Aulus Instuleius Tenax
(0010) Text: A(ulus) Instuleius Tenax, primipilaris leg(ionis) XII | Fulminatae et C(aius) Valerius Priscis Ɔ leg(ionis) XXII | et L(ucius) Quintius Viator decurio audi(vi)mus Memnon[em] | anno XI Neronis imp(eratoris) n(ostri) XVII k(alendas) April(es), h[ora …]
Translation: Aulus Instuleius Tenax, first centurion of legio XII Fulminata, Gaius Valerius Priscus centurion of legio XXII Deiotariana, and Lucius Quintius Viator, decurion, we hear Memnon in the 11th year of our Lord Nero, 17th calends of April […]. (Trans. Fred Baxter)
Commentary: His nomen and cognomen are very rare, and not found outside Palestine (see Dąbrowa). Though §9 does not ascribe Aulus the title primipilaris as here, §9 was almost certainly erected after the Judaean War – likely on account of efforts to protect denizens of Ascalon. It is sometimes assumed that §9 must have been erected first since he was described as a regular centurion, then he was promoted to primipilaris, then this inscription was erected. This interpretation requires a pre-War date for §9, 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: Thebes, Egypt (near Waset, Egypt) 16 Mar 65 CE
Bibliography: CIL 3.30; ILS 2.8759a; Edward Dąbrowa, Legio X Fretensis: A Prosopographical Study of Its Officers (I – III c. A.D.), Historia Einzelschriften 66 (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1993), 89