Inscription in honour of the praet. prefect Sallustius from Rome by the provincials of Hispaniae
source date: May 28th, 364 AD
edition published: 2020-05-08
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/)

Flavio Sallustio, viro clarissimo, consuli ordinario, praefecto praetorio, comiti consistorii, vicario urbi Romae, vicario Hispaniarum, vicario Quinque Provinciarum, pleno aequitatis ac fidei ob virtutis meritorumque gloriam, missis legatis, iussione sacra, Hispaniae dicaverunt.

Dedicata V kalendas Iunias Divo Ioviano Augusto et Varroniano conssulibus

Edition based on CIL and photos C. Machado (LSA 323).

“To Flavius Sallustius, of clarissimus rank, ordinary consul, praetorian prefect, count of the consistory, vicar of the city of Rome, vicar of the Spains, vicar of the Five Provinces, rich in justice and trustworthiness, for the glory of his virtue and merits, the Spains dedicated (this monument), having been sent the legates and thanks to a sacred order.

Dedicated on the fifth day before the kalends of June (May 28th) in the consulship of Divus Jovian Augustus and Varronianus (364 AD).”

“À Flavius Sallustius, clarissime consul ordinaire, préfet du prétoire, comte du consistoire, vicaire de la ville de Rome, vicaire des Espagnes, vicaire des Cinq Provinces, plein d’équité et de fiabilité, pour la gloire de sa vertu et de ses mérites, les Espagnes ont consacré, en ayant envoyé les légats et pour un commandement sacré.

Dédié le cinquième jour avant les kalendes de Juin (28 mai) sous le consulat du Divus Jovien Auguste et de Varronien (364 ap. J.-C.).”

“A Flavius Sallustius, chiarissimo console ordinario, prefetto del pretorio, conte del concistoro, vicario della città di Roma, vicario delle Spagne, vicario delle Cinque Province, pieno di equità e di affidabilità, per la gloria della sua virtù e dei suoi meriti, le Spagne hanno dedicato, inviati i legati e grazie a un sacro ordine.

Dedicata il quinto giorno prima delle calende di giugno (28 maggio) durante il consolato del Divo Gioviano Augusto e di Varroniano (364 d.C.).”

The inscription celebrates the dedication of a monument to Flavius Sallustius in the Forum of Trajan on May 28th 364 AD. The text on the marble base is inscribed over an old inscriptions that was chiselled away; the holes in the upper surface of the base were probably cut to hold a bronze statue (see Niquet 2000, p. 65; cf. G. Alföldy and F. Mitthof in CIL 06, p. 4745). The monument was decreed by the Council of the diocese of the Spains who sent their legates to the imperial court and obtained imperial permission: missis legat(is) ius(sione) sac(ra) Hispaniae dedicaverunt (ll. 11-12). In late antique Rome the emperors usually put up monuments to their praetorian prefects in Trajan’s Forum (see PPRET 46, 48, 51, 62, 93, 98) but private individuals and communities could only put up metal statues to officials in public spaces with imperial permission (see Feissel 1984, pp. 548-550; Ward-Perkins 2016, p. 307; Machado 2019, pp. 143-145; cf. PPRET 24, 58, 75). The imperial grant probably came in the form of an authorization, adressed to the urban prefect, allowing him to erect a statue in the most prestigious public space in the capital, in honour of a senator who was no longer serving in the bureaucracy (on Trajan’s Forum in Late Antiquity, see Bauer 1996, pp. 93-97, 409-412; Niquet 2000, pp. 18-20; Chenault 2012, pp. 118-124, 130-131). The same procedure is recalled in the inscription of the legates of Africa who celebrated the erection of two gilded statues (one in Rome, also Trajan’s Forum, the other in Carthage) of Hymetius, proconsul in 366-368 AD, after obtaining imperial permission in 376 or 378 AD (CIL 06, 01736 = ILS 1256, ll. 16-17: provincia Africa decretis ad divinos principes / dominos nostros missis).

