Roman Epigraphy of Asturies: an update

Abstract

In this paper, the author lists and discusses the Roman inscriptions discovered in Asturias that were not included in the work Epigrafía romana de Asturias (Roman epigraphy of Asturias), published by Francisco Diego Santos in 1985. Most of them have been found or presented in various publications after that date. It is a group of twelve inscriptions of different epigraphic types: there are four votive inscriptions, two sepulchral ones, some instrumenta domestica, a painted inscription and a text with legal content, the tabula censualis, which is absolutely exceptional due to the scarcity of inscriptions of this type. They are of great interest because they supplement previous data and also offer new information, for example in the religious field, with two new inscriptions for the catalogue of dedications to the lares viales, the first inscription dedicated to Tutela in Asturias and the possibility of a new testimony of a little known deity, Dovitero. These inscriptions also constitute new testimonies for Latin onomastics in the Asturian region: Placidius, Assinius, Medugenus, Cesaron, Bodocena, Aravus and all the proper names which appear in the list of the tabula censualis. Some new ancient places names appear in these texts that help find their location and better understand the etymology of some modern placesnames, for example castellum Agubri, [B]uroflavienses, Ocela, Elaniuum/Elanum. In addition, the texts allow for delving into issues related to social aspects and the political organization of the Astures, such as the legal name of some places, as in the case of the castellum epigraph; they also provide the names of some people who were not known before, such as the Cilurnigi from Xixón.