Building inscription of the Aïn Rchine arch under the supervision of five praet. prefects
source date: 332 AD
edition published: 2020-03-27
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/)

(1) Domini nostri Flavius Valerius Constantinus Maximus Victor semper Augustus et Flavius Claudius Constantinus et Flavius Iulius Constantius nobilissimi Caesares et Flavius Constans nobilissimus Caesar (2) [...] is sui consili [...]ino [...]uno [...]a utriusque fori ac pu[...] faciem (3) viamque porticatam [...]ibri[...] praefectura praetorio Valeri Maximi, Iuni Bassi, Papi Pacatiani, (4) Flavi Ablabi, Valeri Felici clarissimorum et illustrium virorum quinque per instantiam Domiti Zenofili viri clarissimi proconsulis, inchoante (5) novam [...]vi[...]io[...]vo [...]iano [...], decreto decurionum, pecunia publica.

This edition in based on AE 1981, 0878 supplied by Porena 2003, p. 450 at lines 3-4.

“[Our master Flavius Valerius Constantinus, the greatest winner, always Augustus, the most noble] Caesars Flavius Claudius Constantinus and Flavius Iulius Constantius and the most noble Caesar Flavius Costans [---] of both the squares [---] the facade and the porticoed street [---] under the praetorian prefecture of the five illustrious members of clarissimus rank, Valerius Maximus, Iunius Bassus, Papius Pacatianus, Flavius Ablabius, Valerius Felix, by means of the Proconsul’s of clarissimus rank Domitius Zenofilus intensive control, while [---]iano undertook a new [---] by decree of the decurions with public subsidies.”

“[Notre maître Flavius Valerius Constantinus, le plus grand victorieux, toujours Auguste, les très nobles] Césars Flavius Claudius Constantinus et Flavius Iulius Constantius et le très noble César Flavius Costans [---]de l’une et l’autre place [---] la façade et la rue à portique [---] sous la préfecture du prétoire des cinq illustres clarissimes Claudius Valerius Maximus, Iunius Bassus, Papius Pacatianus, Flavius Ablabius, Valerius Felix, à la demande du clarissime proconsul Domitius Zenofilus, tandis que [---]iano a entrepris une nouvelle [---] par décret des décurions avec des subventions publiques.”

“[Il nostro signore Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Massimo Vincitore, sempre Augusto, i nob]ilissimi Cesari Flavius Claudius Costantinus e Flavius Iulius Constantius e il nobilissimo Cesare Flavius Costans [---] dell’una e dell’altra piazza [---] la facciata e la via porticata [---] sotto la prefettura del pretorio dei cinque illustri chiarissimi Valerius Maximus, Iunius Bassus, Papius Pacatianus, Flavius Ablabius, Valerius Felix, su istanza del proconsole chiarissimo Domitius Zenofilus, mentre [---]iano intraprendeva una nuova [---] per decreto dei decurioni con pubbliche sovvenzioni.”

During an archaeological survey in Tunisia, conducted before 1980, in the valley of the Kebir River, about eighty kilometres south of Carthage, Naïdé Ferchiou found seven fragments (one of which remained in situ) of an inscription carved on the front face of blocks of a partially destroyed monumental arch.

This arch was discovered in the current site of Aïn Rchine, an ancient Roman settlement. The text is incomplete and even today it is still hard to restore because the only six surviving blocks probably corresponded to the left and right side of the inscribed field, while the central part of the arch’s keystone is lost. Unfortunately Ferchiou did not publish photos or reliefs of all the blocks, all we have are images of three, all of which are difficult to interpret (cf. Ferchiou 1980a, pp. 249-253; 1980b, 307-312).

The fragments of this building inscription preserved only three of the five’s prefects’ names: Valerius Maximus, Iunius Bassus and Flavius Ablabius. Despite this lacuna, the fivefold abbreviation of the prefects’ rank is a clear indicator of the number of collegial members (AE 1981, 0878).

