judaism_and_rome 2026-07-22T00:39:02+02:00 1 287 Inscription https://heurist.huma-num.fr/heurist/?recID=287&db=judaism_and_rome 2022-08-16 23:18:42 2025-07-22 16:56:40 public Dedication asking for the safety of Nero and Poppaea (CIL XI, 1331) Marble plaque. The inscriptions are placed within a moulded frame, in two columns, separated by a blank space. The plaque has been broken into four pieces and restored, with some damage remaining to the lower right hand corner and the upper moulded frame. 0065 0065 5427 1510 0b34f6d53777750c2c3bb8b8e48a1c689da1f30c 129460_0.jpg image/jpeg 170 2022-08-12 11:48:28 Dedication asking for the safety of Nero and Poppaea (CIL XI, 1331), 5427, Dedication for Nero and Poppaea (CIL XI, 1331) (170.92 KB)) https://heurist.huma-num.fr/heurist/?db=judaism_and_rome&file=0b34f6d53777750c2c3bb8b8e48a1c689da1f30c Latin 5335 5334 5333 5332 4943 3832 5331 5330 5683 5329 5328 <p>The above inscription records a dedication by a member of the local elite of northern Italy, Lucius Titinius Glaucus Lucretius, in fulfilment of a vow taken to preserve the safety of the emperor Nero; it appears to have been dedicated during the turmoil of the Pisonian conspiracy in 65 CE, by an individual who was particularly close to the Julio-Claudian household. The inscription reveals important information concerning the personal patronage extended by certain of the Julio-Claudian emperors and the elevated position that their clients might reach, and it also demonstrates the way in which the emperor Nero consolidated his hold on power through deliberate allusions to his predecessors. The inscription also connects the position of the emperor with the imperial ideal of <em>felicitas</em> (happiness), which is manifested both in the actions of men as well as in the general prosperity of the age.</p><p>The text of the inscription is divided into two columns that contain almost identical texts, but which differ slightly in the dedication. The left hand column is dedicated to Poppaea Augusta (Poppaea the Younger), Nero’s second wife; she is described as <em>diva</em> (deified), which along with the consuls named in lines 7-8 allows for a secure dating of 65 CE (Spadoni, <em>I Prefetti nell’amministrazione municipale dell’Italia Romana</em>, p. 103). Exactly the same text is repeated in the right hand column of the inscription, but dedicated to the Emperor Nero. Duncan Fishwick has stated that although Poppaea Augusta is clearly defined as a deity in the left hand text of the inscription, the original purpose of the inscription is the celebration of the fulfilment of a vow paid specifically to Nero, meaning that the dedications are honorific in nature, rather than religious (Fishwick, <em>Votive offerings to the emperor</em>, p. 125-6). That Nero is the primary focus of the inscription can also be seen in the <em>ductus</em> of the right hand column, which is better cut and spatially aligned than the lettering of the left hand column dedicated to Poppaea, suggesting greater care in the process of inscribing (Angeli Bertinelli<em>, Lunensia Antiqua</em>, p. 88).</p><p>The dedicator of the inscription is named as Lucius Titinius Glaucus Lucretianus, whose career is also known from a number of other inscriptions also discovered in the frontier town of Luna, which was situated on the boundary between ancient Etruria and Liguria (e.g. <em>CIL</em> XI, 1322; 1349a; 6955). He was an important equestrian and member of the local elite of the <em>colonia</em> of Luna, which is indicated by his statement of membership in the Galerian tribe, which was predominant among the Roman citizens of the town (Angeli Bertinelli, <em>Lunensia Antiqua</em>, p. 88). The inscription reveals that L. Titinius Glaucus Lucretianus had an enormously successful career; he was <em>duumvir</em> (leader) of the colony four times, named ‘patron of the colony’ (<em>patronus coloniae</em>), the ‘sevir’ (one of a municipal board made up of six men) in charge of a squadron of Roman knights (<em>equitum Romanorum</em>), a curial priest, the prefect of the ‘fabri’ of the consul, which literally translated as prefect of the consul’s ‘engineers,’ but which at this period had come to be understood as simply ‘aide’ with high authority (Sherk, <em>Roman Empire</em>, p. 110and n. 21). A further inscription from Luna (<em>CIL</em> XI, 6955) has revealed that following the personal intercession of the emperor Claudius, on one of the occasions that L. Titinius Glaucus Lucretianus was <em>duumvir</em> of Luna, he was also named as <em>quinquennalis</em>, the highest municipal magistracy, demonstrating the close relationship that he enjoyed with the imperial household. Federico Frasson has also suggested that he continued to enjoy similar patronage under Nero, including his investiture as <em>praefectus fabrum consulis</em> directly in his service (<em>Le epigrafi di Luni Romana</em>, p. 45).