The newly discovered Ancient
Roman inscription in Kabyle consists of seven lines. Its Latin letters are
engraved on a
stone slab, which is 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall and 80 centimeters (2.6 feet) wide.
The
Roman inscription refers to the construction of the
Roman thermae (public
baths) in the city of Kabyle in 166 – 169 AD.
The Kabyle thermae were built by the
Cohors II Lucensium (Second Lucensian Cohort),
Roman military unit based in the Thracian city at the time. The unit was commanded by prefect (
praefectus) named Elius Rufus.
The
stone slab itself has been found near the principia (plural of principium), the building for the command staff of the respective
Roman military unit.
“All in all, the
inscription’s translation reveals that the thermae in Kabyle were built by the
Cohors II Lucensium (Second Lucensian Cohort) at the time when the
Thracia province was governed by Governor
Claudius Marcialus," Bakardzhiev has told the BNT TV channel.
“During this period, [the
Roman Empire] was ruled by Emperor
Marcus Aurelius, and the construction was carried out under the supervision of the commander of the Second Lucensian Cohort, Elius Rufus," the archaeologist elaborates.
During their 2017 excavations, the team of the Yambol Museum, which also includes archaeologists Miroslav Kozarev and Yavor Rusev, excavated the residence of the prefect (commander) of the
Roman cohort based in Kabyle, while their new digs in 2018 are focused on the principia of the city.
http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2018/07/05/intact-roman-inscription-from-marcus-aurelius-rule-found-in-ancient-thracian-city-kabyle-in-southeast-bulgaria/
