Crescens

Cresces was an enslaved man belonging to Gabinius Antonius, known from his dedication of a white marble altar to Cautopates in Mithraeum I at Poetovio, nowadyas Ptuj (TNMM 1597). The inscription identifies him as Gabini Antoni ser(vus) and records the fulfilment of his vow (votum solvit libens merito). Unlike several other enslaved dedicants from the sanctuary, no occupation or administrative function is recorded for him.

Cresces’ altar closely parallels the altar to Cautes dedicated by Venulus, slave of Aponius Ingenuus. The two monuments are similar in dimensions, workmanship and decoration and have consequently figured in discussions about the earliest phase of Mithraic activity at Poetovio. Michael Abramić (1933) assigned them to the Hadrianic period on stylistic grounds, while Manfred Clauss (1992) cautioned that their artistic quality alone could not support such an early dating.

Françoise Van Haeperen (2024) notes that Gabinius Antonius is otherwise unattested and regards attempts to identify him with a known conductor of the publicum portorium Illyrici as unconvincing. She nevertheless considers the possibility that the altars of Cresces and Venulus preserve evidence of a phase preceding the rebuilding of Mithraeum I associated with Caecina Calpurnius. She also notes that the nomina Gabinius and Aponius are attested at Aquileia, although the geographical origin of Cresces himself remains unknown.