</p><p>As well as these important local political magistracies, L. Titinius Glaucus Lucretianus also enjoyed a very prestigious military career, leading the Twenty Second Legion Primigenia as their tribune (<em>tribunus militum legionis XXII Primigeniae</em>) and acting as ‘prefect with the power of a legate’ (<em>praefectus pro legato</em>) for the governor of the Balearic Islands, where he also commanded the Legion Sixth Victrix. This was an important regional position as the island district was, in the first century CE, the destination for many condemned to exile from Rome, which made a strong military presence an essential requirement for the maintenance of control and order (Frasson, <em>Le epigrafi di Luni Romana</em>, p. 45). This becomes ever more important in the context of the inscription; L. Titinius Glaucus Lucretianus made the vow for the safety of Nero at a time when the administration was still dealing with the crisis of the Pisonian conspiracy in 65 CE, which sought to assassinate Nero for his despotic behaviour and elevate the statesman Caius Calpurnius Piso to the emperorship. The vow recorded in the inscription is a public statement of loyalty to the imperial household and support of the emperor, in gratitude for the prestigious military and political positions that L. Titinius had been awarded under successive Julio-Claudian leaders (Angeli Bertinelli,<em> Lunensia Antiqua</em>, p. 88). It is perhaps worth noting here the titulature that the inscription bestows upon Nero; in lines 2-3 of column 2 he is described as ‘son of the deified Claudius, grandson of Germanicus Caesar, great-grandson of Tiberius Claudius Augustus, great-great-grandson of the deified Augustus’ (<em>divi Claudi filio Germanici / Caesaris nepoti Tiberi Caesaris Augusti pronepoti divi Augusti abnepoti</em>), with obvious emphasis given to his relationship with the emperors that came before him. This was especially significant as unlike Tiberius, Caligula (Caius) and Claudius before him, Nero was not directly linked to the founder of the household, Augustus, but rather claimed his lineage through his mother Octavia’s family line and following his adoption by Claudius in 50 CE. The emphasis on his connection to the Julio-Claudian <em>gens</em> in this inscription was a further demonstration of support to the imperial household by L. Titinius, who used the dedication to publically declare his allegiance. L. Titinius Glaucus Lucretianus’ loyalty also extended to the religious sphere; in the inscription he is named as a ‘priest of Rome and Augustus’ (<em>flamen Romae et Augusti</em>), indicating the establishment of the imperial cult in Luna. Indeed, M. Gabriella Angeli Bertinelli has taken this reference to the flaminate as an indication that there was an altar or perhaps even a whole building dedicated to the celebration of Rome and the emperor (<em>Lunensia Antiqua</em>, p. 9). As a member of the local aristocracy it is not surprising that this too formed part of his cultural and public identity, but his placement of the role of <em>flamen</em> before any other political or military magistracy in the inscription again underlines his strong connection with the imperial authorities in Rome and his fidelity to the emperor.</p><p>The final lines of the inscription describe the vow performed by L. Titinius and the gods to whom it was made: ‘<em>voto… pos(u)it Iovi Iunoni / Minervae Felicitati Romae divo Augusto’</em> (having been granted his prayer, he erected it to Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Happiness of Rome, the deified Augustus). It has been suggested that this choice of deities was not a casual one; the Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva had their cult on the Capitoline hill of Rome, along with that of <em>Felicitas</em>, which is also where offerings were made in thanks to the gods for the danger to the person of the emperor that had been avoided in the discovery of the Pisonian conspiracy (Frasson, <em>Le epigrapfi di Luni Romana</em>, p. 48). Perhaps most interesting, however, is the consideration of “<em>Felicitati</em> <em>Romae”</em>. The cult of <em>Felicitas</em> was well established at Rome, with a temple dedicated somewhere along the line of the triumphal procession by L. Licinius Lucullus after 46 BCE, using the booty won during his campaigns in Spain in 151-150 BCE (Strabo, <em>Geography</em>, VIII.6.23). Julius Caesar had planned a second temple in 44 BCE, shortly before his assassination, which was eventually fulfilled by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus following his