Ostia fragments document Hadrian’s calendar

[guy]

Two new fragments of the Fasti Ostienses have been discovered at the Ostia Antica Archaeological Park. (The Fasti Ostienses are a calendar of Roman magistrates and significant events from 49 BC to AD 175, found at Ostia, the principal seaport of Rome.

 

Quote

One of the two recovered fragments, which connects perfectly with another one already preserved in Ostia and referable to the chronicle of the years 126-128 AD, mentions facts and events that took place in Rome in 128 during the reign of Hadrian. By cross-referencing this information with information from other sources (literary, epigraphic and numismatic), it was possible to clarify the content of the text from which it appears that on January 1, 128, Hadrian assumed the title of pater patriae and his wife Sabina that of Augusta. To celebrate these titles the emperor offered the people a congiarium, or handout of money (Congiar Dedit reads the inscription). Subsequently, on April 10, 128 (ante diem III Idus April reads the inscription) the emperor left for Africa and, returning to Rome between late July and early August and before traveling to Athens, consecrated (Consecravit, reads the inscription) a building, certainly a temple in the Urbe. There are two possibilities: the Pantheon, or more likely the Temple of Venus and Rome. According to a very suggestive hypothesis, the consecration may have taken place on August 11, 128 A.D., or on the anniversary of Hadrian’s accession to the throne in 117.

 

https://www.finestresullarte.info/en/archaeology/two-new-fragments-of-the-fasti-ostienses-found-in-the-ostia-antica-archaeological-park

Edited August 17, 2023 by guy