HUM / REL 493 - Continuation of Intermediate Latin
Course Notes, Week 6 - Cambridge Course, Stage 40
The pictures on pages 101 and 115 show a reconstruction of the Curia in the Forum of Rome.
The letters on the coin of Domitius are IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM PM TRP VL
The drawing on page 105 illustrates Salvius on trial. One senator is making the rhetorical gesture of accusation towards Salvius. The rest of the senators are sitting on the benches at the side of the Curia. The Scribe of the Court is at the left corner; Glabrio is seated, holding a scroll. The presiding magistrate sits on the tribunal at the end, and the accused is standing in front of his chair before the magistrate.
The photo on page 112 shows the Curia in Rome. The Curia was built by Julius Caesar. The original building was destroyed by a fire, and was restored by Diocletian in AD 283
The photo on page 118 is of a section of the Cancelleria Relief. Domitian is being led by Mars, the god of war, and Minerva, his guardian goddess. The goddess Roma is at the right edge of the photo. The photo on page 39 shows another section of the Relief. In both sections, the later Emperor Nerva had his face carved over Domitian's.
The photo on page 120 shows a silver denarius ("penny"). The chair of the Presiding Magistrate is under a canopy. To the right are the tablets used by the jurors, with "A" for "Absolvō", and "C" for "Condemnō". To the left is the urn into which the jurors cast their votes.
The trial of Salvius was a historical event, but the story in the Cambridge Course is fictitious. Salvius' family were leading citizens of the town of Salvius in central Italy. Tacitus mentions that Salvius was brought to trial during the reign of Domitian, but he does not say what the charge was.
Salvius' name is missing from the lists of the Aral Brotherhood (priestly college in Rome) for the years AD 89-91, which may indicate that he was in exile from Rome. He did eventually return to Rome, but declined a proconsulship in Asia when it was offered to him. Pliny described him as sharp, business-like, energetic, and smooth-tongued.
A dedicatory inscription gives his career :
Gaio Salvio, Gaii filio, Velia, Liberali Nonio Basso, consul, proconsul provinciae Macedomiae, legato Augustorum, iuridico Britanniae, legato legionis V Macedonicae, fratri Arvali, allecto ad divo Vespasiano et divo Tito inter tribunicios, ab isdem allecto inter praetorios, quinquennali IIII, patrono colonia. hic sorte proconsul factus provinciae Asiae se excusavit.
To Gaius Salvius Liberalis Nonius Bassus, son of Gaius, of the Velian (tribe), consul, proconsul of the province of Macedonia, imperial legate, chief justice of Britain, legate of the 5th Legion Macedonica, (member) of the Arval Brotherhood, Promoted to the tribunate by the divine Vespasian and the divine Titus, and promoted by the same to the praetorship, municipal magistrate for 20 years, and patron of his town. He obtained by lot the proconsulship of Asia but excused himself from it.
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