From Dacia Minor to Nicomedia: Iconography, Onomastics and a New Career of the Late Roman Army. The Sarcophagus of Tziampo, protector divini lateris

International audienceA rescue excavation by the Directorate of the Kocaeli Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography was conducted between 2017 and 2019 in the area where the General Directorate of Izmit Water and Sewerage Administration is located. In the course of these excavations, a new necropolis area was discovered, including five in situ sarcophagi, 51 tile tombs, and two amphora tombs. Among them, four sarcophagi bear funerary inscriptions dating from the Roman period. This paper presents one of these. The translation of this Latin inscription dated to Diocletian or Constantine is following as: “To the spirits of the dead! I, Tziampo, protector of the divine flank, restored my monument, originating from regio Pieucensis, province of Dacia Minor. He lived 50 years. And I want that nobody will be permitted to be deposed here except his son Severus or his wife. He served as horseman for nine years, as ordinarius for 11 years, and protected as protector for 10 years. But if another (person) dares to open (the sarcophagus), let him give the fiscus 20 folles and the city 10 folles. On the whole, he served for 30 years. Farewell, passers-by