07-16-2015, 02:56 PM
Thanks again!
This doesn't actually sound military to me. The later Roman bureaucracy adopted a lot of military stylings, and it seems far more likely that this is the epitaph of a young man who worked in one of the imperial offices, perhaps in the palace at Aquileia. A soldier would surely have merited 'militiae' rather than just 'labore', and if he was under 30 ('iuvenili' would suggest that, I think) then he would be rather young to be even a centurion! 'Contubernales' is used a civilian context now and again, I think.
Certain references in the Theodosian Code, I believe, imply that civilians of rank could hold the ducenae dignitas (or whatever it was called). So I think it's a bit of a push to see this inscription as evidence of ducenarii in the legions!
This doesn't actually sound military to me. The later Roman bureaucracy adopted a lot of military stylings, and it seems far more likely that this is the epitaph of a young man who worked in one of the imperial offices, perhaps in the palace at Aquileia. A soldier would surely have merited 'militiae' rather than just 'labore', and if he was under 30 ('iuvenili' would suggest that, I think) then he would be rather young to be even a centurion! 'Contubernales' is used a civilian context now and again, I think.
Certain references in the Theodosian Code, I believe, imply that civilians of rank could hold the ducenae dignitas (or whatever it was called). So I think it's a bit of a push to see this inscription as evidence of ducenarii in the legions!
Nathan Ross
