Helena Augusta, la domus Divina y Augusta Emerita en época constantiniana

Abstract

In this paper, I reflect on a dedication to the domus divina and to Helena Augusta, probably Constantine’s mother, in an opisthographic inscription found in Mérida. It is the first documented inscription in Hispania to one of the most important women of her time. There are few examples in the Roman Empire since the women of the imperial family appeared very little in epigraphy from the Tetrarchic era onwards. Furthermore, the presence of the domus divina in the inscriptions of this period is not common either. Despite its form and concise vocabulary, which are very different from that used in the inscriptions of IV cent., the dedication makes sense concerning the administrative position of Emerita in the times of Constantine.