PRINCEPS SVEBORVM – Der »Neufund« einer römischen Grabinschrift aus Offenburg-Bühl (Ortenaukreis)

Abstract

In 1994, the funerary inscription of a princeps Sueborum was discovered in Offenburg-Bühl. However, it was not until 2011 that the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Baden-Württemberg was informed about the find. The slab is 1.08 m wide, 0.31 m thick and still 0.97 m high. It dates to a period between the 1st and early 2nd century and originally belonged to a funerary building the type of which cannot be identified with certainty. Since the inscription was reconstructed apart from the name of the deceased, it provides important information on the early phase of the Roman settlement and administration east of the Upper Rhine. At the time of occupation, the Ortenau was settled by Suebi who were politically organised in clans and led by a princeps. This princeps Sueborum belonged to the élite of the gens
Sueborum and was the connecting link to the Roman administration.