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AUXILIARY DIPLOMA GIVEN BY EMPEROR TRAJAN TO THE INFANTRYMAN MARCUS ANTONIUSS ESUMNUS MS 1899

AUXILIARY DIPLOMA GIVEN BY EMPEROR TRAJAN TO THE INFANTRYMAN MARCUS ANTONIUSS ESUMNUS

MS 1899
MS Short Title AUXILIARY DIPLOMA GIVEN BY EMPEROR TRAJAN TO THE INFANTRYMAN MARCUS ANTONIUSS ESUMNUS
Text AUXILIARY DIPLOMA GIVEN BY EMPEROR TRAJAN TO THE INFANTRYMAN MARCUS ANTONIUSS ESUMNUS, SON OF MARCUS, FROM V-, AFTER 26 YEARS OF SERVICE WITH THE COHORT I FLAVIA HISPANORUM COMMANDED BY CAIUS MAMMIUS SALUTARIS, UNDER THE CONSULS MARCUS MAECIUS CELER AND GAIUS SERTORIUS BROCCHUS SERVAEUS INNOCENS. COPIED AND CHECKED FROM THE BRONZE TABLET SET UP IN ROMA ON THE WALL BEHIND THE TEMPLE OF AUGUSTUS, NEAR THE STATUE OF MINERVA. WITNESSES: C. TUTICANIUS SATURNINUS, P. LUSCIUS AMANDUS, C. FICTORIUS POLITICUS, TI. CLAUDIUS -, P. MANLIUS -, C. VALERIUS -, AND P. QUIRINIUS POTHUS
Description MS in Latin on bronze, Roma, 101, 2 tabellas, I: 3x4 cm, and II: 13,4x16,5 cm, single column, 6+13 lines remaining in Latin capitals, 2 holes through each tablet for a wire that originally bound the two tablets together, secured with the seals of the 7 witnesses.
Binding Barking, Essex, 1995, red cloth gilt folding case, by Aquarius.
Context There are 3 praetorian diplomas (MSS 1801, 1870, 2051/7) in The Schøyen Collection, further 11 auxiliary diplomas (MSS 1836, 1899, 2051/1-6, 2051/8, 2052, 2086), and 3 fleet diplomas (MSS 698, 1921, 2032).
Provenance 1. Marcus Antonius Esumnus, Serbia? (101 until his death); 2. Found at Ranovac, Serbia (ca. 1986); 3. Antiquity dealer, München (ca. 1990); 4. Sotheby's 7.7.1994:437.
Commentary The present diploma gives Marcus Antonius Esumnus an honourable discharge from the army of Emperor Trajan, Roman citizenship for himself and his descendants, and the right of legal marriage. The present MS contains the unusual information, of both year, place and the exemplar copied. The exemplar, the bronze tablet set in the wall on Forum Romanum, in fact, still survives in fragments.
Published Margaret M. Roxan: Roman Military Diplomas, 1985-1993, (III), no. 143.
Place of origin Roma
Dates 101 AD