Dedicatory Inscriptions of the Governor Flavius Julius Rufinus Sarmentius to the Emperors Constans and Constantius II in Salona

U zbirci Ivana Luke Garagnina nalazili su se salonitanski spomenici od kojih su tijekom vremena pojedini primjerci zagubljeni, ali su sačuvani njihovi arhivski crteži. Vrlo rano su objavljeni ulomci greda s carskim natpisima, ali samo u prijepisima te je prilikom restitucije natpisa zanemaren izgled greda što je dovelo do netočnoga spajanja pojedinih dijelova spomenika. Autorica analizira crteže iz Garagninovih arhiva i izgled sačuvanih greda u Arheološkom muzeju u Splitu iz čega proizlazi da je namjesnik provincije Flavije Julije Rufin Sarmentije podigao dva različita spomenika i to jedan Konstantu (337. - 350.) u blizini amfiteatra (Urbs occidentalis), a drugi Konstanciju II. (337. - 361.) apud Portam Caesaream (Urbs orientalis).Ivan Luka Garagnin conducted the first excavations of the Salona amphitheatre in 1805, from where origin a number of monuments in his family collection, the rest of the collection being collected or purchased artefacts discovered at different, probably various Salonitan, locations. Unfortunately, over the time some artefacts of Salona from the Garagnin\u27s collection became lost, such as fragments of lintels with inscriptions. Being imperial inscriptions, they attracted experts\u27 attention soon. Literature contains just their transcriptions, such as the recent revision of the Salonitan inscriptions, in spite of the meantime publication of their graphical documentation. Therefore in the restitution of the inscription there has been neglected the appearance of the lintels recorded in archival drawings, the absence of which makes understanding of the very monuments impossible. Analysing the graphical documentation in the Garagnin\u27s archive and the appearance of the lintels kept in the Archaeological Museum in Split (inv. A92, A214) indicate that the governor of the province of Dalmatia, Flavius Julius Rufinus Sarmentius, erected two monuments: one to Constans (337-350), the text on which is accompanied with simple mouldings, and one to Constantius II (337-361), made of an older monument decorated with triglyphs and bucranes. Although the two texts are similarly conceived, the two emperors are given different honorary titles. The emperor Constans, the Constantius\u27 youngest son, appointed to govern the middle part of the Western Empire, which jurisdiction included the Province of Dalmatia and its capitol, Salona, is victor ac triumphator. This has been stated explicitly in yet another Salonitan monument (CIL III 6375 and 8709) erected in honour of the Constans\u27 triumph over the Francs after the year 342. To the same event probably also relate dedicatory inscriptions on lintels of the triumphal monument placed near the amphitheatre in the western part of the town, Urbs occidentalis. Unlike Constans, Constantius II bears the honorary title of victoriosissimus, as confirmed on a lintel where the full text is preserved (CIL III 8710) and an inscription of identical contents but broken into two fragments, shown in archival drawings (XII and XXXII) in the Garagnin\u27s collection. After the perish of the emperor Constans and dethroning of the usurper of the western part of the Empire, Magnentius, the province of Dalmatia once again came under the rule of Constantius II. This is marked by the same governor probably by placing an honorary inscription. In doing this, he made use of an earlier monument decorated with a Doric frieze the reliefs of which are partly etched and the text is inserted in the middle of the monumental monument\u27s lintels. Given the shape and concept of decoration of the monument by retaining previous ornaments, especially at its lateral sides, it obviously did not make part of restoration of the Porta Caesarea. Namely, the Constantius\u27 monument was probably placed fully detached, apud Portam Caesaream in the eastern part of the town, Urbs orientalis