Kein judäischer Vermessungsingenieur in Köln. Zum Senklot eines militärischen mensor / librator

Abstract

No Jewish Surveyor in Cologne. On the Plumb-bob of a Military mensor / librator

The names of two persons have recently been read in an inscription on a plumb-bob found in Cologne: the commander of a centuria, and a mensor. Based on the name of the centurion, a Jewish origin was inferred for the mensor. This interpretation is impossible per se because, as far as currently known, Jews did not serve in the Roman army during the first three centuries. But a new reading reveals that only one person is actually named on the plumb-bob, a Maenius Leubo, who commanded the centuria which owned the plumb-bob. The cognomen of the centurion points to his Gallo-Germanic origin.