Una stele inedita di un sesquiplicarius degli equites singulares Augusti

Abstract

The Roman church of Santa Caterina dei Funari houses an unpublished stele of a sesquiplicarius
of the equites singulares Augusti. The subject of analysis is the iconography of the man holding two
horses by the bridles (a groom and not the deceased) and the meaning of sesquiplicarius (a level
of remuneration, therefore not connected to the number of horses or the quantity of rations).
The inscribed monument probably comes from the burial ground of the horse guard located at
the third mile of the ancient Via Labicana, in the locality of ad duas lauros, where the imperial
family had extensive properties. From here, the stele was taken to the workshop of a marble worker
who, in the early 17th century, reused it on the back and cut it in part to engrave the tombstone
for the Ruiz family.

Keywords: Equites singulares Augusti, sesquiplicarius, iconography of the Roman army, imperial property ad duas lauros, church of Santa Caterina dei Funari.