Roman Silver Bowl with Dedication to Maximinus 4th-5th century AD A hemispherical sheet silver bowl with rounded underside, pointillé inscription to the rim 'C[aius] MAXIMINUS TRIB[una]ˢ DEUOT[u]ˢ UINdI CUM ORTU LITUˢ'; the rounded U form instead of V and the small forms of S ending words are uncial handwritten forms of late Roman inscription. 157 grams, 13cm diameter (5"). Fine condition, small crack to rim. Provenance From the private collection of a Canadian gentleman; from his father's collection formed 1965-1990. Footnotes This bowl is dedicated by a man named Gaius Maximinus who was a tribune. The word devotus, 'devoted’, is common in religious inscriptions, such as on votives to a god, but it is invariably found with a noun or name in dative: to that or to whom one is devoted - unusually there is no word in dative here. The words 'ortu litus' - 'on the site of the coast’ or even ‘cum ortu litus' - ‘with the site of the coast’ - are perfectly good Latin, but difficult to make sense of in this context. The identity of Gaius Maximinus remains unclear. Two individuals with the name are known from the 3rd century AD, the emperor Maximinus Thrax and his son and deputy Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus. In the late Roman period, the 'tribunus' was a senior military officer who commanded a vexillato, harking back to the language of the Roman Republic.
Roman Silver Bowl with Dedication to Maximinus 4th-5th century AD A hemispherical sheet silver bowl with rounded underside, pointillé inscription to the rim 'C[aius] MAXIMINUS TRIB[una]ˢ DEUOT[u]ˢ UINdI CUM ORTU LITUˢ'; the rounded U form instead of V and the small forms of S ending words are uncial handwritten forms of late Roman inscription. 157 grams, 13cm diameter (5"). Fine condition, small crack to rim. Provenance From the private collection of a Canadian gentleman; from his father's collection formed 1965-1990. Footnotes This bowl is dedicated by a man named Gaius Maximinus who was a tribune. The word devotus, 'devoted’, is common in religious inscriptions, such as on votives to a god, but it is invariably found with a noun or name in dative: to that or to whom one is devoted - unusually there is no word in dative here. The words 'ortu litus' - 'on the site of the coast’ or even ‘cum ortu litus' - ‘with the site of the coast’ - are perfectly good Latin, but difficult to make sense of in this context. The identity of Gaius Maximinus remains unclear. Two individuals with the name are known from the 3rd century AD, the emperor Maximinus Thrax and his son and deputy Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus. In the late Roman period, the 'tribunus' was a senior military officer who commanded a vexillato, harking back to the language of the Roman Republic.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
