I was meant to be visiting Lambaesis today where Hadrian reviewed the fighting skills of Rome's African army. He witnessed its manoeuvres and criticised/praised them in speeches to the troops. The army recorded the speeches in an inscription on the parade ground.
📷Fayeqalnatour
📷Fayeqalnatour
Architectural reconstruction of Lambaesis by French architect and archaeologist Jean-Claude Golvin.
Lambaesis was a huge military settlement and the camp housed the Third Augustan Legion. Hadrian visited the fortress in the early summer of AD 128.
jeanclaudegolvin.com/en/lambaesis/
Lambaesis was a huge military settlement and the camp housed the Third Augustan Legion. Hadrian visited the fortress in the early summer of AD 128.
jeanclaudegolvin.com/en/lambaesis/
After observing the army's manoeuvres over the course of 3 days, Hadrian addressed different groups of soldiers in a speech. He praised the Ala I Pannoniorum for their javelin throwing, performed while they were wearing the cuirass. He complimented their prowess, telling them:
The speeches were memorialised on an inscription placed in the parade ground of Lambaesis. It was carved on the corner pillars of a viewing platform topped by a Corinthian column (M. Speidel). It is the only surviving example of a speech from a Roman emperor to his soldiers.
