STATUE ERETTE CON IL PERMESSO DEL GOVERNATORE IN AFRICA PROCONSOLARE

This article examines the practice of erecting honorary statues in Roman Africa between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD. It focuses particularly on statues dedicated to local benefactors and members of municipal elites. The evidence shows a significant decline in honorary statues compared with the early Roman Empire. Three inscriptions from Africa Proconsularis provide important evidence for this changing practice. They show that local communities could honor their benefactors through statues, but their decisions were subject to a formal procedure. In particular, municipal decrees had to be confirmed by the provincial governor. The inscriptions repeatedly use expressions such as decreto condito and refer to the governor’s iudicium or confirmation. This suggests that the involvement of the governor was not merely occasional but may have been part of an established administrative practice. The study also compares these inscriptions with earlier evidence from the 3rd century. Overall, the article argues that the changing regulation of honorary statues reflects the transformation of civic and monumental life in late Roman Africa.