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Severus for instance, rebuilt his North African hometown of Lepcis Magna using
Proconnesian, Pentelic, and Docimian marble. 253 In imitation of the monuments of the
150
capital, and showcasing the prosperity of their own cities and an acceptance of the Imperial
ideology, affluent individuals in the provinces commissioned projects at sites like Baalbek,
Damascus, and Palmyra. 254
After the death of Severus Alexander (A.D. 235), another radical change seems to
have taken place: all of the inscriptions on items coming from the imperial quarries
suddenly disappear. One block of pavonazzetto found at Iscehisar (Docimium) was marked
in the year 236, and it represents the latest known example of such an inscription. 255 The 50
years that followed the death of Severus Alexander constituted a period of instability and
turmoil which ended only under Diocletian’s reign (A.D. 284-305), though it is certain that
the imperial quarry system did not collapse. The exploitation of some quarries even
increased (notably Proconnesus and Docimium), while at others it almost ended. At Luna,
for example, the Roman quarry system seems to have collapsed and Luna marble was
replaced quite often by Proconnesian. 256
The year 301 saw the enactment of Diocletian’s Edict on Maximum Prices, reported
in Appendix 4. With it, Diocletian tried to stop the inflation that was afflicting the Empire
by fixing a maximum price for all sorts of wages and merchandise including 19 marble
varieties. His efforts to fix prices, however, seem to have been limited at best; in A.D. 363
the cost of marbles had reached such an exorbitant level that Julian allowed private citizens
253 Ward Perkins 1951, 89-93.
254 Dodge 1988, 227.
255 Fant 1987, 129.
256 Pensabene 2001, 45.