Text Sometimes Related to the Augustan cohort of Acts 27 (i.e., cohors Augusta)
(0201) Text: Q(uintus) Aemilius Q(uinti) f(ilius) | Pal(atina) Secundus, [in] | castris divi Aug(usti) s[ub] | P(ublio) Sulipi[c]io Quirinio le[gato] | C[a]esaris Syriae honori- | bus decoratus, pr[a]efect. | cohort(is) Aug(ustae) I, pr[a]efect, | cohort(is) II Classicae; idem | iussu Quirini censum egi | Apamenae civitatis mil- | lium homin(um) civium CXVII. | idem missu Quirini adversus | Ituraeos in Libano monte | castellum eorum cepi et ante | militiem praefect(us) fabrum, | delatus a duobus co(n)s(ulibus) ad ae- | rarium et in colonia | quaestor aedil(is) II duumvir it(erum) | ponifex. | ibi positi sunt Q(uintus) Aemilius Q(uinti) f(ilius) Pal(atina) | Secundus f(ilius) et Aemilia Chia lib(erta) | h(oc) m(onumentum) amplius h(ederem) n(on) s(equeter).
Translation: Quintus Aemilius Secundus son of Quintus, of the Palatine tribe, decorated with honours in the service of the deified Augustus under Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, legate of Caesar in Syria. He was prefect of cohors I Augusta and prefect of cohors II Classica. At the command of Quirinius, I carried out a census of the district of Apamea involving 117,000 citizens. Likewise when sent by Quirinius against the Itureans, I captured their fort on the Mount Lebanon. Before being involved in military service as a commander of a core of engineers, I was appointed by the two consuls as treasurer, and in the colony I was treasury secretary to the aedile twice, duumvir a second time and was as a priest. Quintus Aemilius Secundus son of Quintus of the Palatine tribe, his son and Aemilia Chia his freedwoman were placed there. This monument is excluded from the inheritance. (Trans. Fred Baxter)
Commentary: It is unlikely this refers to the same unit mentioned in Acts 27: this unit was in Syria and all military units in pre-War Judaea were from the cohortes et ala Sebastenorum. This epigraph is also commonly referenced with respect to the census of Quirinius in Luke 2:1-7.
Provenience: Berytus, Syria (Beirut, Lebanon) 9-50 CE
Bibliography: CIL 3.6687; ILS 1.2683; AE 2006.1579; cf. commentaries on Luke 2 and Acts 27