Abstract:

A signaculum uncovered at the great Roman villa of Els Munts (Altafulla) in the outskirts of Tarraco
mentions the name of C. Valerius Avitus from Augustobriga (Muro de Agreda, Soria). A wall painting
with epigraphic tabula from the same villa shows him as being the owner, together with the wife
Faustina. We know of other inscriptions which inform us that he was transferred to Tarraco at the
request of the emperor Antoninus Pius and that he himself become duovir of the Tarraconensian
colony. We analyse the new role of the dignitaries in the less Romanized inland areas as guarantors
of order and Imperial authority during the first decades of the 2nd century through the concilium
provinciae. We propound to interpret the fact of promotion of Valerius Avitus as a consequence of the
attempt of imperial conspiracy of governor Cornelius Priscianus.