CONNECTION, NOT IBERIAN PIECE · ASCOLI BRONZE · CITIZENSHIP AND SERVICE

Turma Salluitana

Fighting in Italy and Returning Legally Transformed

An inscription identifies the horsemen from Hispania who received Roman citizenship for their military service.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Image of the Turma Salluitana — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction, created for museographic contextualisation; not a photograph of the original nor does it constitute documentary evidence.

History and context

The Ascoli Bronze records the grant of Roman citizenship to Hispanic horsemen of the Turma Salluitana for their conduct during the Social War, in 89 BCE. The names and origins turn a generic expression about cavalry into an identifiable unit.

Military service displaced people, techniques and loyalties. The reward shows that valour could be translated into legal status and open political networks to families of the Ebro valley.

Not all members were necessarily 'Iberians' in the strict archaeological sense. The document belongs to a mosaic of communities and a uniform ethnic label should be avoided.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: inscription CIL VI 37045, names, unit and grant of citizenship in 89 BCE. Interpretation and caution: regional composition is diverse and does not prove that Rome adopted unchanged a national Iberian cavalry.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: 89 BCE
Location: Asculum/Ascoli, Italy · recruitment in the Ebro valley
Material: Inscribed bronze tablet
Context: Social War and Citizenship for Virtue's Sake
Classification: Comparative connection · must not be presented as an Iberian piece
Visual reference: Ascoli Bronze · CIL VI 37045

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

A document found in Rome illuminates the Ebro valley

The two fragments of the Ascoli Bronze were discovered in Rome in 1908 and 1910. The modern findspot must not be confused with the territory where its horsemen were recruited nor with the setting of the grant. The study by Luis Amela Valverde examines the document as evidence of regional recruitment and of the Pompeian family's relations with Hispania. The decree belongs to Pompey Strabo, father of Pompey the Great. Distinguishing them avoids attributing the father's decisions to the son and allows tracing how political connections were built across generations.

Research · Luis Amela Valverde · On the Turma Salluitana and its relationship with Pompeian clientela, Hispania Antiqva XLV (2021)Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Reference images and provenance

No verifiable entrance photograph is preserved for this representation. You may consult its documentation, but we would not present its face as an exact reconstruction.

Additional visual documentation

A cited publication does not establish which image was used to create the character.

Location and territory

REGIONAL AREA

Asculum/Ascoli, Italy · recruitment in the Ebro valleyMediterranean fringe and southern peninsula; not all Iberia was Iberian. The footprint indicates the orientative centre of the area, not a boundary nor an exact point.

Where it is held

Capitoline Museums

Item or group in the record · Permanent exhibition

The original Ascoli Bronze is displayed in the Sala delle Colombe; Zaragoza holds a reproduction.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its provenance

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