Abstract:

In last years of the reign of Vespasian, large-scale road construction work was undertaken in the province of Bithynia et Pontus under the supervision of the fiscal procurator L. Antonius Naso. This construction work has hitherto been known from four milestones erected in the ter-ritories of Prusa ad Olympum, Kios, Tieion and Sinope in 78 CE. A milestone dating from the same year that was found in the eastern territory of Nikaia in 2014 attests that also the impor-tant military road from Nikaia via Iuliopolis to Ancyra was repaired under Naso. Set up 59 mi-les southeast of Nikaia, the milestone indicates the Bithynian metropolis as caput viae. The new find is edited with a commentary and a discussion of some topographical questions. The milestone is likely to have been set up at or near the road station Artemis, which according to the Itinerarium Burdigalense was located six miles west of Dableis. Artemis lies in the immedi-ate vicinity of the village of Kayabaşı, which played an important role in the topography of the region. The article concludes with a discussion of the extent of the construction work car-ried out in the province of Bithynia et Pontus under Naso’s supervision. 

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