po]situs castelli Tamu-
[den]sis cl!(l!um produx-
[it] III Idus Apri/es
20 [Fa]ustino et Rufino
[co (n)]s(ulibus), et deinceps ob­
[ser]vabimus.
(April Il)
(a. 210)
In line 18 the editor read c[ul]tum or c[iv]ium 3 • C[ul]tum, however,
cannot be right, for the letter after C, showing a straight shaft, is clearly
not a V. The reading c[iv]ium, on the other hand, might fit the preserved
traces of letters but makes no sense. As the editor rightly saw, the
final phrase «and henceforeward we shall honor» is said by the soldiers
and therefore the word in the middle of line 18 should refer to a religious
object 4 •
It seems one should re ad cl!(l!um. Admittedly the second, third, and
fourth letters are doubtful, but they agree with the traces preserved 5 • Cereus
is a wax candle, Iit in processions and before statues 6 • The army
used cerei in its religious ceremonies to such an extent that there existed
a special rank for it, the immunis caere[7. As the day of the dedication,
Aprilll, was Septimius Severus' birthday, no doubt the emperor's statue
was honored with a candle-Iight ceremony. The findspot of the slab
is not known, but if otir reading is correct, in would come from the headquarters
building of the unit stationed at Tamuda 8 •
3 See now the oral communication of M. EUZENNAT, Xe Congrès Internationa/ d'Épigraphie
Grecque et Latine, Nimes 1992: c{lipeJum [n.d.e.].
4 Ge{nJium produxit «he honored the Genius» would make sense, but the incurling
or downslanting stroke that sets the G off from a C is missing. For the meaning of producere
«to promote in rank or status» see the OxJord Latin Dictionary s.v. S. 1473. 8.
Observare is often used together with co/ere and thus has the same meaning, see OLD
S.v. 1222, 8.
5 On the published photograph (MASTINO 1990, fig. 5) the topmost part of the R is
stili visible. To be sure, the second E seems to lack a horizontal stroke in the middle, but
this is true also of the E in castelli or in dec(urio).
6 ThLL s.v. cereus; C/L VIII 9052,13: ut statuam mean .. , coronet et cer(eos) II accendat;
Ammianus Marcellinus 22, 13.
7 eIL III, 14358.2 (Carnuntum). See H.G. PFLAUM, AJrique Romaine. Scripta Varia
I, 1978, p. 7. See DEssAu, lLS 8940: Dei sancti Solis simu/acrum consecr(atum) die
XliII ka/(endas) Decen(bres) debet singu/is annis iusso sacro dd.nn. Licini Aug(usti) et Licini
Caes(aris) ture cereis et proJusionibus eodem ide a praep(ositis) et vexillat(ione) in cast(ris)
Salsoviensib(us) agentib(us) exorari.
8 Very likely a detachment of Brittones, see, Inscriptions Antiques du Maroc, II, Inscriptions
/atines, 1982, nr. 56; see MASTINO 1990, p. 266.
The Cereus oJ Tamuda 505
Fig. l: Tamuda (MASTINO, 1990, p. 256 fig. 2).