L’inscription en l’honneur de M. Vlpius Carminius Claudianus à Aphrodisias (CIG, 2782)

Abstract

The inscription CIG, 2782 reveals the remarkable action of M. Vlpius Carminius Claudianus in Aphrodisias and his responsibilities in Asia. The rank of his in-laws - his wife’s brother was a Roman senator - is already well known. The study of the monuments he built, which were concentrated in the centre of Aphrodisias, and of the ambitious display of his euergetism through distributions and the way the honorific inscription is shown, reveals its outstanding position over its contemporaries in the free city. It leads to reassess the meaning of its function of curator in Cyzicus and "argyrotamias" of Asia. Through the comparison of this inscription with other epigraphical sources from Aphrodisias, Attouda (MAMA, VI, 74 and 75) as well as numismatic evidence from that city, we wish to propose a revised chronology of his life. The acme of his action in Aphrodisias, Attouda and the province spans from the 130s to the very beginning of the 160s.