Quintus Lollius Urbicus

Last updated

Quintus Lollius Urbicus
RIB 1276 Rochester.png
RIB 1276
Governor of Roman Britain
In office
139 A.D.  –142 A.D.
Personal details
Born Tiddis
Died Rome
Parent(s)Marcus Lollius Senecio, Grania Honorata
Occupation Governor

Quintus Lollius Urbicus was a Berber [1] governor of Roman Britain between the years 139 and 142, during the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. He is named in the Historia Augusta , although it is not entirely historical, and his name appears on five Roman inscriptions from Britain; his career is set out in detail on a pair of inscriptions set up in his native Tiddis near Cirta (Constantine, Algeria), Numidia.

Contents

Early life

Lollius Urbicus was the son of Marcus Lollius Senecio, who was a Berber landowner, [2] and his wife Grania Honorata. [3] Professor Edward Champlin included Adventus as a member of "a Cirtan community at Rome" he infers existed there, whose members included: Publius Pactumeius Clemens, consul in 138; Gaius Arrius Antoninus, consul c. 170; and the orator Marcus Cornelius Fronto. Champlin notes that Urbicus, along with Pactumeius Clemens, would later be useful patrons for Fronto at the beginning of the orator's career. [4]

Early career

The early senatorial career of Lollius Urbicus is known from a detailed inscription erected in Tiddis. [5] After a military tribunate with the Legio XXII Primigenia at Mogontiacum (present-day Mainz), he entered the Senate and served for a year as legate to the proconsul of Asia. He quickly rose to prominence as emperor Hadrian's candidate, and received a commission as legatus or commander of the Legio X Gemina at Vienna. He received dona militaria , or military decorations, for his service as a legate during Hadrian's Jewish War of 132–135. His consulship can be placed in 135 or 136, after which he governed Germania Inferior. He was transferred to Britannia soon after Hadrian's death. [6]

Governor of Britain

According to the Augustan History, the emperor Antoninus Pius "defeated the Britons through the agency of the legate Lollius Urbicus". [7] It seems that, in a reversal of Hadrianic policy in Britain, he sent Lollius Urbicus to effect the reconquest of Lowland Scotland. Between 139 and 140 Urbicus refurbished the fort at Corbridge, [8] in preparation for the move north of Hadrian's Wall, and commemorative coins were issued in 142 celebrating a victory in Britain. [9] It is therefore likely that Urbicus led the reoccupation of southern Scotland in 141 including the capture of Burnswark Hill, [10] using all three legions and a variety of auxiliary units. In 143 he oversaw the initial construction of the Antonine Wall; he is explicitly named on building inscriptions from Balmuildy. [11]

No historical source describes the Antonine invasion, so any attempted reconstruction will be purely speculative. Urbicus may have campaigned against several British tribes (possibly including factions of the northern Brigantes), certainly against the lowland tribes of Scotland; the Votadini and the Selgovae of the Scottish Borders region, also the Damnonii of Strathclyde and the Novantae of Dumfries and Galloway. All three of the legions of Britain would have taken part (Legio II Augusta based at Caerleon, the Sixth Victrix based at York and the Twentieth Valeria Victrix based at Chester), as they are all mentioned on the inscriptions recording building work undertaken along the Antonine Wall. This legionary core was, no doubt, backed up by a substantial contingent of auxiliary units, of which we have record of around nine regiments (e.g. RIB 1276, 2140, 2142, 2149, 2155, 3509).

It seems likely that Urbicus planned his campaign of attack from Corbridge in Northumberland, just to the rear of Hadrian's Wall, as dedicatory inscriptions positively dated to the early 140s have been uncovered at the Antonine storage-depot there. From here he drove north-north-west into the Scottish Borders along the Agricolan military road Dere Street, leaving garrison forts at High Rochester in Northumberland and possibly also at Newstead in the Borders, as he struck towards the Firth of Forth. Both of these sites, as well as similar military installations at Risingham, Chew Green, Cappuck and Inveresk, were very likely used as bases from which to police the lowland tribes, namely the Votadini to the east and the Selgovae to the west.

Having secured an overland supply route for military personnel and equipment along Dere Street, Urbicus very likely set up a supply port at Carriden for the supply of grain and other foodstuffs before proceeding against the Dumnonii tribe in South Strathclyde. This done, then came the task of completing a new barrier of turf and timber stretching for thirty-five miles from east to west across the narrow neck of land separating the mighty Rivers Forth and Clyde, nowadays known as the Antonine Wall.

