Roman commemorative plaque

Inv. 2014/41/1

Limestone Salto de línea Height: 165 cm.; width: 61 cm.; depth: 22 cm.Salto de línea Origin: Cortijo del Chancillerejo, Alcolea de Córdoba, Córdoba.Salto de línea First half of the 1st century.

The rectangular plaque has a single frame. The text inscribed takes up over half of the top half of the piece’s main face and runs to eight lines. It is made with square capitals 6.5 and 5.5 cm in height, the words being separated by triangular interpunctions.

Transcription:

Ti (berius) . ClaudiusSalto de línea Caesar. Aug(ustus).Salto de línea Germanicus.Salto de línea pontif(ex). max(imus)Salto de línea trib(unicia).pot (estate).IIIISalto de línea imp(erator).VIII co(n)s (ul).IIISalto de línea design(atus).IIII. p(ater).p(atriae)Salto de línea refecit

Translation:

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Pontifex Maximus. With the fourth Tribunicia Potestas. Emperor for the eighth year. Consul for the fourth time. Hero of the nation. Rebuilt the (existing) monument.

Tiberius Claudius Nero Drusus Germanicus was the fourth emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. His rule over the Roman Empire ran from 24 January of the year 41 to 13 October, 54. He appears as Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus on all monuments and in the corresponding titles indicating the monument’s precise date. This is an inscription commemorating a public work, perhaps a bridge, promoted by the Emperor Claudius. Almost certainly, the piece would have been built into the structure of the construction, serving as imperial propaganda in this busy place only ten kilometers from the capital of Hispania Baetica. Possibility that the plaque could have been on a bridge when he discovered and published the piece in 1995. Today, the 18th century Puente de Alcolea crosses the Guadalquivir River.