More information : 2268. Cylindrical milestone found in 1612 at
Ribchester; now lost. Reproduced from Cott. Jul. MS. It may be
the same as RIB 2269 which Horsley before 1732 saw in a garden
at Ribchester.
Imp(eratori) (Case(ari) M(arco) A[ntonio (?)] Go[r-diano (?) ...
'For the Emperor Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus ....'
2,3.MA ... co.PMXII Hors., Hueb.;M A[NTONIO] GO[R-DIANO R. P. W.
conj.
The restoration of this text is conjectural, but on the basis
of the two letters at the beginning of II. 2, 3 it is easier to
restore the name of Gordian III, A.D. 238-44, who sometimes had
his preaenomen and nomen on milestones set out in full, than
to make it fit the titles of Marcus Aurelius, Caracalla, or
Elagbalus.
The letters OM .I CIGM[... SEIFE at the lower end of Horsley's
drawing seems to be a separate inscription rather than part of a
long text from which several lines have been lost, for it is
difficult to see how the milestone, which seems to us complete,
could be fixed firmly in the ground without covering these
letters. It is possible that the stone was inverted and that the
lower text should be read in the reverse direction. This might
explain why Horsley's version is difficult to interpret, and
make it more reconcilable with Dodworthe's version (RIB 2268)
R. P. W.
2269. Tapered milestone found before 1732 at Ribchester, where
Horsley saw it in a garden at the west end of the town.
Now lost. It may be the same as RIB 2268 recorded by Dodsworthe
in 1612, but the text does not tally. Reproduced (at 1/2) from
Horsley.
[D(omino)] N(ostro) Imp(eratori) Cases(ari) G(aio) Mes[s]io
Q(uinto) Decio Tr[aiano
'For our Lord the Emperor Casesar Gaius Messius Quintus Decius
Trajanus ....'
1-4 EN IMP.CAES G.MES.IOQ DEC.IOTRN Dodsworthe.
1-6. ... ... ... ... .. S. ... Leigh. 4. TR[AIA]N[O
Hueb.; TRAIAN[O] Atkinson.
Leigh in 1699 saw a pillar, about 17 in. in diameter, and recorded
only one letter in its six lines. It might be equated with
the text recorded either by Dodsworthe or by Horsley (RIB 2269).
Decius, A.D. 249-51. (1)
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