Note on CIL III 1338 (IDR III/3, 139)

This article examines a brief inscription found in the castrum of Micia (Romania), which was published by various scholars, including Mommsen in CIL III. The interpretation of the text by Mommsen was soon eclipsed by the suggestion of Dessau that the altar was a dedication to the Genius of the god Turmasgade. Since then, Dessau’s reading has become widely accepted and it has not been questioned that the altar was dedicated to Turmasgade. On the contrary, according to the author numerous observations favour the earlier solution proposed by Mommsen. Moreover, as a result of the archaeological investigations that have been carried out at this site since the 1930s and progress in the historical and epigraphical research, it is possible to move a step forward and offer an ethnic identification for the abbreviated name at the beginning of the text.