On the other hand, Werner Eck has offered arguments against a later date, pointing out that the letters in question have also been read as IRISE [...] CETACO, as well as arguing that it would make better sense for this inscription to be carved during the emperor Hadrian's visit in 128.
Faustus then received a commission as a military tribune with Legio III Augusta, stationed at Theveste (present day Tébessa).
Upon stepping down from the praetorship, Faustus received another military commission, this time as legatus legionis or commander of Legio XIII Gemina, stationed at Apulum in the imperial province of Dacia; Werner Eck dates his tenure as commander of this legion to between the years 106 and 119.
[6] Normal practice was to also allocate a province to a senator of praetorian rank to govern for about three years, but much of the rest of the inscription on the Colossi of Memnon, is lost so it is uncertain if that was the case with Faustus.
The simplest explanation for this inscription was that Faustus carved it himself, attesting that he had been a member of Hadrian's entourage visiting Egypt in 128.