The Emperor Caesar son of the
divine Marcus Antoninus Pius brother of the divine Commodus grandson of the divine Antoninus Pius
great-grandson of the divine Hadrian great-great-grandson of the divine Trajan
conqueror of the Parthians great-great-great-grandson of the divine Nerva
Lucius Septimius Severus Pius PERTINAX Augustus
Arabicus Adiabenicus Pater Patriae Pontifex Maximus
vested with tribunician power for the fourth time acclaimed emperor for the eighth time twice consul and
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS
(Dedication).

While this inscription might appear to refer to Emperor Pertinax, and thus date to the three-month reign of Emperor Pertinax in 193 AD, this cannot be correct. This (incorrect) interpretation would result from the following (grammatically correct) reading:

THE EMPEROR CAESAR [Pertinax]
son of the divine Marcus Antoninus Pius [Marcus Aurelius], brother of the divine Commodus, grandson of the divine Antoninus Pius, great-grandson of the divine Hadrian, great-great-grandson of the divine Trajan, conqueror of the Parthians, great-great-great-grandson of the divine Nerva, Lucius Septimius Severus Pius PERTINAX Arabicus Adiabenicus [conqueror of the Arabs, conqueror of the Adiabeni], Augustus [ruling emperor], Father of his Country, Pontifex Maximus [honorific - too long to explain here], vested with tribunician power for the fourth time, acclaimed emperor for the eighth time, twice consul,
and MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS [? - obviously not Marcus Aurelius (mentioned above) - could be Septimius Severus, "adopted" (see below) son of Marcus Aurelius, Caesar.

Problem with this interpretation: If "Pertinax" refers to emperor Pertinax (born Publius Helvius), then who is the Marcus Aurelius Antoninus at the end of the inscription. A good guess would be Caracalla, who also used the "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus" name. But Caracalla was very young when Pertinax was emperor. So the Marcus Aurelius Antoninus could be Septimius Severus, adopted son of Marcus Aurelius, who may have used the Antonin name alone (without "Severus"). But the inscription refers to the divine (deified) Commodus, and surely no one would mention Commodus in this manner during his damnatio memoriae, which occured immediately on his death, when Pertinax became emperor, and lasted for years after Pertinax's death.

A better interpretation: Septimius Severus saw himself as avenger of Pertinax, and adopted "Perinax" as a surname (therefore Lucius Septimius Severus Pertinax). The "Pertinax" of this inscription is in fact Septimius Severus, and the Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Caesar at the end of the inscription actually is Severus's son Caracalla, who became Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Caesar in 195, two years after Pertinax's death. The use of "divine Commodus" is appropriate, as long as the inscription dates to after 197, when Severus reversed the damnatio. "Parthicus Adiabenus" (following "Pertinax" in the inscription) is applicable to Septimius Severus. Severus declared himself son of Marcus Aurelius, and therefore brother of Commodus, in 195. Uncomfortable with having his adopted brother Commodus the subject of a damnatio, Severus reversed it in 197. Caracalla was named Augustus on Jan. 20, 198, and appears in the inscription as Caesar. Therefore, with confidence we can date this inscription to a roughly one-year period (197 AD) between reversal of the Commodus damnatio and Caracalla's becoming Augustus.


 

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