Concerning the two missing prefects, Chastagnol (1986, pp. 81-92) proposed L. Papius Pacatianus as the first listed prefect; then Barnes (1992, p. 249 nt. 2) identified the fifth prefect as Evagrius, but Grünewald (1990, p. 202), Migl (1994, pp. 38-39) and finally Porena (2003, pp. 448-450) identified the last one as Valerius Felix, who was listed after Flavius Ablabius. The last two are also listed together in the Tubernuc and Antioch inscriptions (PPRET 17-18). Indeed, a comparison with the twin dedications, in particular the recent discovery of the last, whose text is complete, allows us to restore with certainty the prefect’s names, since they were listed in chronological order of appointment.

Our inscription is of extraordinary historical value: it testifies to the existence of five praetorian prefects at a time when Constantine was sole ruler and reveals how the five were all in office at the time of the monument’s construction dated around 332 AD (see below). Indeed, it is clear, through a chronological analysis of these prefects’ appointments, that this prefectural college preceded by few years the other college referred in the Tubernuc and Antioch inscriptions (PPRET 17, 18).

Iunius Bassus’ (PLRE I, Bassus 14, pp. 154-155, see PPRET 10 and 11) geographical and social origins are unknown since we know little about him before he became praetorian prefect. A recent reinterpretation of an inscription of Paestum (ILPaestum 110 = AE 1975, 0261) by Porena (2012, pp. 293-303) is worth mentioning. Through a paleographically plausible integration, the scholar makes Bassus the dedicator of this monument and therefore a vir perfectissimus corrector Lucaniae et Bruttiorum. He probably held this office under Maximian Herculius between 293 and 305 AD, who chose him for his administrative skills. Indeed, it was not his first appointment. Bassus continued his career probably with other important offices in Gaul. Furthermore, Godefroy (1738, pp. 75-76) in his comment in the CTh 09, 08, 01 suggests that Bassus was probably vicarius Italiae between 315-318 AD, immediately before the praetorian prefecture: such a key appointment was a stepping stone to the higher office of the praetorian prefect.

Iunius Bassus held the praetorian prefecture for about fourteen years between 318 and 334 AD (as the inscription of Aquaviva records, see PPRET 10) and most likely, according to Porena, in two mandates: the first of five consular years (318-322 AD) as sole prefect of Constantine, the second, after the Constantinian administrative reforms, as a regional mandate (perhaps in Illyricum) of nine consular years (326-334 AD; see Porena 2003, pp. 342-356). It is one of the longest assignments ever recorded in the history of the prefecture, the reward for the loyalty of a faithful official. Finally, he gained the ordinary consulate in 331 AD together with Flavius Ablabius (CLRE, pp. 196-197).

Valerius Maximus (PLRE I, Maximus 49, pp. 590-591) became vicarius Orientis in 325 AD, which, after the Constantinian victory over Licinius, was an extremely delicate area to govern (Porena 2012, pp. 308-309, 318). He gained the praetorian prefecture, probably over Gaul, between 326-333 AD, adding to this the ordinary consulate in 327 AD with Flavius Constantius (CLRE, pp. 188-189; for Flavius Constantius see PPRET 12, 13, 14, 15).

For the career of Papius Pacatianus, Flavius Ablabius and Valerius Felix see PPRET 18.

The Aïn Rchine inscription records an involvement, in association with the proconsul of Africa Domitius Zenophilus (PLRE I, p. 993), of the college of praetorian prefects in an imperially sponsored local building activity. The order of enumeration of the five prefects on the Aïn Rchine inscription (Porena 2003, pp. 448-466) and the mention of the proconsul of Africa Zenophilus, in office in 330/332 AD, lead to the inscription being dated to the year 332 AD.

Indeed, Porena (2003, pp. 398-405) supposed that this arch, which was probably the gate of the forum, represented one of a series of works aimed at restoring or extending the public and monumental area of the city (a project that probably went well beyond the small city of Aïn Rchine). Kleinwächter (2001, pp. 207-208) recently argued, from the expression utriusque fori (l. 2) that there could be two fora at Aïn Rchine and so there could be another arch similar to ours, celebrating the same restoration project.

