The evidence of religion amongst the vigiles, the fire-fighters, is discussed on a separate page about their barracks.
Other military men active in Portus and like the fire-fighters detached from Rome were the frumentarii, stationed in the Castra Peregrina to the east of the Circus Maximus. The frumentarii were Imperial messengers and even spies. They were sometimes employed as supervisors of projects, such as building activity in Delphi and the raising of emergency city walls in Salona (near Split in Croatia). One frumentarius may have been in charge of porphyry quarries in Egypt, while in Italy, in 200 AD, a centurio frumentarius seems to have been in charge of extraction of marble from the Imperial quarries at Luna. In Portus there will have been enough work for them. They are documented in the port by two or three inscriptions.
The place of discovery of the first inscription is unknown. It is a dedication to Alexander Severus and his mother Iulia Mamaea, who is called "mother of the entire divine Imperial house". It apparently records the building of a statio, a pretty vague description of a place, for use by the frumentarii (another statio is documented in Rome, near the tomb of Cecilia Metella). The place was assigned by the procurator of the harbour and by two centurions, one responsible for the food supply, the other for public works. Erasures of the Imperial names and of the military organization have not been explained, but obviously indicate hostility.
IMP(eratori) CAESARI [M(arco) [A]urelio]
[Severo Alexandro]
FELICE AVG(usto) E[t Iulie Mameae]
MATRI DOMINI N(ostri) ET CASTROR(um)
TOTIVSQ(ue) D(omus) D(ivinae) STATIO [n(umeri?) fr[u]mentariorum]
LOCVS ADSIGNATVS AB AGRICOLA AVG(usti) LIB(erto) PROC(uratore) P(ortus) V(triusque)
ET PETRONIO MAXSIMO (centurione) ANN(onae) ET FABIO MARONAE (centurione)
OPERVM DEDIC(atus) III NON(as) AVG(ustas) APPIO CL(audio) IVLIANO ET BRVTT(io)
CRISPINO CO(n)S(ulibus) PATRONO Q(uinto) TVRRANIO MASILA CVRA(m)
AGENTE P(ublio) FLAVIO FL(avi) FILIO FELICI IVNIORE
ET VALERIO DONATO CVR(atoribus)To Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius
Severus Alexander,
happy, Augustus, and to Julia Mamaea,
mother of our master and of the camp
and of the entire divine house, the statio of the frumentarii.
The place was assigned by Agricola, freedman of Augustus, procurator of Both Ports,
and by Petronius Maximus, centurion of the food supply, and by Fabius Maro, centurion
of works. Dedicated on the third day before the nonae of August, Appius Claudius Iulianus and Bruttius
Crispinus being consuls, with Quintus Turranius Masila as patron, taking
care of it Publius Flavius, son of Flavius, Felix Iunior
and Valerius Donatus as curators.Marble slab. Left fragment: Museo Ostiense, Grottone di Porto, inv. nr. 8763; right fragment disappeared.
From the Episcopium in Portus. Date: August 3, 224 AD. H. 0.49. EDR150104. Photo: British School Rome.The second, mutilated inscription had been reused in the Christian Basilica. It mentions either Macrinus or Crispinus, Emperors in 217-218 and 283-285 AD. The inscription has been linked to the frumentarii in view of the reference to a statio, but this is far from certain.
Column 1:
[vot(is) x f(eliciter)]
Column 2:
[Salvo? Macri- or Cari]NO AVG(usto) FELIX STATIO
[pro salute d(omini) n(ostri)? Mac- or Ca]RINI AVG(usti) IVLIVS HILARVS
[proc]VRATOR EIVS
Column 3:
VOT(is) XX F(eliciter)Column 1:
[Vows for 10 years, happily.]
Column 2:
[Being safe? Macri- or Cari]nus Augustus, the happy statio.
[For the well-being of our master? Mac- or Ca]rinus Augustus, Iulius Hilarus,
his procurator.
Column 3:
Vows for 20 years, happily.Marble slab. Reused in the Christian Basilica.
Rome, Villa Albani. EDR150102.The third inscription was found near Monte Arena. It records Iulius Maternus, a centurion of the frumentarii. In 210 AD he was involved with dredging in the harbour.
