01-23-2016, 02:14 PM
I've been collecting some inscriptions detailing Roman military units and individuals involved with the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judea in cAD132-135. Most of these are quite self-explanatory, but one of them perhaps suggests the involvement of the Syrian fleet in the campaign.
Sextus Cornelius Dexter (CIL 08, 8934) was praefecto classis Syriacae donis militaribus donato a divo Hadriano ob bellum Iudaicum hasta pura et vexillo.
Could Dexter have been so decorated just for accompanying the emperor as part of his retinue, during the brief period in which Hadrian apparently took personal command of the operations? Or does the award of the hasta pura and vexillum imply some more active role?
Could he have been in command of a detachment of the fleet, and if so what might they have been doing? Some sort of operation on the Dead Sea, or a land-based construction or logistical function, perhaps?
Sextus Cornelius Dexter (CIL 08, 8934) was praefecto classis Syriacae donis militaribus donato a divo Hadriano ob bellum Iudaicum hasta pura et vexillo.
Could Dexter have been so decorated just for accompanying the emperor as part of his retinue, during the brief period in which Hadrian apparently took personal command of the operations? Or does the award of the hasta pura and vexillum imply some more active role?
Could he have been in command of a detachment of the fleet, and if so what might they have been doing? Some sort of operation on the Dead Sea, or a land-based construction or logistical function, perhaps?
Nathan Ross
