Marcus Gavius Cornelius Cethegus was a Roman senator active during the middle of the second century AD. He was ordinary consul for 170 as the colleague of Gaius Erucius Clarus. [1] Cethegus is best known for his behavior while travelling through Roman Greece, which provoked one person to call him a great fool, to which the philosopher Demonax replied, "Not great" (οὐδὲ μέγα). [2]
He was the son of Marcus Gavius Squilla Gallicanus, consul in 150; a sister, Cornelia Cethegilla, has been identified. Olli Salomies, in his monograph on the naming practices of the Early Roman Empire, records a number of experts thought Cethegus and his sister were not natural, but adopted children of Gallicanus. After discussing the evidence, Salomies admits that he prefers the explanation that both "were Squilla Gallicanus' adoptive, not natural children." [3]
Cethegus may be the boy whose initial speech before the Roman senate was the subject of a letter the orator Fronto wrote to his father, one Squilla Gallicanus. [4] However, there is an ambiguity over the identification, because both Cethegus' father and grandfather had the same name: it is possible that the letter could have been addressed to the elder Gallicanus about his uncle Marcus Gavius Orfitus, as some have argued. [5]
Far more definite is the fact Cethegus served as the legatus or assistant for his father when Gallicanus was proconsular governor of Asia, in the year 165. [6] His uncle, Orfitus, was consul the same year. [7] It was while he transversed Greece that Cethegus' behavior attracted the comment Lucian records Demonax made. [2]
The gens Gavia, or occasionally Gabia, was a Roman family of plebeian descent. It first appears in history during the first century BC, but none of its members obtained any of the curule magistracies until imperial times. The Gavi Arch at Verona was built in honor of one of the Gavii.
The gens Pontia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens rose to prominence in the time of the Republic, but the Pontii flourished under the Empire, eventually attaining the consulship. Pontius Pilatus, as prefect of Judaea, is known for his role in the execution of Jesus.
Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was the name of several Roman men who lived during the early Roman Empire. They were descendants of Orfitus who was adopted by Servius Cornelius Scipio, an otherwise unknown member of the patrician branch of the Cornelii Scipiones.
Lucius Hedius Rufus Lollianus Avitus was a Roman senator and military officer. He was consul in the year 144 as the colleague of Titus Statilius Maximus.
The gens Laberia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the second century BC, at which time they held senatorial rank. Most of the members mentioned later were equites, but toward end of the first century AD they attained the consulship, which several of them held throughout the second century.
Gaius Aufidius Victorinus was a Roman senator and general of the second century. A friend of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the son-in-law of the advocate and orator Marcus Cornelius Fronto, he was twice consul and governor of several Roman provinces.
Marcus Metilius Aquillius Regulus was a Roman senator of the second century AD. A member of the patrician order, he held the office of consul ordinarius in 157 with another patrician, Marcus Vettulenus Civica Barbarus, as his colleague.
Lucius Dasumius Tullius Tuscus was a Roman senator who was an amici or trusted advisor of the emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He was suffect consul in the nundinium of April to June 152 AD as the colleague of Publius Sufenas.
Marcus Nonius Mucianus was a Roman senator who was active in the second century. He was suffect consul in the nundinium of October-December 138 as the colleague of Publius Cassius Secundus.
Marcus Peducaeus Priscinus was a Roman senator of the second century. He was ordinary consul in the year 110 with Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus as his colleague. Priscinus is primarily known from inscriptions.
Marcus Peducaeus Stloga Priscinus was a Roman senator active during the middle of the second century AD. He was ordinary consul for 141 as the colleague of Titus Hoenius Severus. An inscription from the Great Theatre at Ephesus mentions a Marcus Peducaeus Priscinus as proconsular governor of Asia in 155/156, whom professor Géza Alföldy, amongst others, has identified as this Priscinus. Priscinus is known only through surviving inscriptions.
Marcus Gavius Squilla Gallicanus was a Roman senator active during the first half of the second century AD. He was ordinary consul for 127 as the colleague of Titus Atilius Rufus Titianus. Gallicanus is known only from inscriptions.
Publius Cornelius Dexter was a Roman senator and general active during the middle of the second century AD. He was suffect consul for the nundinium July-September 159; the name of his colleague is not known. Dexter is known only from non-literary sources.
Marcus Pontius Laelianus Larcius Sabinus was a Roman senator and general who held a series of offices in the emperor's service. He was suffect consul for the nundinium of July-August 145 as the colleague of Quintus Mustius Priscus. Laelianus is primarily known through inscriptions.
Quintus Camurius Numisius Junior was a Roman senator active during the later second century AD. He was suffect consul for a nundinium in the first half of the year 161 as the colleague of Marcus Annius Libo.
Tiberius Claudius Julianus was a Roman senator and literary figure who held several offices in the imperial service during the later second century AD. He was suffect consul during the nundinium of September-October 154 with Sextus Calpurnius Agricola as his colleague.
Marcus Gavius Squilla Gallicanus was a Roman senator, who was active during the reigns of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He was suffect consul in 150 AD with Sextus Carminius Vetus as his colleague. He was also proconsular governor of Asia in 164/165.
The gens Salvidiena was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned toward the end of the Republic, and from then to the end of the second century they regularly filled the highest offices of the Roman state.
Quintus Cornelius Proculus was a Roman senator, who was active during the middle of the second century AD. He was suffect consul in the nundinium of November–December 146 as the colleague of Lucius Aemilius Longus. Proculus is known entirely from inscriptions.
Lucius Calventius Sextus Carminius Vetus was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Trajan. He was suffect consul in the nundinium of September to October AD 83 as the colleague of Marcus Cornelius Nigrinus Curiatius Maternus. He is known entirely from inscriptions.