Legio VI Ferrata Honours Arabian Procurator
(0040) Text: […] | [… pr]aef(ecto) coh(ortis) | [trib(uno) mil(itum) leg(ionis) X] Piae Fideli[s] | [proc(uratori) provinc(iae)] Arabiae | [vexill(ationis)] leg(ionis) VI Ferr(atae) | [Imp(eratore) Caes(are) T]raiano Hadriano | [Aug(usto) trib(unicia) pote]st(ate) III co(n)s(ule) [III] | [… fece]runt ex Alex[andria…]
Translation: To […] cohort prefect, military tribune of legio X Gemina Pia Fidelis, loyal and faithful in the performance of duty, and governor of the province of Arabia. Erected by a detachment of legio VI Ferrata, in the year when Hadrian was holding the office of tribune of the people for the third time and the consulship for the third time […] from Alexandria […] (Trans. Fred Baxter)
Commentary: The precise nature of the text eludes scholars. Gerasa was part of the Decapolis before it was annexed to Arabia in 106 CE.
Provenience: Gerasa, Arabia (Jerash, Jordan) 119 CE
Bibliography: AE 1983.937; Gerasa 171; G. W. Bowersock, “The Annexation and Initial Garrison of Arabia,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 5 (1970): 42-43; Michael P. Speidel, “The Roman Army in Arabia,” Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.8: 698; David L. Kennedy, “Legio VI Ferrata: The Annexation and Initial Garrison of Arabia,” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 84 (1980): 297-299; David L. Kennedy, The Roman Army in Jordan, 1st ed. (London: Council for British Research in the Levant, 2000), 108.