Building inscription celebrating a construction in the Aila harbour, undertaken by Constantine and the Caesars and supervised by their praetorian prefect
source date: 324/326 AD
edition published: 2020-06-23
availability: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)

Domini nostri Imperator Caesar Flavius Valerius Constantinus semper Augustus, pontifex maximus, pater patriae, et Flavius Claudius Constantinus, et Flavius Iulius Constantius, nobilissimi Caesares, Flavio Constantio viro clarissimo, praefecto praetorio inchoante et curante, [...] perfici reficique iusserunt [...] vir perfectissimus praeses provinciae Palaestinae dedicavit.

This edition is based on Porena 2003 (= AE 2003, 1832).

“Our masters, the Emperor Caesar Flavius Valerius Constantinus, always Augustus, pontifex maximus, father of the fatherland, Flavius Iulius Crispus, Flavius Claudius Constantinus and Flavius Iulius Constantius, very noble Caesars, ordered that it was built (the building) under the supervision and care of Flavius Constantius, of clarissimus rank, praetorian prefect; [- - -] of perfectissimus rank, governor of the province of Palestine dedicated it.”

“Nos seigneurs, l’Empereur César Flavius Valerius Constantinus, toujours Auguste, pontife suprême, père de la patrie, et Flavius Iulius Crispus, Flavius Claudius Constantinus et Flavius Iulius Costantius, très nobles Césars, ont ordonné qu’il soit construit / reconstruit (le bâtiment ?) sous la supervision et les soins de Flavius Constantius, clarissime préfet du prétoire. [- - -] perfectissime gouverneur de la province de Palestine a consacré.”

“I nostri signori, l’Imperatore Cesare Flavius Valerius Costantinus, sempre Augusto, pontefice massimo, padre della patria, e Flavius Iulius Crispus e Flavius Claudius Costantinus e Flavius Iulius Costantius, nobilissimi Cesari, ordinarono che fosse costruito / ricostruito (l’edificio ?) sotto la supervisione e la cura di Flavius Constantius, chiarissimo prefetto del pretorio. [- - -] il perfettissimo governatore della provincia di Palestina dedicò.”

The six fragments were discovered during the spring of 1987 in front of the northwest gate of the medieval site (Aila) in the port city of Aqaba (Jordan), halfway between the Roman-Byzantine city and the Mamluko-Ottoman castle (see MacAdam 1989, p. 163). A seventh fragment was also found within a tower there, but it cannot be joined with any of the others, although the shape and height of the letters closely matches those of the other fragments: it is clearly out of context, so this fragment had to be part of a second similar inscription with some variations (see MacAdam 1989, p. 165).

This monumental inscription celebrates a military construction and was probably mounted upon it. It was removed no later than during the Arab conquest, after which it was reused in the medieval town, situated near the ancient Roman centre.

The fragmentary slab had large letters that were accurately and tidily carved with visible rubric traces; the original text was arranged in no more than five lines.

The inscription celebrates the construction of a (probably) military installation in Aila, which was stated and financed by the emperors Constantinus Augustus and his Caesars. Fl. Constantius, the praetorian prefect, was charged to supervise these works. MacAdam (1989) noted that a name on the second line was chiselled away, probably a Caesar, and rightly assumed that Crispus’ name was erased after he was executed in May 326 AD (MacAdam 1989, pp. 167-169). He then restored a gap on the third line with the name of the praetorian prefect Flavius Constantius, who was probably charged to supervise these works.

Flavius Constantius held the praetorian prefecture between 324 and 327 AD (for his career see PPRET 12). During the period November 324 – May 326 AD, Constantine, who was the only ruler, was associated with three Caesars (Crispus, Constantine II and Constantius) all of whom were mentioned in the first half of our inscription. After Crispus’ name was deleted, our inscription continued to celebrate two of them with the plural “nobilissimi Caesari” (l. 5). Then, the inscription was carved after the defeat of Licinius in 324 AD and before Crispus’ death (May 326 AD).

If the identification with the praetorian prefect Flavius Constantius is correct, the monument could confirm his ties with the East and his important role in the Constantinian building policy and in the reorganization of the East, subtracted from Licinius by its new master (see PPRET 12, 13; PPRET 15). The emperors’ name in the nominative case, the monumental dimensions of the epigraphic field, the use of Latin in a Greek-speaking area, shows that the construction was ordered and financed by Constantine and his sons. In this inscription our praetorian prefect was mentioned possibly as the supervisor of the military building’s construction. According to Porena (2003, p. 395) the military nature of the building can be deduced from the strategic position of the port on the Red Sea, making it a natural military base. In effect, Aila lies at the north-eastern corner of an arm of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba and was a port providing access to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean beyond (Kennedy 2004, p. 206). Aila was a Nabatean city and Strabo (Strab., Geog., 16, 02, 30; Strab., Geog., 16, 04, 04) described it as a port of little importance during the Augustan period. When the Nabatean kingdom was annexed to the Roman Empire (106 AD), Aila became the southern terminus of the Via Nova Traiana. According to Eusebius (Eus., Onom., 06, 17-21; Eus., Onom., 07, 25-28) Diocletian moved the Legio X Fretensis from Jerusalem to Aila around 290 AD and here he built the section of the Diocletian Strata connecting with the Via Nova Traiana: the two formed a single road running along the entire Roman-Persian boundary. The city therefore became an important strategic location and experienced significant commercial growth (cf. Parker 2000, pp. 128-134; Ward 2007, pp. 163-164; Nappo 2018, pp. 118-123). The Notitia Dignitatum (Not.Dign. Or. 34, 30) attests to the legion remaining in Aila at least until 400 AD.

The identity of our anonymous dedicant (l. 5), could be related to Aila’s military and strategic role. Porena (2003, p. 395, nt. 83) cautiously suggested the dedicant was the Praeses Palaestinae, but it might be a military local official such as a Praefectus legionis X Fretensis stationed in the city, or the Dux Palaestinae, or a praepositus of that area.

MacAdam 1989, pp. 164-169 = AE 1989, 0750 IGLS 21,4, 150 Porena 2003, pp. 393-395 = AE 2003, 1832 Kennedy 2004, pp. 207-208

MacAdam 1989, p. 173 (tafel IX)

EDCS 06100518 EDH 018465 PH 246371 TM 198403

Kennedy D., The Roman Army in Jordan, London 2004 (rev.ed.) MacAdam H.I., Fragments of a Latin Building Inscription from Aqaba, Jordan, ZPE, 79, 1989, 163-172 Nappo D., I porti romani nel Mar Rosso da Augusto al Tardoantico, Napoli 2018 Parker S.T., Roman Legionary Fortresses in the East, in Brewer R.J. (ed.), Roman Fotresses and their Legions, London 2000, 121-138 Porena P., Le origini della prefettura del pretorio tardoantica, Roma 2003 Ward W., Aila and Clysma: The Rise of Northern Ports in the Red Sea in Late Antiquity, in Starkey J., Starkey P., Wilkinson T. (eds.), Natural Resources and Cultural Connections of the Red Sea, Oxford 2007, 161-171 Whitcomb D., Medieval Aqaba. A Brief Report on the 1986 and 1987 Seasons, Syria, 65, 1988, 423-425

the praetorian prefect probably was a supervisor of the military building’s construction

[v(iro) c(larissimo)]

[praef(ecto) praet(orio)]