Roman Emperor Severus Alexander Diploma for Maximus a Mounted Imperial Bodyguard
Dated 7 January 235 AD. A rectangular sheet bronze diploma fragment with nine lines of rustic capitals within scribed borders, reverse with low-relief scrolls and vestigial text; dated 7 January 235 and issued by the Emperor Severus Alexander to a member of the mounted imperial bodyguard, the equites singulares, on his honourable discharge from the army after 25 years of service; the soldiers last name was Maximus and he came from a town named -]opolis in Thrace; the fragment preserves the last portion of the diploma’s text; remnants of a few letters are visible on the reverse of the fragment, as is the case also for the fragment published by Eck & Pangerl; for the restored text, the restorations following those given by Eck & Pangerl, with preserved letters are in bold: [Imp(erator) Caes(ar) divi Antonini Magni Pii fil(ius) divi Severi Pii nepos M(arcus) Aurellius Severus Alexander Pius Felix Aug(ustus) pontif(ex) max(imus) trib(unicia) pot(estate) VIIII co(n)s(ul) III p(ater) p(atriae) equitibus, qui inter singulares militaverunt castris novis ? Severianis, quibus praeest --- tribunus quinis et vicenis pluribusve stipendis emeritis dimissis honesta missione, quorum nomina subscripta sunt, civitatem Romanam, qui eorum non haberent, dedit et conubium cum uxoribus, quas tunc secum habuissent, cum est civitas iis data, aut cum iis, quas / postea duxissent] dumtaxat sin[gulis] / A(nte) d(iem) VII Id(us)? I]anuarias / [Cn(aeo)] Cl(audio) Severo et Ti(berio)] Cl(audio) Quintiano co(n)s(ulibus) / [exequite do]mini n(ostri) Aug(usti)/ [------- ---]ri f(il(io) Maximo/ [--- ]opoli ex Th[[ra]]c(ia)/ 1) ----]NBOLE / [Descript(um) et recognit(um) ex t]abula aerea qu(a)e fixa est / [Romae in muro pos(t) templ(um)]divi Aug(usti) ad Minervam 1) Mistakenly written THARC(ia); the names of several towns in Roman Thrace ended in -opolis: Philippopolis, Traianopolis, Hadrianopolis. 2) The name of the village or city district from which the soldier came. A fragment of another such diploma to another such soldier discharged under the same imperial decree of discharge (constitutio) was published in 2015: Eck, W. & Pangerl, A., Bürgerrechtskonstitutionen für die Equites Singulares Augusti aus dem 2. und 3. Jahrhundert, ZPE 196 (2015), 211-22: no. 4, p.218-20 (with photo of the fragment); this lot is accompanied by a copy of this academic paper. 60 grams, 71 x 67mm (2 3/4 x 2 1/2"). Property of a European collector; acquired Europe, 1980s-1990s; accompanied by a typed scholarly report by Dr Ittai Gradel. Diplomas issued to the equites singulares of the Praetorian Guard are very rare, and this is believed to be only the third known similar example, and Dr Ittai Gradel, author of the monograph Emperor Worship and Roman Religion, published by Oxford University Press in 2002 says: 'The ‘wave’ or ‘running dog’ relief decoration on the back is btw quite unusual, I have never seen that before.' The equites singulares were the personal cavalry of the emperor being the mounted arm of the Praetorian Guard and were based in Rome at the Caelian Hill; they also formed part of the personal escort to the emperor when he travelled. It is believed that the unit comprised about 1000 horsemen in the time of Hadrian, divided into turmae or squadrons and, from the Trajanic Frieze in the Arch of Constantine, their emblem was a scorpion.
Fine condition.
Estimate: 1000 - 1400