death (Cassius Dio, <em>Roman History</em>, XLIV.5.2). Both instances of the cult therefore appeal to the earliest conception of <em>felicitas</em> as the product of good fortune, particularly in the military sphere. As Carlos Noreña has rightly noted, both Cicero and Livy frequently use <em>felicitas </em>in their descriptions of military achievements as the natural “counterpart of martial <em>virtus</em> in Roman conceptions of victory” (<em>Imperial ideals</em>, p. 166; see <em>ibid,</em> n. 205 for references to Cicero and Livy’s usages). In this sense, L. Titinius’s dedication to <em>felicitas</em> would seem logical; although perhaps not tied to a specific set of victories, his leadership of several legions in areas that were historically problematic (Hispania Citerior and the Balearic islands) would support cult devotion to a concept that emphasised victory. However, under Augustus this concept of <em>felicitas</em> evolved to encompass the general happiness and prosperity of the age, as well as good fortune in battle (Noreña, <em>Imperial ideals</em>, p. 167). Although by the reign of Nero this <em>felicitas</em> was a broadly construed term, it had not lost its connection to the role of the emperor, whose own <em>felicitas</em> – originally conceived as a military ideal – remained “vital” to its success. This connection remained prevalent in literature, with Seneca even describing Nero’s accession in the <em>Apocolocyntosis </em> as “the beginning of the most blessed age” (I.1: <em>initio saeculi felicissimi</em>). <em>Felicitas</em> was therefore, a state of being that could only be secured by the person of the emperor himself (Noreña, <em>Imperial Ideals</em>, p. 167). By associating <em>felicitas</em> with the city of Rome, L. Titinius Glaucus Lucretianus was making a defiant statement of support for the emperor Nero at a time of political crisis, and one that had originated within the capital city itself. The implication of his vow was clear; the <em>felicitas Romae</em> depended on the safety and security of the emperor, to whom L. Titinius remained loyal in gratitude for the years of patronage that the imperial household had awarded him. By making this statement in the publically accessible form of an inscription, he committed the loyalty of the entire community of Luna in a visible and permanent way. </p> Rome (city) Roma (goddess) Nero Poppaea imperial cult loyalty imperial patronage Julio-Claudian dynasty Roman army vow security of empire conspiracy Palazzo Nuovo, Musei Capitolini, Rome. Inventory no.: NCE 2515 Marble Height: 24.3 cm Width: 88.5 cm  Depth: 1.1 cm   Letter height: 0.50-3.50 cm 1st CE 40 Unknown. Found in the countryside near modern Luni in 1740, then transported to Florence. Column I:<br />  <br />             DIVAE POPPAEAE AVGVSTAE<br />             IMP NERONIS CAESARIS AVGVST<br />             L TITINIVS L F GAL GLAVCVS LVCRETIANVS FLAM ROMAE<br />             ET AVG IIVIR IV P C SEVIR EQ R CVRIO PRAEF FABR COS TR MILIT<br /> 5          LEG XXII PRIMIG PRAEF [-------]ATO INSVLARVM BALIARVM TR MIL<br />             LEG VI VICTRICI EX VOTO SVSCEPTO PRO SALVTE IMP NERONIS<br />             QVOD BALIARIB[-]S VOVERAT ANNO A LICINIO NERVA CQS IIVIR<br />             L SAVFEIO VEG[---] ET Q A VRIO NEPOTE VBI VELLET PONERE VOTO COMPOS<br />             IOVI [---]O[--] MINERVAE FELICITATI ROMAE DIVO AVG<br />  <br /> Column II:<br />             IMP NERONI CLAVDIO DIVI CLAVDI F GERM<br />             CAESARIS N TI CAESARIS AVG PRO N DIVI AVG AB N<br />             CAESARI AVG GERM P M TR POT XIII IMP XI COS IIII<br />             L TITINIVS L F GAL GLAVCVS LVCRETIANVS FLAM ROMAE ET AVG IIVIR<br /> 5          IIII P C SEVIR EQ R CVRIO PRAEF FABR COS TR MIL LEG XXII PRIMIG  PRAEF PRO LEGATO<br />             INSVLAR BALIARVM TR MIL LEG VI VICTRICIS EX VOTO SVSCEPTO PRO SALVTE IMP<br />             NERONIS QVOD BALIARIBVS VOVERAT ANNO A LICINIO NERVA COS IIVIRIS L SAVFEIO<br />            VEGETO ET Q ABVRIO NEPOTE VBI VELLET PONERET VOTO COMPOS POSIT IOVI IVN[---]            MINERVAE FELICITATI ROMAE DIVO AVGUSTO 137 818 Roman CIL XI, 1331EDR129460 Yes <div style="text-align: justify;">Column I:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Divae Poppaeae Augustae</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Imp(eratoris) Neronis Caesaris August(i) </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">L(ucius) Titinius L(uci) f(ilius) Gal(eria) Glaucus Lucretianus flam(en) Romae </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">et Aug(usti) IIvir IV p(atronus) c(oloniae) sevir eq(uitum) R(omanorum) curio praef(ectus) fabr(um) co(n)s(ulis) tr(ibunus) milit(um) </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">leg(ionis) XXII