Doctors of the Roman garrison of Tyras

Abstract

The article revises the readings of two inscriptions of Tyras which presumably contain information about the organization of the medical service in the Roman garrison of that city in the 2nd century AD. The first of these (L’Année épigraphique, 1995, 1350) confirms the mention of medicus vexillationis, a term unknown in other texts; the inscription belongs to the very few evidences of the existence of the position of doctor of vexillation. It confirms the existence of at least two doctors in the vexillation of Tyras, one of whom was a naval doctor. The inscription is the only evidence so far to show that doctors serving in the provincial, and not only praetorian (Misene and Ravennate) fleets had the status of duplicarius. However, the inscription itself turns out to be of a different nature than its first publisher P.O. Karyshkovsky had suggested – it is not an honorary inscription, but a dedication to Asclepius and Hygia on behalf of not only two doctors, but also two legionaries, presumably privates. The text of the first three lines is reconstructed differently: [D(eo) A]ṣclepio • et • Hygi(ae) | [e.g. T(itus) • Fl(avius) •] Ṣuccessus • M(arcus) • Ata|[eus? • P]ḷacid[(us) m(ilites)] ḷeg(ionis) • Ī • Ital(icae). In the second inscription (L’Année épigraphique, 1990, 869) the mention of the unique term valetudinarius, usually interpreted as referring to personnel of hospital (valetudinarium), is not confirmed. In its place the cognomen of one of the dedicants Valens is to be restored and the term itself must be considered a “ghost”.