On a Shield Emblem from the Notitia Dignitatum. Re-assessment of a Tomb Fresco Depicting the Late Antique Soldier Flavius Maximianus from the Villa Maria-Catacomb in Syracuse (reg. Siciliana/I)

In 1964, an arcosolium of a late Roman soldier with an extensive mural fresco was discovered in the northern part of Syracuse, together with the Villa Maria-catacomb. The mural fresco shows the buried Flavius Maximianus in his military vestment. So far, only the depicted ridge helmet has been discussed while almost no attention has been payed to the other details. After an accurate image analysis, the inscription on the shield, which is difficult to decipher, could now be read and identified as the emblem of the mattiarii iuniores listed in the Notitia dignitatum. This allowed the decipherment of the numerus mentioned in the tomb inscription. Therefore, in spite of their partially unknown and varying histories of transcription, in the light of these new discoveries the emblems of the late medieval and early modern copies of the Notitia dignitatum still seem to be considerably close to the late antique original.