Inscriptions found on the remains of stone buildings can provide more clues not only about the appearance and history of Arbeia but also of events across the Empire.
This inscription came from the side of an aqueduct, and was built, according to its inscription, to bring fresh water into the fort for the Cohors V Gallorum (Fifth Cohort of Gauls) stationed here at that time.
It was common practice to dedicate a significant building or structure to the ruling Emperor. However, on this occasion the Emperor’s name, Severus Alexander, who was murdered in AD 235, has been partially erased. This was on the order of his successor, who decreed that Severus Alexander’s name should be removed from all official inscriptions throughout the Empire.
The Latin inscription reads:
IMP(ERATOR) CAES(AR) DIVI SEVER’ NEPOS DIV1 MAGNI ANTONINI FIL(IUS) M(ARCUS) AUREL(IUS) SEVERUS (ALEXANDER) PIUS FELIX AUG(USTUS) PONT1F(EX) MAXI(MUS) TRIB(UNICIA) POT(ESTATE) PATER) P(ATRIAE) CO(N)S(UL) AQUAM USIBUS MIL(ITUM) COH(ORTIS) V GALLO(RUM) IN DUX1T CURANTE MARIO VALERIANO LEG(ATO) EIUS PR(0) PR(AETORE)
which translates as:
The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Pius Felix Augustus, grandson of the deified Severus, son of Antonlnus the Great, chief priest, with tribunician power, father of his country, consul, brought in this supply of water for the use of the soldiers of the Fifth Cohort of Gauls, under the charge of Marius Valerianus, his propraetorian legate