Ostiliano ‘Augusto’: la tempestiva dedica della città di Keramos in Caria

Abstract Hostilianus ‘Augustus’: the prompt dedication of the city of Keramos in Caria An inscription from Keramos in Caria was placed in honour of Hostilianus during the archontate of the archiater Marcus Aurelius Valens Polites. The document – which has aroused a fair amount of interest among historians of ancient medicine, while in the sphere of ancient history studies it has curiously gone almost unnoticed – deserves particular attention, also considering the relative paucity of data we possess on this emperor and the uncertainty, still present today, regarding some crucial aspects of his albeit ephemeral reign. Inserted within the complex and variegated chronological framework of the events of the wars of the 3rd century A.D., the epigraph is actually located in a very important ‘interstitial’ space and allows us to formulate some reflections on the logic of succession to power and on dynastic and ‘paradynastic’ strategies, since both Herennius Etruscus as well as Gallus and Volusianus are absent from Keramos’ text, while Hostilianus is defined Augustus and ‘son’ of the not-yet divus Augustus Decius.