A Roman Bronze Military Diploma Fragment for Auxiliaries

Circa 114 A.D.

Length 6 cm (2 3/8 inches).

Provenance:

David John MacDonald (1943-2025; Ancient Numismatist and Illinois State University Professor of History from 1971-2005), Carlock, Illinois.

Published:

W. Eck, D. MacDonald, and A. Pangerl, "Neue Militärdiplome mit neuen Konsulndaten," Chiron, vol. 32, 2002, fig. 2, pp. 401-403.

Translation:

Emperor Caesar Nerva Traianus Optimus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus, son of the deified Nerva, chief priest, holding tribunician power for the eighteenth time, acclaimed imperator seven times, consul six times, father of the fatherland,

to the cavalrymen and infantrymen who have served [in the auxiliary units named here], and who have completed their service, he has granted Roman citizenship for themselves, their children, and their descendants, together with the right of legal marriage with the wives whom they had at the time citizenship was given, or, if any were unmarried, with those whom they afterwards married, provided that each man have only one wife.

Dated [in September …] in the consulship of Lucius Lollianus Avitus and Lucius Messius Rusticus.

[The diploma concerns the unit … commanded by …].

Witnesses: Tiberius Claudius Iustus, Marcus Maecius Eupator, Lucius Pullius Verecundus, Quintus Apidius Thallus, Gaius Julius Paratus, Tiberius Julius Urbanus, Publius Caulius Vitalis.

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Antiquities and Ancient Art: Including Property from the Estates of Andrew C. Ware and Iris C. Love

A Roman Bronze Military Diploma Fragment for Auxiliaries

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