''Tabula Banasitana'' is an inscribed bronze tablet produced in the second century AD. Found in 1957 near the village of Banasa in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, it documents how a notable of the

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

tribe of Zegrenses successfully petitioned to receive

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...

for him and his family.

Fergus Millar Sir Fergus Graham Burtholme Millar, (; 5 July 1935 – 15 July 2019) was a British ancient historian and academic. He was Camden Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford between 1984 and 2002. He is among the most influentia ...

has noted its importance as "perhaps our finest documentary item of evidence for the archival procedures of the Roman emperors and for the limits and consequences of granting citizenship, as well as affording some glimpses of social structure in a marginal area of the empire." The text was published for the first time in 1971. The tablet is currently at the

Museum of History and Civilizations The Museum of History and Civilizations (, ) is an archaeological museum in Rabat, Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the nor ...

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

. The Latin text on the tablet consists of three parts, probably collected and published by Aurelius Julianus himself: a grant from the emperors

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

and

Lucius Verus Lucius Aurelius Verus (; 15 December 130 – 23 January 169) was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with Ma ...

to the ''Zegrensis'' Julianus, his wife Ziddina and their four sons in 168/169; a second grant from Marcus Aurelius and

Commodus Commodus (; ; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was Roman emperor from 177 to 192, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from 180. Commodus's sole reign is commonly thought to mark the end o ...

to Faggura, the wife of Aurelius Julianus, the ''princeps'' of the Zegrenses, probably the son of the earlier Julianus, and their children in 177; and an accurate copy of the entry from the central register with the names of twelve senior figures, senators and equestrians, who probably formed the

Consilium principis The ''consilium principis'' (advisers to the ''princeps'') was a council created by the first Roman Emperor, Augustus, in the latter years of his reign to control legislation in the deliberative institution of the Senate. The ''princeps'' (from La ...

and who are listed with their full Roman names as witnesses to the reliability of the transcript from which the Tabula Banasitana is a copy. The texts contain some linguistic peculiarities, some of which are disputed as to whether they are errors or merely different spellings. There are also some legal irregularities, but these do not seem to have bothered the Roman authorities.

References

Bibliography

* * (with response by William Seston and Maurice Euzennat). * * * * * *{{Cite journal, last=Seston, first=William, author-link=William Seston, last2=Euzennat, first2=Maurice, author-link2=Maurice Euzennat, date=1971, title=Un dossier de la chancellerie romaine : La Tabula Banasitana. Étude de diplomatique, url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1971_num_115_3_12653, journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, volume=115, issue=3, pages=468–490, doi=10.3406/crai.1971.12653

External links

Text and transcription at ancientrome.ru
*

Tabula Banasitana ''Tabula Banasitana'' is an inscribed bronze tablet produced in the second century AD. Found in 1957 near the village of Iulia Valentia Banasa, Banasa in Morocco, it documents how a notable of the Berbers, Berber tribe of Zegrenses successfully pe ...

a
Latin Wikisource
Latin inscriptions Roman citizenship Mauretania Tingitana 2nd-century inscriptions