THE LAPIS POLLAE: DATE AND CONTEXTS | Papers of the British School at Rome | Cambridge Core

Tags

Top Highlights

• the lapis Pollae should rather be classified among the so-called tabulae triumphales: inscriptions published by successful magistrates, listing their achievements

• In section 3, I provide a new historical setting for the actions of the magistrate, suggesting that they took place in Sicily in the 150s–140s bc

• In section 1, I argue that the lapis is a tabula triumphalis.

• I argue that the reassessment of the relationship between the lapis and a milestone pertaining to the same road allows to set a precise terminus ante quem for the lapis: 131 bc

• although the indication of the mileage may also have fulfilled some practical purposes, it is first and foremost an organic part of the celebration; as so often in Roman literature, numbers are used to impress

• he name Polla, on the other hand, pertains to a medieval village, taking its name from the presence of a spring

• The Codigoro milestone now reveals that, when roads changed their itineraries, milestones also underwent modifications. Clear traces of amendments are visible in the inscription:

• progressively roads were ‘straightened’ with galleries and bridges.Footnote 30

• the lapis Pollae must be earlier than 131 bc

• In this article, I have argued that the lapis Pollae should be dated earlier than 131 bc, and the career of the magistrate who set it up to the 150s–140s. I have also suggested that the message of the lapis shows an active concern for the development of southern Italy, connected with the interests of the colonial ruling classes.