Imaginifer
The imaginifer was the bearer of the emperor's portrait in the Roman army.
From an undetermined point in time during the Roman Empire , the legions carried a representation of the ruling emperor (imago) , which was carried before the legion, in addition to the legionary eagle carried by Aquilifer and the signum of the centurions carried by the signifer . This custom is attested by Vegetius .
Details about this rank and its introduction are not known; likewise the nature of the emperor's portrait is not yet certain. However, in surviving ancient inscriptions, the names of several Imaginiferi with mention of this rank and mostly also the unit to which they belonged are handed down. For example, an inscription was found in the Vetera legionary camp near Xanten , naming a Septimius Mucatra as the imaginifer of Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix ; a Quintus Titius as the imaginifer of Legio VIII Augusta is known from an inscription in Aquileia . The grave relief of the Imaginifer Genialis from the Cohors VII Raetorum in Mainz shows him with the portrait of the emperor. In addition to legions and auxiliary troops, Imaginiferi are also known to the cohortes urbanae and vigiles stationed in Rome .
The Imaginiferi were also led around in defeated cities by the Legion (often accompanied by an acoustic instrument) to show the population (on the flags) who their new emperor was. This was mainly used to humiliate the locals, but also as a rally after the change of emperors. Sometimes such appearances had such a provocative effect on people that there were riots, for example in Jerusalem because of the Jewish ban on images .
See also
literature
- Julius Ernst von Buggenhagen : News about the partly Roman partly patriotic antiquities collected at Cleve. Friedrich Maurer, Berlin 1795, pp. 72-73 .
- Peter Connolly : Life at the time of Jesus of Nazareth. Tessloff, Hamburg 1984, ISBN 3-7886-0536-7 .
- Flavius Josephus , The Jewish War 18, 55.
- Yann Le Bohec : Imaginiferi, Imaginifarii. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 5, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01475-4 , Sp. 948.
- Johann Wilhelm Christian Steiner: Codex inscriptionum romanarum Rheni. Part 2: Contains the Roman inscriptions of the Lower Rhine area, together with an appendix and index to the entire work. Self-published, Darmstadt 1837, p. 23 .
- Elisabetta Todisco: I veterani in Italia in età imperiale (= Collana del Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità dell'Università di Bari, Sezione Storica. Documenti e studi. 22). Edipuglia srl, Bari 1999, ISBN 88-7228-231-4 .
Remarks
- ↑ Vegetius, Epitoma rei militaris 2, 6 and 2. 7.
- ↑ CIL 13, 8607 .
- ↑ CIL 5,937 ; see. Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ CIL 13, 11868 ; Images ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
