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Syndexios

Publilius Ceionius Caecina Albinus

Vir clarissimus and governor of Numidia, who dedicated a temple to Mithras with its images and ornaments in Cirta.

  • Plan of the underground mosque including the Mithras Temple.

    Plan of the underground mosque including the Mithras Temple.
    Lucien Jacquot 

Biography
of Publilius Ceionius Caecina Albinus

TNMP 265

Publilius Ceionius Caecina Albinus was a prominent Roman politician who lived in the middle of the 4th century AD. He is thought to have been one of the sons of Gaius Ceionius Rufius Volusianus Lampadius. Caecina Albinus’s official rank was vir clarissimus and he served as governor, praeses consularis, of Numidia from 364 to 367 AD under Valentinianus and Valens.

During his tenure, he was noted for his contributions to public works, which are documented by various inscriptions, e.g. AE 1926, 134 and AE 1946, 107. Among these we find a slab with an inscription stating that he had dedicated a speleum, a term used to designate a Mithras temple, with its signs and ornaments.

Macrobius includes him in his Saturnalia, e.g. I 2-15 and I 2-16, where he is associated with other notable pagan figures of the time, such as Symmachus.

Although a pagan pontiff, he had a Christian wife. His daughter, also a Christian, was the mother of Saint Paula, as Jerome records in his Epistle.


Trois membres de la famille des Albini apparaissent dans les Saturnales: Rufius Albinus, Cécina Albinus et Décius Albinus, fils du précédent. Ce dernier n’intervient que dans le Prologue : il doit alors avoir une quinzaine d’années à la date des Saturnales. Il sera consulaire de Numidie, gouverneur de Campanie (397- 398), questeur du Palais et préfet de la ville en 40223 Le père de Décius appartient à la même génération que Symmaque : il est consulaire de Numidie en 365, il fut pontife majeur, c’est-à-dire prêtre de Vesta. Dans une lettre célebre (107, 1), Jérôme évoque sa petite-fille chrétienne, chantant alleluia sur les genoux de son grand-pere. Il apparait dans les Saturnales comme un antiquaire érudit. Le troisieme personnage Celonius Rufius Albinus, préfet de Rome en 389-391, est lui aussi un passionné d’antiquité d’une grande érudition. Il est vraisemblablement le dédicataire d’un opuscule de Ser-vius sur la métrique et l’auteur d’un traité De Metris 24 Il vante les archaismes de Virgile et montre les emprunts aux poètes archaïques (VI, 1-5).

—Guittard (2022) Les Saturnales

References

Mentions

Mithraeum of Cirta

TNMM 615

An inscription mentioning a speleum decorated by Publilius Ceionius suggests the location of a mithraeum in Cirta, the capital of Numidia.

Speleum cum [sig]/nis et omamen[tis] / Publilius Ceion[ius] / Caecina Albinu[s v(ir) c(larissimus)].
Grote with statues and decorations, [by] Publilius Ceionius Caecina Albinus, the most distinguished man.

A cave with signs and ornaments, dedicated by Publilius Ceionius Caecina Albinus, a man of eminent standing.

Slab with inscription by Publilius Ceionius of Cirta

TNMM 772

This inscription shows that Publilius Ceionius, most distinguished man, dedicated a temple to Mithras at Mila, in the modern Constantina, Algeria.

Spel(a)eum cum [sig]/nis et omamen[tis] / Publilius Ceion[ius] / Caecina Albinu[s v(ir) c(larissimus)].
A spelaeum with its images and decorations, dedicated by Publilius Ceionius Caecina Albinus, most distinguished man.

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