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The Lions Roar Their Approval
CIL 6.10069 = ILS 5295

[image ALT: A rectangular vertical stone pedestal, about 1 meter tall, with a Roman inscription on its wide front side; the inscription is transcribed, translated, and discussed on this page.]
Transcribed and expanded:
1
 
 
 
5
Tito · FLAVIO
LYSIPONO
AVGVSTALES
VIRO ORDINIS
SVI PATRONO
OB MERITA
EIVS
Libentes Dono Dederunt Dedicaverunt
Translated:
To Titus Flavius
Lysiponus,
a man [who was] patron
of their order:
the Augustales,
because of his merits,
were pleased to give and dedicate [this] as a free gift.

A pretty standard honorific inscription in the Archaeological Museum of Formia: we don't know what Lysiponus did that the Augustales liked so much, but they did; although it's more of a contented purr than a roar, actually.

If you came to this page from the Do‑it-yourself Epigraphy section of this site, and needed help with L D D D — you should have learned not one but two lessons. You probably went to ASGLE's very useful index of epigraphical abbreviations, and found

L D D D: loco dato decreto decurionum (and two slight variants)
"Site provided by a decree of the decurions"

Several other standard formulas can be read in extant Roman inscriptions, though, that all reduce to L D D D: for example locum dono dederunt (they gave this place as a free gift), locum diis dedicaverunt (they dedicated this place to the gods), and the one I've opted for here: liben(te)s dono dedit/dederunt dedicavit/dedicaverunt (he/they gladly gave and dedicated as a gift).

Now it may very well be that the decurions — in modern Anglo-American terms, the aldermen or councilmen — had to authorize use of the site for this honorific inscription (and any statue that might have sat on top of it). On the other hand, they were not the driving force behind this inscription. The Augustales, the next-ranking group in a Roman town — a group of priests (details here) socially akin to the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions or the Rotary Club — signed off on it. Lysiponus was their patron; and if not one of the D's in L D D D, where's the verb to complete the sentence? It's a touch of grammar that tipped the scales for me.

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Page updated: 23 Aug 12

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