Hadrian with the Title ›proconsul‹ Commissioning Public Works in Rome. A New Interpretation of CIL VI 40518, a Building Inscription from the City of Rome

Abstract

The epigraphical fragment CIL VI 8, 2, 40518 from the city of Rome has until now been considered part of a tribute to Hadrian. But methodical reconstruction of the title, in which proconsul appears as the chief element, implies that it is in fact a building inscription in which Hadrian is the active figure. The building was erected between 121 and 125 or between 129 and the beginning of 133. Michaela Fuchs has used this text, together with some Hadrianic reliefs, to construct an arch in honour of Hadrian on an allegedly triumphant return after the conclusion of the Bar Kokhba War in 137. This is impossible for the simple reason that Hadrian did not leave Rome and Italy again after the beginning of 133, so there cannot have been a victorious return in 137. Further, the inscription did not belong to an honorific monument for Trajan, but instead to a building that Hadrian himself had constructed before the year 133.