Attempts at reconstructing its text from the placement of cramp holes for the projecting tines of its letters have not been successful. It was later reconstructed by Tiberius to celebrate the victories of Germanicus over the German tribes in the Rhineland. According to an inscription, the triumphal arch of Orange was first erected during the rule of Augustus (27 BCE – 14 CE). The city was surrounded by walls and included a forum as well as a theatre. In 35 BCE, the veterans of the Second Legion Augusta founded a colony, the Colonia Iulia Firma Secundanorum Arausio.
A major battle was fought there in 105 BCE, between two Roman armies and the Cimbri and Teutones tribes.
The name Arausio originated in the name of the Celtic water god. The inscription is then dated to 26/27 CE.Īrausio was originally a Celtic oppidum. To Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, grandson of the divine Iulius, Augustus, pontifex maximus, exercising tribunician power for the twenty eighth time, imperator for the eighth time, consul for the fourth time, given back to him by the administration of the colony (or refounder of the colony). Ti(berio) Caesar(i), divi Augusti f(ilio), divi Iuli nepoti, Augusto, Pontifici Maximo, Potestate XXVIII Imperatori IIX Co(n)s(uli) IIII restituit R(es) P(ublica) coloniae (or : restitutori coloniae) To the son of Iulius Caesar, to the emperor Caius Iulius Caesar Augustus, exercising the tribunician power for the eleventh time, the 36 th cohors of volunteers and the city of Arausio Iulia, colony of the second legion, in remembrance of Egypt, Gallia Comata and defeated Germany, submitted to the payment of the tribute, elevated and dedicated this arch in the name of the whole country. Imp(eratori) Caio I(ulio) Cæ(sari) Augusto divi I(ulii) fil(io) Ægypt(o) Tr(ibunicia) P(otestate) XI comat(a) tribut(aria) Germania victaCoh(ors) XXXIII volunt(ariorum) (et) colonia Araus(io) I(ulia) secundan(orum) hunc arc(um) ded(icavit) publice IMP CAIO I CÆ AVGVSTO DIVI I FIL ÆGYPT TRP XI COMAT TRIBVT GERMANIA VICTA COH XXXIII VOLVNT COLONIA ARAVS I SECVNDAN HVNC ARC DED PVBLICE Hugh Bowden (2018) When things don't fit: Looking at the London Mithraeum.A first reading was proposed in 1862 by Pierre Hebert. And it is possible that Silvanus, who presumably retired in his forties sometime around 200 CE, was already dead by the time the site for the temple became available. The whole process must have been quite drawn out: the temple was built several decades after the relief was carved. The rest of the sculpture for the temple he might have been picked up second-hand, as it were, either in Italy or perhaps in some merchant's shop in London, imported by other people over the years. He may have commissioned the relief that bears his name – but in Orange, probably, certainly not in London. A reasonably successful military career may have taken the young Ulpius Silvanus from the olive groves of Provence to the mud of the South East of England.Īfter his retirement, he may have decided to use what money he had to create a Mithraeum, of which he would, we may assume, have been the leader, the Pater. From there it provided administrative staff for the Roman governor in London. It was based in Britain after the arrival of the Romans, with the main base at Caerleon. Arausio was the name for Orange, in southern France, and the Legio II Augusta was particularly associated with the town.
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