Primig(eniae) praef(ectus) [pro leg]ato insularum Baliarum tr(ibunus) mil(itum)</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">leg(ionis) VI Victrici[s] ex voto suscepto pro salute Imp(eratoris) Neronis</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">quod Baliarib[u]s voverat anno A(ulo) Licinio Nerva co(n)s(ule) IIvir(is) </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">L(ucio) Saufeio Vege[t]o et Q(uinto) A(b)urio Nepote ubi vellet ponere voto compos </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Iovi Iunon[i] Minervae Felicitati Romae divo Aug(usto)</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Column II:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Imp(eratori) Neroni Claudio divi Claudi f(ilio) Germ(anici) </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Caesaris n(epoti) Ti(beri) Caesaris Aug(usti) pron(epoti) divi Aug(usti) abn(epoti)</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Caesari Aug(usto) Germ(anico) p(ontifici) m(aximo) tr(ibunicia) pot(estate) XIII imp(eratori) XI co(n)s(uli) IIII </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">L(ucius) Titinius L(uci) f(ilius) Gal(eria) Glaucus Lucretianus flam(en) Romae et Aug(ustorum) IIvir</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">IIII p(atronus) c(oloniae) sevir eq(uitum) R(omanorum) curio praef(ectus) fabr(um) co(n)s(ulis) tr(ibunus) milit(um) leg(ionis) XXII Primig(eniae) praef(ectus) pro legato insular(um) Baliarum tr(ibunus) mil(itum) leg(ionis) VI Victricis ex voto suscepto pro salute Imp(eratoris)</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Neronis quod Baliaribus voverat anno A(ulo) Licinio Nerva co(n)s(ule) IIvir(is) L(ucio) Saufeio</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Vegeto et Q(uinto) Aburio Nepote ubi vellet ponere{t} voto compos pos(u)it Iovi Iuno[ni] </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Minervae Felicitati Romae divo Augusto</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Taken from Robert K. Sherk (ed.), The Roman Empire: Augustus to Hadrian, (1988) p. 110,   © Cambridge University Press 1988, reproduced with permission.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Column 1:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">(Dedicated) to the deified Poppaea Augusta, (wife) of Imperator Caesar Augustus, by Lucius Titinius, son of Lucius, (of the tribe) Galeria, Glaucus Lucretianus, priest of Roma and Augustus, duovir four times, patron of the colony, sevir of a squadron of Roman knights, curial priest, prefect of the fabri (military craftsmen) to a consul, tribune of the soldiers of Legion Twenty-Second Primigenia, prefect with power of a legate of the Balearic Islands, tribune of the soldiers of Legion Sixth Victrix, in fulfilment of a vow undertaken for the safety of Imperator Nero, which he had vowed for the Balearians in the year in which Aulus Licinius Nerva had been consul (AD 65), the duoviri (of Luna) being Lucius Aufeius Vegetus and Quintus Aburius Nepos when he wished it to be erected, (and) having been granted his prayer, he erected it to Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Happiness of Rome, the deified Augustus.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Column 2:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">(Dedicated) to Imperator Nero Claudius – son of the deified Claudius, grandson of Germanicus Caesar, great-grandson of Tiberius Claudius Augustus, great-great-grandson of the deified Augustus – Caesar Augustus Germanicus, pontifex maximus, holding tribunician power for the thirteenth time (AD 66-7), imperator for the eleventh time, consul for the fourth time, by Lucius Titinius, son of Lucius, (of the tribe) Galeria, Glaucus Lucretianus, priest of Roma and Augustus, duovir four times, patron of the colony, sevir of a squadron of Roman knights, curial priest, prefect of the fabri (military craftsmen) to a consul, tribune of the soldiers of Legion Twenty-Second Primigenia, prefect with power of a legate of the Balearic Islands, tribune of the soldiers of Legion Sixth Victrix, in fulfilment of a vow undertaken for the safety of Imperator Nero, which he had vowed for the Balearians in the year in which Aulus Licinius Nerva had been consul (AD 65), the duoviri (of Luna) being Lucius Aufeius Vegetus and Quintus Aburius Nepos when he wished it to be erected, (and) having been granted his prayer, he erected it to Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Happiness of Rome, the deified Augustus.</div> Yes Nero Claudius Tiberius Augustus divus nepos pronepos abnepos flamen Roma duumvir patronus coloniae curio praefectus legatus insula votum salus Iuppiter Iuno Minerva felicitas Caroline Barron English Honorific Yes 137 1