Later career

Urbicus returned to Rome with the prospect of the prestigious post of praefectus urbi (Prefect of Rome), which he probably held in AD 146, after the death of the incumbent, Sextus Erucius Clarus. He was perhaps the praefectus urbi who is known to have died in AD 160. [12]

One recorded activity of Urbicus while praefectus urbi was his presiding at the trial of one Ptolemaeus, who had been accused by her ex-husband of being a Christian; she admitted to the prefect that she was indeed a Christian and was sentenced to death. This trial led Justin Martyr, who had converted her, to write his Apology to plead for her life. [13]

Citing Urbicus' career inscription, Colin Wells concludes that: "At no other period of history could the second or third son of a Berber landowner from a very small town in the interior enjoy a career which took him to Asia, Judaea, the Danube . . . the lower Rhine and Great Britain, culminating in a position of great power and honor in the capital of the empire to which all these regions belonged." [14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Wells, Colin Michael (1995). The Roman Empire . Harvard University Press. pp.  151. ISBN   9780674777705.
  2. ↑ Freeman, Charles (1 March 2014). Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean. Oxford University Press. p. 508. ISBN   9780199651917.
  3. ↑ His family is named on the four sides of a pillar from Tiddis, CIL VIII, 6705 ("For his father Marcus Lollius Senecio, his mother Grania Honorata, his brother Lucius Lollius Senex, his brother Marcus Lollius Honoratus, and his uncle Publius Granius Paulus, Quintus Lollius Urbicus the Prefect of the City (set this up)").
  4. ↑ Champlin, Fronto and Antonine Rome (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1980), pp. 14f
  5. ↑ CIL VIII, 6706 The posts are shown in reverse order, sandwiched between the twin honours of the consulship (top) and his patronage of his hometown (bottom).
  6. ↑ W. Eck, Die Statthalter der germanischen Provinzen vom 1.-3. Jahrhundert (Epigraphische Studien Band 14, Cologne/Bonn, 1985, p. 168.
  7. ↑ Historia Augusta, Antoninus Pius 5.4.
  8. ↑ RIB 1147 and 1148. Rebuilding was also under way at High Rochester, RIB 1276.
  9. ↑ The coins (RIC 745) showing the figure of Britannia as the reverse image are broadly datable to the period AD 140–142 by Pius' titulature (ANTONINUS AUG PIUS P P TR P COS III), but the reverse legend (IMPERATOR II) can be dated by cross-reference to the Puteoli inscription ( CIL X, 515) linking IMP II with TRIB POT V (AD 142).
  10. ↑ John H. Reid and Andrew Nicholson (2019). "Burnswark Hill: the opening shot of the Antonine reconquest of Scotland?" (PDF). Journal of Roman Archaeology. p. 459.
  11. ↑ RIB 2191 and 2192. The inscriptions are undated within the reign of Antoninus Pius, but probably relate to AD 142 or 143.
  12. ↑ L. Vidman, Fasti Ostienses (2nd edn, 1982), p. 52: [... Q Lollius Urbicus praef(ectus) u]rb(is) excessi[t].
  13. ↑ Anthony R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius: A Biography (London: Routledge, 1993), pp. 111f
  14. ↑ Collin Wells. The Roman empire p. 226. Harvard University Press, 1995. ISBN   0-674-77770-0

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antoninus Pius</span> Roman emperor from 138 to 161

Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Aurelius</span> Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and Stoic philosopher

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calm, and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Verus</span> Roman emperor from 161 to 169

Lucius Aurelius Verus was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with Marcus Aurelius marked the first time that the Roman Empire was ruled by more than one emperor simultaneously, an increasingly common occurrence in the later history of the Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurelia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Aurelia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which flourished from the third century BC to the latest period of the Empire. The first of the Aurelian gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 252 BC. From then to the end of the Republic, the Aurelii supplied many distinguished statesmen, before entering a period of relative obscurity under the early emperors. In the latter part of the first century, a family of the Aurelii rose to prominence, obtaining patrician status, and eventually the throne itself. A series of emperors belonged to this family, through birth or adoption, including Marcus Aurelius and the members of the Severan dynasty.