Flavius Sallustius was a supporter of Julian and his praetorian prefect of Gaul (361-363 AD). The inscription records his cursus honorum in descending order. The oldest offices listed are three vicariates that were held by Sallustius in the following order: vicariate of the Five Provinces, vicariate of the Spains and vicariate of the city of Rome. The sequence of three vicariates indicates that Sallustius was probably a new man, someone who had made his way through the ranks of the bureaucracy, after holding minor positions (possibly provincial governorships) that the inscription does not record (see PLRE I, Sallustius 5, pp. 797-798). We can only hasard a guess at the dates of his Roman appointment: the title vicarius urbis Romae is related to the reform of Constantius II in 357 AD (cf. Chastagnol 1960, pp. 36-42, 464), while the following position of praetorian prefect was held from 361 AD.

After the last vicariate Sallustius became part of the consistory of Julian (comes consistorii). He established relations of friendship and trust with the young emperor who promoted Sallustius praefectus praetorio of Gaul in the Spring of 361 AD, before leaving the West for the expected clash with Constantius II (Amm. 21, 08, 01; see Caltabiano 2009, p. 140). He was, therefore, the first prefect appointed by Julian. In 363 AD Sallustius was granted the exceptional honour of holding the consulate together with the emperor himself (consul ordinarius: CLRE, pp. 260-261, for the sources). As is pointed out by Ammianus (Amm. 23, 01, 01), it was from the time of Diocletian (in the years 285 and 288 AD) that private citizens were no longer appointed colleagues of an emperor in the consulate.

Ammianus also recalls (Amm. 23, 05, 04) that at the beginning of the Persian expedition, Julian received a letter from Sallustius, imploring him to desist from his undertaking “without having yet secured the favour of the gods”. Evidence that Sallustius too was pagan. Some scholars have identified Fl. Sallustius as the author of the short treatise “On the Gods and the World” (Étienne 1963; Chastagnol 1965 = 1994, p. 19; PLRE I, Sallustius 1, p. 796; Petit 1994, pp. 227-228), but the most recent critics prefer the prefect of the East Saturninius Secundus Salutius (Rinaldi 1978; Desnier 1983; Clarke 1998, pp. 347-350; Marcone 2019, pp. 118-123; see also PPRET 52).

Flavius Sallustius left the prefecture shortly after Julian’s death: a law of the Theodosian Code may attest to his successor, Decimius Germanianus, in office in December 363 AD (CTh 11, 30, 30 but the dating of the text is problematic: cf. PLRE I, Germanianus 4, p. 392). If the death of Julian brought about the end of his prefecture through the loss of imperial favour, there is no evidence to suggest it. On May 28th 364 AD, the monument in Trajan’s Forum was dedicated and permission for it came from one of Julian’s successors, perhaps Jovian (who died in Dadastana, in Bithynia, on February 17th 364 AD) less likely Valentinian (Augustus from February 25th) and Valens (from March 28th), considering that the imperial court was then in the East (but cf. Niquet 2001, p. 136). Moreover, Mamertinus and Salutius, Julian’s prefects, remained in office until 365 AD (see PPRET 49 and 51), while Decimius Germanianus himself had been among the supporters of the Apostate in Gaul (Caltabiano 2009, p. 140). It was probably Sallustius himself who chose to retire, perhaps because of his old age, or perhaps because he was honorably discharged by Jovian. In view of the end of the career of the prefect who also administered the Spains, the diocesan Council’s embassy wanted to ask the emperor for permission to make an honorary monument in the most prestigious forum in Rome. Possibly Fl. Sallustius, who governed that diocese as vicar, was a Spaniard (Chastagnol 1965 = 1994, p. 19). The Sallustius who was Prefect of Rome in 386 AD and who owned horse farms in Spain, could be his son (Symm., Ep. 05, 56: Chastagnol 1962, pp. 216-218; cf. Vera 1978; Rivolta Tiberga 1992, pp. 166-170).

CIL 06, 01729 (cf. pp. 4745-4746) ILS 1254 Cantarelli 1903, pp. 78-79, nr. 5 Lugli 1965, p. 66, nr. 387 Rinaldi 1978, p. 120 De Bonfils 1981, pp. 178-180 Scharf 1994, p. 21, nt. 56 Gregori, Almagno 2019, p. 141, nr. 18

EDCS 18100538 EDR 134902 LSA 323 TM 570214

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missis legat(is) ius(sione) sac(ra)

pleno aequitatis ac fidei ob virtutis meritorumq(ue) gloriam

pleno aequitatis ac fidei ob virtutis meritorumq(ue) gloriam

v(ir) c(larissimus)

praef(ecto) praet(orio)