Werner Eck

Several recently discovered lead ingots refer to mining districts in the region of present-day Kosovo. Of particular interest is an ingot with the inscription metallo(rum) Messalini, which refers to M. Valerius Messala Messalinus Corvinus (cos. ord. 3 BC), who was employed as a commander during the Pannonian-Dalmatian uprising of 6–9 AD. He was obviously one of the senators whom Augustus not only honoured with awards for their service, but whom he also supported economically, not unlike Cn. Calpurnius Piso (cos. ord. 7 BC), who had received saltus in Illyricum. These gifts served to create loyalty; but they were precarious gifts because when loyalty ceased, they were reclaimed for the imperial patrimonium.

The colonia Aelia Capitolina, founded by Hadrian instead of Jerusalem, was certainly established only after summer 130, as a letter of the emperor to Hierapolis shows, which was written at this time in Jerusalem. One can conjecture who was settled in the colonia at that time, but concrete evidence is hardly to be found in the epigraphic tradition. The territory of the colonia might have been quite large, but cannot be determined in detail. The Roman character of the new city is most evident in the inscriptions, the vast majority of which are written in Latin. The name Aelia is still used for the city well into the Christian era.

Publicly displayed statues constituted an important element of Rome’s presence in the life of a province. Until quite recently this form of communication has hardly been attested in the province of Iudaea/Syria Palaestina giving the impression that it was not practiced. However, large scale excavations in various regions in Israel and the intensive “hunt” for inscriptions and their systematic collection carried out by the CIIP yielded a corrective: there is no doubt left that this form of public communication was widely practiced here as well.