Auluzenen Traediencentus
(0008) Text: [Auluzenen Tr-] | aedicenti f(ilium) eq(uitem) | al(ae) Thr(acum) Aug(ustae) tur(mae) | Ezbeni, Sita frat(er) | eius tur(mae) Bithi. | Αὐλουζενην Τραεδικεν- | του ἱππέα εἴλης Θραικῶ- | ν Σεβαστῆς τύρμης Ἐζβε- | νου, Σιτας ἀδελφὸς τύρ- | μης Βιτου.
Translation: Auluzenen son of Traediencentus, cavalryman of ala I Thracum Augusta, of the detachment of Ezbeni. Located here by his father Sita and his brother Bithi of the same detachment. (Trans. Fred Baxter)
Commentary: Name is Thracian (see Lexicon of Greek Personal Names 4.59-60), as are his family members’ names. It is not certain when the unit arrived in Gerasa. Holder dates the Gerasene inscriptions before the Judaean War on the unfounded assertion that the unit must have left Syria by 70 CE, estimating a transfer under the reign of Nero. Gracey more plausibly suggests its arrival after the Judaean War – a date that corresponds with the unit’s presence on Syrian diplomas in the years 88-90 CE. Regardless, ala I Thracum Augusta left Gerasa before 107 CE, as it is attested upon a diploma from Raetia in that year (CIL 16.55) and also after. This would correspond well to the annexation of the Decapolis to the newly formed province of Arabia in 106 CE.
Provenience: Gerasa, Decapolis (Jerash, Jordan) 66-106 CE
Bibliography: AE 2003.1818a-b; SEG 52.1718