Marcus Caelius
Marcus Caelius (born circa 44 BC, died 9 AD) was the senior centurion (Primus Pilus) in Legio XIIX who was killed in the Battle of Teutoburger Wald.[1] He is known from his cenotaph, which was discovered in 1620 in Birten (now a part of Xanten), Germany.[2] Caelius is depicted wearing his military uniform, with phalerae (a type of military decoration), armillae (a type of bracelet), and a corona civica (an award for saving a fellow citizen's life), while in his right hand, he holds a vitis (carried by all centurions). On either side of his image are his freedmen (ex-slaves), Privatus and Thiaminus.
The tombstone's lower left corner is damaged, but enough survives to determine that the text below the image once read:
M[ARCO] CAELIO T[ITI] F[ILIO] LEM[ONIA TRIBV] BON[ONIA]
I O[RDINI] LEG[IONIS] XIIX ANN[ORVM] LIII S[EMISSIS]
CECIDIT BELLO VARIANO OSSA
[LIBERTORVM] INFERRE LICEBIT P[VBLIVS] CAELIVS T[ITI] F[ILIVS]
LEM[ONIA TRIBV] FRATER FECIT
English translation:
To Marcus Caelius, son of Titus, of the Lemonian voting tribe, from Bononia
First centurion of the eighteenth legion, 53½ years old
He fell in the Varian War. His freedmen's bones
may be interred here. Publius Caelius, son of Titus,
of the Lemonian voting tribe, his brother, erected (this monument)[3]
The tombstone can today be found in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn.[4]
References
- ↑ Goldsworthy, Adrian. "The Complete Roman Army". Thames & Hudson Ltd., p. 49.
- ↑ Archived 8 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "The Romans". Kalkriese-varusschlacht.de. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
- ↑ "The battle in the Teutoburg Forest". Livius.org. Retrieved 2015-03-05.