Roman artifact

[timka]

Hi!

This plate was just recently excavated. Would be interesting if someone in the know and fluent in Latin would suggest what this fragment is about. Is it possible to guess to what period/ruler it is related? -  first line reads something like IX D N IMP...

Any ideas will be much appreciated.


Thanks much,

Z   

[Satyrus]

Looks like a roman military diploma.
Line 1: NT? DN IMP M ( ANTONIVS GORDIANVS ... ) - posible from time of Gordian III . Where it was found?

[Satyrus]

Line 2 : (A)N III KAL IAN  - ”year 3,  Januaris  kalendae” . for time to Gordian III this means 1 Jaunary  241 or maybe ( 242  ) .

[Satyrus]

Line 3:  A SACRARVM LITTER(ARVUM ) - "she answered"
Line 4 CVM INTER CETER(AS)    - ”among other things,”
Line 5 ”(...)VLI MARTINE KAR(...)
Line 6 ”INDVLGEN(TIA)”
Line 7  ?

[SC]

While the writing is like that found on military diplomas the form of the object is odd.

Are there other diplomas that have the rolled/folded edge like this one?  Also their appears to be some form fastener attached.

What are the dimensions, including thickness?

SC

[timka]

Satyrus, thank you for figuring out the dating of this piece! Thanks much for your time!

It was found in Western  Ukraine. Most probably it was a war booty gained by a barbarian around limes, and then brought home to sarmatian land.

Shawn, may it was not rolled...may be it was just bent in order to brake it.  I suppose that barbarian just wanted to transform this piece of bronze into smaller fragments... may be for arrow heads, etc.. until he was bored with it and wasted  it as it is.


  

[Jay GT4]

I've never seen a diploma that looks like this one. 

[JamesC11]

Could this document reflect some inaugural act of favor by Gordian's bride Tranquillina who appears so prominently on his coins in this region of the Empire?   Good hunting, Jim C.

[timka]

approximate dimensions - 55 mm by 65 mm, and thickness is about 3 mm

[SC]

By rolled I don't mean the gentle curve.  I mean the top edge of the item where the metal has been folded down (or "rolled") to create a double-thickness layer.  This is not known on diplomas I have seen but is found on things like Roman metal vessels (i.e bowls).  Also 3 mm is too thick for any diploma I have seen.  They seem to measure half this thickness.

I think it is some other inscribed item.

Shawn

[*Alex]

Line 3:  A SACRARVM LITTER(ARVUM ) - "she answered"

I do not understand your translation "she answered". Does SACRARVM LITTER(ARVM) not mean something like "Sacred writing" (i.e. Holy writ when used in a Christian context)?
Perhaps this is part of something religious, a plaque or an inscription from a temple?

Regards

Alex

[Satyrus]

Yes, you are right. This is what happens when you try to do several things at the same time on a phone . It could be anything.

[Jay GT4]

A religious plaque seems more likely.  Why the attribution to Gordian III? 

[okidoki]

Very nice find, a real want to have

Best

Eric

[*Alex]

A religious plaque seems more likely.  Why the attribution to Gordian III?  

A Roman milestone was discovered in England at Greenwell Ford on the Roman road to Binchester, which bore the inscription D N IMP M ANT GORDIANO PIO FELICI AVG. "Our lord Imperator Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius Felix Augustus." Which means it dates from A.D.238 - 244.

Perhaps this is what made Satyrus think the inscription on the bronze might allude to Gordian III. But with only the "M" of the emperor's name legible on the bronze that is very flimsy evidence to accurately attribute it to him. It could just as easily be Philip I, Philip II or any other emperor whose first name began with an M.

Alex

[djmacdo]

Definitely not a diploma, and I cannot see sufficient evidence to attribute it to Gordian III or any other particular emperor.  The style of the lettering and vocabulary leads me to think fourth century A.D., but that also is far from certain.

[JamesC11]

In  a Late Empire context the Sacrarum Litterarum may mean nothing more than a connection with the Imperial government--for example a communication from the emperor's secretariat, in the same way that Sacra Moneta means "imperial mint" without religious implications.  Jim C