Inscription commemorating the restoration of the Castellum Aquae Claudiae in Rome by the former praet. prefect C. Ceionius Rufius Volusianus signo Lampadius
source date: 365 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/)

Castellum aquae Claudiae regioni primae dispositio dedit et usui tradidit, iussu moderationis Augustae ddominorum nnostrorum Valentiniani et Valentis victorum, Gai Caeioni Rufi Volusiani, viri clarissimi, ex praefecto praetorio praefecti urbi, iudicis iterum sacrarum cognitionum, curante Eustochio, viro clarissimo, consulare aquarum.

Edition based on EDR 112711, that follows the restitutio by Chastagnol 1962, p. 168 at lines 2-3.

“The settling and water distribution tank of the Claudian aqueduct assigned and transferred in use to the First Region – by order of the Augustan moderation of our masters Valentinian and Valens winners – the provision of Gaius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus, of clarissimus rank, former praetorian prefect, urban prefect, for the second time judge with the power to instruct trials in the place of the emperor, under the supervision of Eustochius, of clarissimus rank, consular of the aqueducts”.

“Le château de l’eau Claudia a affecté et transféré en usage à la Première région – par ordre de la modération Auguste de nos seigneurs Valentinien et Valens vainqueurs – la disposition du clarissime Gaius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus, ancien préfet du prétoire, préfet urbain, pour la seconde fois juge avec le pouvoir d’instruire les procès à la place de l’empereur, sous la surveillance d’Eustochius, clarissime consulaire des aqueducs”.

“Il castello dell’acqua Claudia alla regione Prima assegnò e trasferì in uso – per ordine della Augusta moderazione dei nostri signori Valentiniano e Valente vincitori – la disposizione del chiarissimo Gaius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus, ex prefetto del pretorio, prefetto urbano, per la seconda volta giudice con la facoltà di istruire processi in vece dell’imperatore, sotto la supervisione di Eustochius, chiarissimo consolare degli acquedotti”.

The marble slab, broken into two contiguous fragments and damaged at the top and on the right side, bears an inscription carved on a rough surface, indicating re-use. The provenance of the monument is unfortunately unknown, the only data we have about it is that the slab was acquired at Via Cardello 25 from a stone-cutter, who, it is presumed, found it on Via Ostiense (see CIL 06, 03866, «extra portam S. Pauli»).

The text commemorates the re-direction of the water supply from this castellum aquae of the aqueduct of Claudius (aqua Claudia) to the Regio Prima (Porta Capena). The castellum on which the slab was affixed was only one of 92 water holding tanks that distributed the Claudian water in the 14 regions of Rome (Frontin., Aq., 86; on castella aquarum, see Hodge 2002, pp. 291-294). According to Frontinus (Frontin., Aq., 72), the Claudian aqueduct was unable to fulfil the demands made of it, both inside and outside the city of Rome (the situation may not have been better in the middle of the 4th Century AD; for major restorations from the sources of the aqueduct in 399/400 AD cf. CIL 09, 04051 = EDR 166447 near Arsoli). The re-routing of the water to the Regio Prima took place by order of Valentinian I and (formally) Valens; it was entrusted to the urban prefect and former praetorian prefect C. Ceionius Rufius Volusianus signo Lampadius (for his career, see PPRET 36) and was carried out under the supervision of the consularis aquarum Eustochius (PLRE I, p. 313; he was responsible for the water-supply at that time). According to Mommsen (CIL 06, 03866), the decision of the urban prefect Lampadius (dispositio) commemorates the actual construction or restoration of a castellum aquae, by order of Valentinian I and Valens under the supervision of the consularis aquarum. In Late Antique epigraphic texts, the word "dispositio" (l. 2) is linked to the action of civil and military authorities that planned the construction and often the restoration of urban and military buildings and infrastructures – but "iussu moderationis Augustae" (ll. 2-3) is a formula that is unique in Latin epigraphy. According to Behrwald 2009, p. 142 the word "dispositio" emphasized Lampadius’ personal financial contribution, alongside that of the emperors, although there is no evidence for this in the sources (which do show the contribution of taxation to Late Antique building works, especially in the case of Lampadius in Rome, see PPRET 36 and PPRET 38).

The water distribution tank to which the inscription was affixed is not preserved, but the emperors’ authorisation for the new circuit suggests an intervention of considerable importance. It should be noted that Volusianus Lampadius appears to have been involved in a series of restorations in the Thermae Antoninianae, which were the object of great attention by Valentinian I (see PPRET 37, PPRET 38, and CIL 06, 00794; CIL 06, 01171; CIL 06, 01172). The baths were located in the Regio Duodecima (Piscina Publica) and the inscription seems to come from the area south of the Aventine and north of the Thermae Antoninianae, at the beginning of the Via Ostiense, where the Aqua Claudia ended.

