The specific title of Julia Mamaea "mother of the emperor's sacred military camps" probably refers to a period of military campaigns. The statue could have been erected on the occasion of an imperial visit in Philippopolis in the winter of AD 233-234, when Severus Alexander, following his eastern campaign of AD 231-233, passed together with his mother Iulia Mamaea through Thrace on his way to the northern border of the Empire.
The names of Severus Alexander and Iulia Mamaea were intentionally erased in AD 235, when the emperor and his mother were murdered and the throne was taken by Maximinus the Thracian.
The statue was erected by the Common council of the province of Thrace (τὸ κοινὸν τῆς Θρᾳκῶν ἐπαρχείας), identified with the province itself in the text. The Thracian Common council (koinon) was established under Emperor Domitian; it consisted of representatives of the provincial cities and had its sessions in Philippopolis. The title of its president was initially "archpriest of the province" (ἀρχιερεὺς τῆς ἐπαρχείας), and then "thracarch" (θρᾳκάρχης).
The thracarch Publius Antius Teres is attested in several inscriptions. He belonged to the noble family of the Antii from Pautalia (modern Kyustendil), on which see the commentary to inscription IGBulg 1537.
