Original scientific paper
On the Military Career of the Centurion Lucius Varius [---] According to the Inscription ILIug 2098 from Salona
Ivan Matijević
; Odsjek za povijest Filozofskog fakulteta u Splitu, Split, Hrvatska
Abstract
From Salona originates the fragmented tomb altar of the centurion L. Varius [---]. He was listed in the Sergia voting district, and born in Augusta Pretoria in the 11th Italic Region (Transpadana). He served in the legion XI Claudia pia fidelis, and was centurion in a cohort
(Coh VI V[---]). His monument was erected after 42 AD by L. Varius Laetus, probably his son or freedman, and the inscription also mentions one Bennia Sabina, probably his wife. The damages at the right side of the inscription rise three basic and mutually related issues on
which depend a full understanding of the Varius' military career. In the legion XI Claudia pia fidelis was he an ordinary soldier or a centurion? Was he a centurion in the Cohort VI vigilum or in the Cohort VI Voluntariorum? In which order did he perform the above mentioned services? Numerous authors provided different interpretations of the Varius' services since the time his inscription was published, and then connected with the fragment from Vicenza and analysed in the context of the inscription of the Cohort VI Voluntariorum in Epidaurum,
but most part of the questions have remained open.
A comparison with careers of members of the vigiles shows that this cannot be about Varius' centurion rank in this unit. This once again revived the thesis of his service in the Cohort VI Voluntariorum that was stationed in Dalmatia at last an entire decade - from the suppression of the Pannonian-Dalmatian rebellion (6-9 AD) till 20 AD. During this period of time in this province was also the legion XI, when Varius could have been transferred from one unit to the other. If he was firstly an auxiliary centurion, Varius, after being transferred in the legion could not have been placed to a post lower than a centurion. However, according
to another and equally plausible assumption, he was advanced from the rank of an ordinary legionnaire or a higher ranked position to the rank of a cohort centurion, which means that the services in the inscription are stated in their time sequence. Thus interpreted, the inscription from Salona could make a sufficient reason for an assumption of the Cohort
VI Voluntariorum staying in Dalmatia also after the Dolabella's governorship (14-20 AD).
Keywords
Salona; inscription; centurion; military service; career; cohort; legion
Hrčak ID:
186057
URI
Publication date:
8.9.2017.
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