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Qui cucurrit frumentarius annos XI
Ivan Matijević
; Odsjek za povijest, Filozofski fakultetu u Splitu, Sveučilište u Splitu, Split, Hrvatska
Sažetak
In the complex administrative structure of each Roman province governor's office (officium) a special position was held by frumentarii, whose primary task was carrying information between the emperor and the governor. From Salona comes the for a long time now known tomb inscription of the centurion frumentarius, T. Varronius Maro, of the Third Cyrenaic Legion (legio III Cyrenaica). In understanding his military career and the nature of the duties of a frumentarius in general the most important are the lines 5, 6 and 7, reading: qui cucurrit frum(entarius) ann(os) XI et c(enturio) frum(entarius) factus mod, meaning who ran as a frumentarius for 11 years to have become a centurion frumentarius. The syntagm qui cucurrit frumentarius annos was regularly and justly taken as an excellent epigraphic evidence of the role of frumentarii as messengers between Rome and the provinces.
When the inscription was published for the first time (CIL 3, 2063), instead of the number XI, it was stated XL, and this piece of information was quoted in all the works dealing with the frumentarii. This imposes a very simple question: how was it possible in the first place that a legionary served as a frumentarius for as long as 40 years, it being well known that legionnaires were entitled to discharge and the veteran status after 25 years of military service? The answer to the question is actually very prosaic and was offered immediately after a more detailed reading of the inscription. Namely, the transcription in CIL 3, 2063 was incorrect, since in the number denoting the years of the Maro's service the sign X is followed by the sign I and not L. This means Maro was promoted to the position of a centurion frumentarius after having served as a frumentarius for 11, rather than 40 years. It should also be pointed out that understanding the line 7 was made difficult by the incorrect reading in CIL 3, 8581, that was subsequently accepted in ILS 2370 and EDH HD063266, reading: factus mod(o) Ɔ (centurio) Firminus. Reviewing the inscription has also revealed, as it is stated also in its first publication (CIL 3, 2063), that in the word modo the letter O is connected with a ligature with the letter D, meaning that this is in no way denotation of the centurionate. It is not required here because it is already stated in the previous line, and it most certainly cannot be the Firmin's one since it is clearly stated he was a freedman. Syntagms like this one are very rare in the grave inscriptions of the time, and there is not a single one among the over two hundred military inscriptions of Salona, which makes the Maro's inscription a rarity of a kind.
Exercising missions in the farthest parts of the Empire required a frumentarius to be very mobile and made his stays at one place very short, which may explain very rare evidences of wives and children accompanying their husbands and fathers. Maro was accompanied by his freedman, and the fact that he was buried in the necropolis of Salona, at a conceded place (locus concessus), indicates he was not the owner of the burial place and, to an extent, that he was a stranger in the city.
Ključne riječi
frumentarius; centurion; legion; Salona; Rome
Hrčak ID:
127076
URI
Datum izdavanja:
8.9.2014.
Posjeta: 1.466 *