Marcus Statius Priscus Licinius Italicus was a Roman senator and general active during the reigns of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. Contemporary sources refer to him as Marcus Statius Priscus or simply Statius Priscus. He was consul for the year 159 as the colleague of Plautius Quintillus; Priscus was one of only two homines novi to attain the ordinary consul in the reigns of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.

Quintus Antistius Adventus was a Roman politician and general. He commanded a legion, the II Adiutrix in the war against the Parthian Empire (161-166), and was appointed suffect consul around 166.

Events from the 2nd century in Roman Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early life of Marcus Aurelius</span> Life of Marcus Aurelius between 121 and 161

The early life of Marcus Aurelius spans the time from his birth on 26 April 121 until his accession as Roman emperor on 8 March 161.

The Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 was fought between the Roman and Parthian Empires over Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. It concluded in 166 after the Romans made successful campaigns into Lower Mesopotamia and Media and sacked Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital.

Marcus Petronius Mamertinus, possibly known as Sextus Petronius Mamertinus, was a Roman senator originally of the Equestrian order. He served as suffect consul in 150 AD as the colleague of Marcus Cassius Apollinaris.

The gens Ceionia or gens Caeionia or the Caeionii family was an ancient Roman senatorial family of imperial times. The first member of the gens to obtain the consulship was Lucius Ceionius Commodus in AD 78. The rise of this family culminated in the elevation of the emperor Lucius Verus, born Lucius Ceionius Commodus, in AD 161.

The gens Pactumeia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are not mentioned by the historians until imperial times, when one branch of the family achieved high rank, holding several consulships during the first and second centuries.

Gaius Curtius Justus was a Roman senator who held several posts in the emperor's service during the Antonine dynasty. He was suffect consul in 150 with Gaius Julius Julianus as his colleague. Justus is known primarily through surviving inscriptions, although he could be identical with the Curtius Justus mentioned as a scriptor rei rusticae by Gargilius Martialis (2.1.4,7).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnswark Hill</span> Battle fought between the defending Caledonian Selgovae tribe and Roman legions

Burnswark Hill, to the east of the A74(M) between Ecclefechan and Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, is a prominent flat-topped hill, composed of basalt deposited some 300 million years ago as a local flow of lava. On this hill have been found an Iron Age hillfort enclosing some 7 hectares, Iron Age round houses within the fort, an earlier Bronze Age burial cairn, enclosures dated to the medieval period, a possible Civil War battery, and an Ordnance Survey triangulation station. Immediately adjacent to the base of the hill are two Roman camps, north and south of the fort, and a possible Roman fortlet within the South Camp.

Publius Julius Geminius Marcianus was a Roman senator and general. He participated in the Roman–Parthian War of 161–166. Marcianus was appointed suffect consul in either 165 or 166.

Publius Pactumeius Clemens was a Roman senator and jurisconsult active during the first century AD. He was suffect consul for the nundinium April-June 138 as the colleague of Marcus Vindius Verus; according to Ronald Syme, Clemens is the earliest known consul to hold the fasces in absentia. Although he is known mostly through inscriptions, his life provides examples of how patronage operated during contemporary Rome.

Gaius Arrius Antoninus was a Roman senator and jurist active in the last half of the second century AD, who held a number of offices in the emperor's service. The date when he was suffect consul is not attested, but has been estimated to be around AD 173. Edward Champlin includes him, along with Gaius Aufidius Victorinus and Tiberius Claudius Julianus, as "marked out as a special intimate of Fronto's." Champlin notes that while Victorinus received five of the surviving letters of the rhetor Fronto, "as the beloved pupil and son-in-law", Antoninus received four, taking "the place of Fronto's son."

Quintus Cornelius Quadratus was a Roman senator who held a number of offices in the emperor's service. He served as suffect consul for the nundinium July-September 147 as the colleague of Cupressenus Gallus. Quadratus is best known as the brother of the orator Marcus Cornelius Fronto. He is mentioned four times in the surviving correspondence of the orator.

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.

Marcus Gavius Maximus was an eques of ancient Rome who held several imperial positions, both civil and military, under Hadrian and Antoninus Pius.

References

Political offices
Unknown
Title last held by
Publius Mummius Sisenna 		Roman governors of Britain
Between 139 and 142		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.