Here’s what we can say securely about Lucius Minthonius Tertullus—and about where the Minthonius name shows up more widely.

Attestations

• Scotland (Cramond fort, Edinburgh) — An altar to Jupiter set up by the Cohors V Gallorum “under the command of L(ucius) Minthonius Tertullus, prefect.” Dated on contextual grounds to roughly AD 140–210; found before 1697; now in the National Museum of Scotland (RIB 2134).
• Africa Proconsularis (Makthar/Mactaris, Tunisia) — A related individual, M(arcus) Minthonius Tertullus, is attested in CIL VIII 23420. RIB comments on the Cramond altar explicitly point to this African inscription as a family connection.
• Possibly Britain (stamp attribution) — A stamped object recorded as RIB 2409.35 mentions “Tertullus”; RIB’s note suggests this was probably L. Minthonius Tertullus, which—if right—would corroborate his activity in northern Britain. (The authenticity of the stamp was debated by Hübner, so treat as probable, not certain.)

Who he was (Scotland)

On the Cramond altar he appears as an equestrian prefect commanding Cohors V Gallorum—a standard auxiliary cohort posting. EDH classifies him explicitly as eques (equestrian order).

Where the family/name comes from

• Minthonius is a rare gentilicium; the best-supported view is that it’s of North African origin. RIB’s commentary cites Birley’s discussion of Minthonius as an African nomen, and it cross-references the Mactaris (Tunisia) inscription for M. Minthonius Tertullus, which neatly explains an African family member and a British posting for Lucius.
• Additional African Minthonii are known (e.g., Q. Minthonius Fortunatus, a priest in Africa, in the Brill corpus for eastern cults), which reinforces the African concentration of the name.

Name-reading notes

You may see occasional confusion over his praenomen (Lucius vs Marcus). The Cramond altar reads L(ucius); RIB’s apparatus discusses earlier misreadings of the first letter and defends the L reading. Meanwhile, the African inscription is M(arcus)—almost certainly a different man of the same family.

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