Mactaris
A man who has been quite active in Ostia and Portus at the end of the second century, Sextus Iulius Possessor, is documented in an inscription found in 1963 in the pavement of the Temple of Apollo in Mactaris. The inscription tells us that Possessor had been assistant of the prefect of the food supply of Rome, for the warehouses in Ostia and Portus. This function is not documented otherwise. Presumably it was created specifically for the construction and extension of horrea, documented archaeologically in Ostia and Portus, in Ostia for example the construction of the Horrea Antoniniani (II,II,7) during the reign of Commodus and the enlargement of the Grandi Horrea (II,IX,7) in the Severan period. Later Possessor became procurator of the food supply in Ostia.
APOLLINI PATRIO AVG(usto)
SEX(tus) IVLIVS POSSESSOR PRAEF(ectus) COH(ortis) GALL(orum) CVRA
TOR NVMERI SYRORVM SAGITTARIORVM ITEM
ALAE PRIMAE HISPANORVM TRIB(unus) MIL(itum) LEG(ionis) XII F(ulminatae)
ADLECTVS IN DECVRIAS AB OPTIMIS MAXIMISQ(ue)
IMPP(eratoribus) ANTONINO ET VERO AVGG(ustis) ADIVTOR
PRAEFECTI ANNONAE AD HORREA OST(i)ENSIA ET
PORTVENSIA PROC(urator) AVG(usti) AD RIPAM BAETIS
PROC(urator) AVG(usti) OSTIS AD ANNONAM PROC(urator) AVG(usti)
ALEXANDRIAE AD MERCVRIVM
STATVAM A{h}ENEAM TRANSMARE ADVECTAM D(onum) D(edit)171-200 AD. AE 1983, 976; AE 1987, 1026; EDCS-08500644; HD000874.
Photo: Picard 1968, fig. 1.Macataris is modern Makthar in the north-west of Tunisia. Roberto Piperno created an excellent page about the city.
A mausoleum in Mactaris.
Photo: Wikimedia, Dali Bey.Plan of the excavations. Possessor is known from several inscriptions, including one from Hispalis (Sevilla, Spain). The latter inscription, from the years 161-169 AD, informs us that he had been involved with the import of olive oil from Africa Proconsularis and Spain (again as assistant of the prefect of the food supply), the maintenance of the banks of the river Guadalquivir, and skippers. Mactaris must have been his home town: the inscription mentioning his functions in Ostia and Portus is a dedication to Apollo patrius, of the homeland. The inscription also informs us that Possessor brought a bronze statue overseas to Mactaris, possibly from Alexandria, where Possessor was also procurator.
Literature:
- G.-Ch. Picard, "Un témoignage sur le commerce des objets d'art dans l'empire romain: La statue de bronze de l'Apollon de Mactar, offerte par S. Julius Possessor", RA 2 (1968), 297-314.
