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A necropolis

The EAGLE database lists 131 inscriptions from Centumcellae. It has been shown however that some of these were taken there from other places, such as Ostia-Portus and Alsium. For example, a marble column with the number XXVI, excavated in 1947 and said to be part of a series of numbered columns around the harbour, is in fact a milestone fron Alsium (EDR161052). Caldelli and Slavich, in several publications, advance the hypothesis that a few inscriptions from Ostia represent the tip of the iceberg of a consistent flow of marble, collected in Ostia and taken to Centumcellae. In the storerooms of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of Civitavecchia they found inscriptions excavated in the mid-19th century on the Isola Sacra by the Guglielmi family, reported as missing in the corpus of Latin inscriptions (CIL XIV) and ever since. However, the re-use seems to have started in the 4th century, possibly with the permission of the government (the praefectus annonae and praefectus urbi). An inscription from Ostia was used as seat of a latrine in the baths excavated near Forte Michelangelo.

Not a single inscription mentions public works, while religious dedications and references to crafts are rare. A conspicuous number however mentions the soldiers and sailors of the military fleets of Misenum, in the Gulf of Naples, and of Ravenna, on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea. They were found in a necropolis, partially excavated in 1864-1866, to the north-west of the inner harbour, at locality Prato del Turco.

The necropolis was in use in the second century and the first half of the third, witness the date of coins for Charon in the mouths of the deceased: Trajanic, Hadrianic, Antonine, and from the early 3rd century. The tombs were simple trenches, covered with tiles ("a capanna"), with small glass vessels as grave goods. Some had brickstamps, several of which once again mention the Portus Traiani. Funerary inscriptions were placed horizontally on the tombs. The high number of years of service of the soldiers is striking: more than ten years, even more than twenty. Presumably the men were selected for their experience and loyalty. One soldier, Caius Lucilius Valens, was corporis custos, bodyguard.

D(is) M(anibus) M(arco) ACVTIO
FAVSTINO MILES CLA(ssis)
PRETORIAE MISENATI
TRIERAE CASTORAE
VIXIT AN(nis) LVI
MILITAVIT ANIS XXIII
CVRATORE FECIT GE
NEIVM EPVLANIVM
PIVM

For Marcus Acutius
Faustinus. Soldier of the
praetorian fleet of Misenum,
of the trireme Castor.
He lived 56 years,
served 23 years.
Arranged by
Cn. Epulanius
Pius.

CIL XI, 3522.
D(is) M(anibus)
C(aio) DOMITIO REGINO
MIL(iti) CL(assis) PR(aetoriae) RAV(ennatis)
SVBOPTIONI
((quadriere)) FORTVNA
MIL(itavit) ANN(is) XVIII
VIXIT ANN(is) XXXVI
SECVNDVS H(eres) FEC(it)

For Caius Domitius Reginus.
Soldier of the pretorian fleet of Ravenna,
non-commissioned officer
of the quadrireme Fortuna.
He served 36 years.
Secundus, heir, made the tomb.

CIL XI, 3531 (damaged around 1940).
D(is) M(anibus)
M(arcus) PETRONIVS MAXI
MIANVS MIL(es) MISENAT(ium)
EX LIB(urna) CLEMENTIA NATIONE
AEGYP(tius) VIXIT ANN(is) XXX MILIT(avit)
ANN(is) X VAL(erius) SATVRNINVS MIL(es)
CL(assis) EIVSDEM HERES SVBSTITVT(us)
BENE MERENTI FECIT

Marcus Petronius Maximianus.
Soldier of the Miseneans,
of the frigate Clementia, born in
Egypt. He lived 30 years, served
10 years. Valerius Saturninus, soldier of the
aforementioned fleet, substitute heir,
made the tomb for him, well-deserving.

CIL XI, 3534.
D(IS) M(ANIBUS)
M(ARCO) ANTONIO ARISTONI
MIL(ITI) CL(ASSIS) PR(AETORIAE) MIS(E-
NATIS) MIL(ITAVIT) AN(NIS) XXIV
VIX(IT) AN(NIS) XXXXV HER(ES) FEC(IT)
T(ITUS) FLAVIVS RVFVS

For Marcus Antonius Aristonus.
Soldier of the pretorian fleet of Misenum.
He served 24 years, lived 45 years. His heir,
Titus Flavius Rufus, made the tomb.

