§9 Aulus Instuleius Tenax

Aulus Instuleius Tenax

(0009) Text: ἡ βουλὴ ι | καὶ ὁ δῆμος (μνημονεύουσιν) Ὤλον | Ἰνστολήιον Τένακα | ἑκατοντάρχην | λεγιῶνος δεκάτης | Φρετη(ν)σίας εὐνοίας | ἕνεκα.

Translation: The council and people commemorate Aulus Instuleius Tenax, a centurion of legio X Fretensis, on account of his friendship. (Trans. Christopher B. Zeichmann)

Commentary: His nomen and cognomen are very rare, and not found outside Palestine (see Dąbrowa). Though this inscription does not ascribe Aulus the title primipilaris as in §10, this inscription was almost certainly erected after the Judaean War – likely on account of efforts to protect denizens of Ascalon. It is sometimes assumed that this inscription must have been erected first since he was described as a regular centurion, then he was promoted to primipilaris, then §10 was erected. This interpretation requires a pre-War date for this inscription, which seems intuitively unlikely. Either the title primipilaris was either not significant to civilians in Ascalon or that Aulus was demoted (the latter being an unlikely scenario) during the Judaean War. Ascalon remained loyal to Rome in the Jewish War, but there were local issues in 68 CE requiring military presence.

Provenience: Ascalon, Palestine 68-90 CE

Bibliography: AE 1923.83; SEG 1.552; CIIP 3.2335; Edward Dąbrowa, Legio X Fretensis: A Prosopographical Study of Its Officers (I – III c. A.D.), Historia Einzelschriften 66 (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1993), 89; Leah Di Segni, “Dated Greek Inscriptions from Palestine from the Roman and Byzantine Periods” (Ph.D. dissertation, Hebrew University, 1997) no. 140.