38 KATHLEEN M. COLEMAN
in Pannonia twice, both before and after he served as legate in Galatia,
since he was commissioned in two legions that served there, the XIII
Gemina, in which he held a post as military tribune, and the XV Apol-
linaris, in which he was legionary legate:
C(aio) Rutilio C(ai) f(ilio)
Stel(latina tribu) Gallico
trib(uno) mil(itum) leg(ionis) XIII
Geminae, q(uaestori), aedili curuli,
legato diui Claudi leg(ionis) XV
Apollinaris, pr(aetori), legato
prouinciae Galaticae,
sodali Augustali
consuli designato,
M(arcus) Aemilius M(arci) f(ilius) Pal(atina tribu)
Pius praef(ectus) coh(ortis) I Bosp(oranae)
et coh(ortis) I Hisp(aniensis) legato
(ILS 9499)
To Gaius Rutilius Gallicus, son of Gaius, of the Stellatina tribe, military
tribune of the thirteenth legion Gemina, quaestor, curule aedile, legate
of the deified Claudius to the fifteenth legion Apollinaris, praetor, leg-
ate of the province of Galatia, member of the priesthood of Augustus,
consul designate: Marcus Aemilius Pius, son of Marcus, of the Palatina
tribe, prefect of the first cohort Bosporana and the first cohort His-
paniensis, to the legate.In Statius’ résumé of Gallicus’ career, the adherence to strict epi-
gr aphic chronology—whether real or feigned—is important, because
it contrasts with Statius’ generally allusive and fanciful manner, which
is anything but epigraphic in style; for instance, the representation of
iterated offices that sometimes occur on career inscriptions is a virtu-
oso performance, geminos fasces magnaeque iterata ... iura Asiae,
rhetorically inflated with the suggestion that Asia would have detained
Gallicus for a third or even a fourth year, if she could (81–2). Statius’
“epic authority” enlarges and embellishes the bald facts, tersely con-
veyed by the epigraphic record; the “anachronism” of publishing the
poem after Gallicus’ relapse and death converts it into an epitaph of
sorts, to stand alongside the inscribed testimony to his achievements.^43
Not all the poems in the Silvae, however, are about people (or
fauna), alive or dead; several are about buildings, including the shrine
to Hercules that was erected by Statius’ wealthy patron, Pollius Felix,
43 Henderson 1998a, 104 (“epic authority”), 114.