Here we see a single block of Luni white marble, which shows signs of being broken intentionally for the lime kilns, on display in the Museum of the Imperial Fora in Trajan's Markets. There are still traces of red paint in the inscription, of which little remains. This piece comes from one of the exedræ in the Forum of Augustus, probably the central part of the northern exedra which was dedicated to the ancestors of Augustus, the legendary Trojan hero Aeneas being the essential one. Son of Venus and the lucky Trojan royal Anchises, his adventures were recorded, and embellished, in Augustan poetry, specifically the epic Aeneid by the poet Virgil.
#EpigraphyTuesday shows us ideal formal #epigraphy, with this fragmentary base from the #Forum of #Augustus dated to 2 BCE of a statue of #Aeneas: "AEN[E]A[S PRIMVS]/LATIN[ORVM REX] / REGNAV[IT ANNOS III]", Aeneas, first king of the Latins, ruled three years". #AncientBluesky 🏺