Recently, a new inscription reveals another and more recent intervention involving the Aqua Claudia and an unnamed thermal structure that, given the supply area of the aqueduct, could correspond to the Thermae Decianae (Crimi-Orlandi 2017, pp. 287-293 = AE 2017, 00133 = EDR 166240). This building work was carried out under the supervision of the urban prefect Pomponius Ammonius, whose tenure of office has been dated by Crimi and Orlandi to the reigns of Valentinian I and Valens, in 367 AD (Crimi-Orlandi 2017, pp. 293-296). These scholars assume therefore (Crimi-Orlandi 2017, p. 296) that the chronological proximity of these two interventions, both concerning the Aqua Claudia, might suggest a connection in that, maybe, the later repair could have been the completion of an earlier one. Connected or not, the consolidation or extension of the aqueducts was aimed at satisfying the ever-increasing water needs of the city, which was a major concern of the emperors Valentinian I and Valens (Crimi-Orlandi 2017, pp. 296; for epigraphic evidence of repairs on water systems, cf. Buonopane 2018).

The inscription could be another example (see PPRET 37 and PPRET 41) of the extensive number of building restorations that Valentinian I and Valens sponsored during their reign. Their policy originated both from the utilitarian aim of maintaining the infrastructure of an ancient capital, and from the intent to express their concern towards the city’s everyday needs (for the baths, see PPRET 37, bridges, PPRET 41; Lenski 2002, pp. 276-279, 393-396; Chenault 2008, pp. 182-183). The Aqua Claudia (Mari 1993), together with the Anio Novus, that entered Rome from the South-East, was began by Caligula in 38 AD and completed by Claudius in 52 AD (CIL 06, 01256). The supply was interrupted for a nine-year period (on the possible causes of the interruption, see Dembskey 2009) before Vespasianus repaired it in 71 AD (CIL 06, 01257). Ten years later, in 81 AD, Titus had to repair it again (CIL 06, 01258). The aqueduct drew water from the karst springs (fons Caeruleus, fons Curtius, fons Albudinus, Aqua Augusta), located on the right bank of the Aniene river to the east of Rome (and was over 46 miles long (Frontin., Aq., 13; Ashby 1935, pp. 190-251). Both the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus, run side by side and cross over the porta Labicana and porta Praenestina (now Porta Maggiore; for inclusion into the Aurelian Walls cf. Volpe 2017), after which the water was distributed to all fourteen districts of Rome through 92 subsidiary distribution tanks. One of them was the aforementioned castellum aquae that collected and distributed water for the Regio Prima (Porta Capena, l. 1). From Porta Maggiore, a branch of the aqueduct called the arcus Caelimontani went across the Caelian hill to the Palatine and Aventine hills, corresponding to an area known as the Regio Prima (Frontin., Aq., 20; Platner 1929, pp. 22-23; Tucci 2006).

In 11 AD Augustus created a three-man commission, led by a curator aquarum (cf. Peachin 2004; Bianco 2007), a consular senator responsible for the water administration (Frontin., Aq., 99-104), and two senatorial adiutores by his side (by the end of the 1st Century they are no longer referred to in the sources; see Rodgers 1982, pp. 171-172). Claudius later restricted the curator’s jurisdiction by flanking him with another figure, the procurator aquarum, a freedman appointed for supervising the installation of the lead pipes, whose tasks, over time, ouclassed the role of the senatorial curator (Rodgers 1982, p. 176, Bruun 2005, p. 21). By the end of the 2nd Century AD, the title of the curatorship changed into curator aquarum et Minuciae (the last one to be epigraphically recorded is Lollianus signo Mavortius in 328 AD: CIL 06, 36951, see PPRET 45), when Septimius Severus combined the management of the aqueducts with that of the grain supply (frumentationes supervised by the praefectus annonae), which took place in the Porticus Minuciae (Bruun 1987, pp. 13-17). Later the Notitia Dignitatum (Not.Dign. Occ. 04, 05-11) attests that, during the Constantinian age, the administration of the water supply was divided between the aqueducts and pipes (formae), entrusted to the palatine comes formarum in place of the curator aquarum, and the water distribution itself (aquae), appointed to the consularis aquarum (the first recorded in 330 AD: CTh 15, 02, 01), in replacement of the procurator aquarum (Bruun 2007, pp. 8-9; Fusco 2013, pp. 23-28). During the 4th Century AD these urban curatorships were subordinated to the authority of the urban prefect, who became responsible for all urban building works (Chastagnol 1960, pp. 47-49). Between the 5th and 6th Century, the consularis aquarum became known as the comes formarum, a position that appears in Cassiodorus (Cassiod., Var. 07, 06, cf. Cecconi 2015, pp. 60-61 and 202-205), who celebrates (§ 4) the Aqua Claudia climbing to the top of the Aventine hill.

Ephemeris Epigraphica 04, 0845 CIL 06, 03866 CIL 06, 31963 (p. 4770) ILS 5791 Ashby 1935, pp. 250-251 Lugli 1952, II, p. 188, nr. 143 Chastagnol 1962, p. 168 Behrwald 2009, p. 142, nt. 59

SupplIt Imagines, Roma (CIL, VI) 1: Musei Capitolini, nr. 1228

EDCS 18100570 EDR 112711 TM 275620

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urban prefect entrusted to carry out the building works

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