Published Fragment of a Military Diploma from the Province Mauretania Tingitana

Culture: Roman

Period: Reign of Antoninus Pius, 26 October 153 A.D.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 2.1 cm x 3.6 cm

Price: 800 Euro

Ref: 3745

Provenance: From the German collection Peter Weiß, acquired between 1967 and 2015.

Condition: Very beautifully preserved.

Description: Small bronze fragment from the lower part of Tabella I of a Roman military diploma with particularly diligently written inscription on the outside. The certificate, which was issued under Emperor Antoninus Pius, was awarded to a foot soldier or equestrian, who served in the province Mauretania Tingitana. He was Dacian or Molossian (Moeser? Molosser?) and served under governor Flavius Flavianus. In Mauretania unrest broke out in 145 A.D., which the Romans could only put down in 152 A.D. The diploma belongs to a series of military diplomas, which were all issued on the same day and of which only eleven pieces for different soldiers are known, of which most – also the soldier of the present diploma – originate from the lower Danube region. The best preserved is the diploma in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum and published in RGZM 34, no. 34. See for the argumentation the publication of the fragment in: Peter Weiß „Statthalter und Konsulndaten in neuen Militärdiplomen“, in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, volume 171, 2009,no. 8, p. 245-247.