CIL XI, 3523.
D(IS) M(ANIBUS)
G(AIO) IVLIO SAT
VRNINO EX
CLASE P(RAETORIA) MISE(NENSI)
MILITAV(IT) AN(NIS)
XVI VIXIT
ANIS LIII
G(AIUS) IVLIVS
SABINIANVS
PATRI BENE
M(ERENTI) F(ECIT)

For Gaius Iulius
Saturninus, from
the pretorian fleet of Misenum.
He served 16
years, lived
53 years.
Gaius Iulius
Sabinianus,
for his father, well-deserving,
made the tomb.

CIL XI, 3532.
D(is) M(anibus)
P(ublio) MEMMIO VALENTI
MIL(iti) CL(assis) PR(aetoriae) MIS(enensis)
NATIONE BESSVS CENTV
RIA IVLI SERENI
VIX(it) AN(nis) XXX MIL(itavit)
AN(nis) VIII FECIT Q(uintus) IVLIVS
DOLIS MIL(es) CL(assis) EIVSDEM
HERES B(ene) M(erenti)

For Publius Memmius Valentus,
soldier of the pretorian fleet of Misenum,
born in Thrace, of the century of
Iulius Serenus.
He lived 30 years, served
8 years. Quintus Iulius
Dolis, soldier of the aforementioned fleet,
his heir, made the tomb for him, well-deserving.

CIL XI, 3533.

The soldiers of the fleet came from all over the empire and must have given the port quite an international flavour. Specified are Dalmatia, Thrace, Bithynia, Egypt, and the city of Alexandria. The soldiers lived in Centumcellae with their family. The tombs were often made by fellow soldiers, but may also be the work of the wife or a son.

A considerable number of inscriptions related to the military fleets was also found in Ostia and Portus. Russell Meiggs comments: "During the Republic Ostia had been the main Roman naval base on the west coast of Italy. Augustus transferred the command to Misenum, but warships were still stationed at Ostia through the Empire. On Nero's harbour coins, though the field is mainly filled with merchantmen, a trireme is also shown leaving harbour, and a dedication has been found at Portus to Iupiter Optimus Maximus Dulicenus by men serving in the Misenum fleet 'when they were at Ostia under the command of' a trierach [milites classis praetoriae Misenensis cum essent Ostia; 186 AD]. Tombstones also survive, both at Portus and at Ostia, of men who died on service and of others who lived on in the district when their service was completed. From the distribution of inscriptions it seems that the ships of the Ostian detachment were divided between the imperial harbours and the Tiber. Their main duties, we may assume, were to police the harbours and control shipping. They may also have been used to carry governors to their appointments in western provinces and emperors when they sailed from Ostia. The presence of the Misenum flagship, the hexeres Ops, at Ostia is probably to be associated with such an imperial occasion. The triremes at Ostia were normally a detachment from the Misenum fleet; but, as at Centumcellae farther north, there is also evidence at Ostia of ships from Ravenna" (Meiggs 1973, 304).

A few funerary inscriptions also document men from the fleets of Ravenna and Misenum on the coast between Ostia-Portus and Centumcellae: in Torre in Pietra (Baebiana near Lorium; CIL XI, 3735-3737) and Palo (Alsium; CIL XI, 3719). There were Imperial villas in this area, such as one in Alsium used by Marcus Aurelius (Fronto, De feriis Alsiensibus 3; see Reddé 1986, 203 and cf. CIL XI, pp. 547 and 549).

Two inscriptions, one from the necropolis, the other "from the harbour", record vigiles: Publius Nunnienus Sabinianus and Canius Eutychus. The vigiles are well-known in Rome: they were firefighters patrolling the city at night, acting also as police. A detachment from Rome was stationed in Ostia in Portus. Their activity is documented in other harbours, such as Carthage.

D(is) M(anibus)
P(ublio) NVNNIENO
SABINIANO
MIL(iti) COH(ortis) I VIG(ilum)
NVNNIENA PRIS
CILLA MATER IN
FELICISSIMA

For Publius Nunnienus
Sabinianus.
Soldier of the first cohort of the fire brigade.
Nunniena Priscilla,
his mother,
most unhappy.

CIL XI, 3521.

Some inscriptions from the city document civilians. The piscator (fisherman) Lucius Valerius Mocapor greets us, on what has been thought to be a shop sign, but is more likely a funerary inscription.

The inscription of piscator Mocapor.
Meas. 0.72 x 0.18. AE 1920, 99.