A vignette from Dacia under Philippus Arabs: Revisiting the altars of Marcus Publicianus Rhenus

Abstract

This paper reassesses the reading of the Latin texts inscribed on two altars discovered in the thermae of the legionary camp from Potaissa (Roman Dacia), the garrison of the legio V Macedonica. By using new digital techniques one can advance a new dating based on the new reading of the name of the emperor as well as settling once and for all the cognomen of the dedicator. The new reading of the name of the emperor – namely Philippus Arabs – forces us to recontextualize the instant when these two monuments were erected and thus we offer a new interpretation of the hapax title agens vice praefecti legionis of the dedicator, named Marcus Publicianus Rhenus.