Since it involved the entire prefectural college, it could therefore be a project for the restoration of the public spaces throughout the empire, carried out under the supervision of the prefects.

These works, celebrated by the inscription, were so undertaken at the initiative of Constantine and his sons and carried out under the supervision of the proconsul of Africa Domitius Zenofilus, who applied directives expressed by the rulers through his praetorian prefects.

Ferchiou 1980a, p. 309 = AE 1981, 0878 Grünewald 1990, p. 202, nr. 133 Porena 2003, pp. 399, 450 = AE 2003, 1988 Salway 2007, p. 1283 Saastamoinen 2010, p. 502, nr. 690 Olszaniec 2014, p. 20

Ferchiou 1980a, pp. 307, 311 (photo of the block nr. 2) Ferchiou 1980b, pp. 249-252, fig. 20-23 (photos of the blocks nr. 4 and 6)

EDCS 09001583 EDH 005156 TM 198877

Barnes T.D., Praetorian Prefects, 337-361, ZPE, 94, 1992, 249-260 Barnes T.D., Constantine: Dynasty, Religion and Power in the Later Roman Empire, Chichester-Malden 2011 Chastagnol A., Les inscriptions africaines des préfets du prétoire de Constantin, in Mastino A. (a cura di), L'Africa romana: atti del 3. Convegno di studio, 13-15 dicembre 1985, Sassari 1986, 263-273 (= Chastagnol A., Aspects de l’Antiquité Tardive, Roma 1994, 81-92) Coşkun A., Die Praefecti praesent(al)es und die Regionalisierung der Praetorianer-praefekturen im vierten Jahrhundert, Millennium, 1, 2004, 279-328 Ferchiou N., Préfets du prétoire et proconsul sous Constantin: une dédicace d’arc en Afrique, Echanges, 2(3), 1980(a), 307-312 Ferchiou N., Une cité antique de la Dorsale tunisienne, aux confins de la Fossa Regia: Aïn Rchine et ses environs, AntAfr, 15, 1980(b), 231-259 Gkoutzioukostas A., The Reforms of Constantine the Great in Provincial Administration: a Critical Approach to the Conclusions of Modern Research, Byzantina, 34, 2015-2016, 93-110 Grünewald T., Constantinus Maximus Augustus: Herrschaftspropaganda in der Zeitgenössischen Überlieferung, Stuttgart 1990 Kleinwächter C., Platzanlagen nordafrikanischer Städte. Untersuchungen zum sogenannten Polyzentrismus in der Urbanistik der römischen Kaiserzeit, Mainz 2001 Kelly C., Bureaucracy and Government, in Lenski N. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, Cambridge 2007, 183-204 Migl J., Die Ordnung der Ämter: Prätorianerpräfektur und Vikariat in der Regionalverwaltung des Römischen Reiches von Konstantin bis zur Valentinianischen Dynastie, Frankfurt am Main 1994 Olszaniec S., Praefektura praetorio Italii, Illyrikum i Afryki (312–425 n.e.), Toruń 2014 Porena P., Le origini della prefettura del pretorio tardoantica, Roma 2003 Porena P., I dignitari di Costantino: dinamiche di selezione e di ascesa durante la crisi del sistema tetrarchico, in Bonamente G., Lenski N., Lizzi Testa R. (a cura di), Costantino prima e dopo Costantino. Constantine before and after Constantine, Bari 2012, 293-320 Saastamoinen A., The Phraseology and Structure of Latin Building Inscriptions in Roman North Africa, Helsiniki 2010 Salway B., The Praetorian Prefecture of Africa under Constantine: a Phantom?, in Acta XII Congressus internationalis epigraphiae Graecae et Latinae: Provinciae imperii Romani inscriptionibus descriptae, II, Barcelona 2007, 1281-1286

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praefectura praeto[ri]o