Vatican Museums

This military diploma, from Thebes in Egypt, where it was purchased in 1735 by Msgr. G. Simone Assemani, was awarded on 17 February 86 A.D. during the reign of Domitian, to C. Gemellus Croni f. Coptit(a), who had served in the Roman fleet stationed in Egypt. It is composed of two bronze plates, engraved on both sides, and previously attached together by a metal wire passing through the central apertures; the internal faces contain the complete text of the diploma (an official transcript of an excerpt from the bronze plate held in Rome on the Capitoline Hill behind the trophies of Germanicus, at the temple of Fides populi Romani). It attests to the honourable discharge of C. Gemellus Coptita and lists the privileges accorded to him: Roman citizenship for himself, for his offspring, descendents and conubium, thus recognising a marriage either current or future. One of the two external faces bears a more concise version of the document, and on the other, there are the names of seven witnesses guaranteeing its authenticity.