Gaius Minicius Italus was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

'' eques'' who flourished during the reign of the emperors

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

, and

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. He was appointed to a series of imperial offices, both military and civil, culminating with ''

praefectus ''Praefectus'', often with a further qualification, was the formal title of many, fairly low to high-ranking, military or civil officials in the Roman Empire, whose authority was not embodied in their person (as it was with elected Magistrates) but ...

'' or governor of Roman Egypt.

Career

We can reconstruct his career from an inscription on a bronze statue in

Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...

erected in his honor. The occasion for this statue was "that at his request

had ruled that '' incolae'' (inhabitants of the city who were not citizens of it) should be liable to local obligations (''

munera Munera is a town and municipality in the province of Albacete, Spain; part of the autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comuni ...

'') along with the citizens." The first office listed was ''quattuorvir jure dicundo'', a municipal body of four men for the administration of justice, which allows us to conclude this home town. His equestrian career can be broken down into several parts, the first encompassing the typical ''

tres militiae The ''tres militiae'' ("three military posts") was a career progression of the Roman Imperial army for men of the equestrian order. It developed as an alternative to the ''cursus honorum'' of the senatorial order for enabling the social mobility ...

'' of an ''eques''. He was ''praefectus'' or commander of the following auxiliary units: the Cohors V Gallorum in

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...

, the Cohors I Breucorum in

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

, and the Cohors II Varcianorum in

Germania Inferior Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...

. While commanding the II Varcianorum Italus distinguished himself -- most likely campaigning against the

Bructeri The Bructeri (from Latin; Greek: Βρούκτεροι, ''Broukteroi'', or Βουσάκτεροι, ''Bousakteroi''; Old English: ''Boruhtware'') were a Germanic tribe* * in Roman imperial times, located in northwestern Germany, in present-day Nort ...

in the years 77-78 -- and was awarded ''

dona militaria As with most other military forces the Roman military adopted an extensive list of decorations for military gallantry and likewise a range of punishments for military transgressions. Decorations, awards and victory titles Crowns *Grass crown � ...

'' by the emperor Vespasian, receiving one ''corona aurea'' and one ''hasta pura''. This was followed by a commission as ''

tribunus angusticlavius A ''tribunus angusticlavius'' ("narrow-striped tribune"; plural: ''tribuni angusticlavii'') was a senior military officer in the Roman legions during the late Roman Republic and the Principate. The ''tribunus angusticlavius'' was a junior military ...

'' with

Legio VI Victrix Legio VI Victrix ("Victorious Sixth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian (who, as Augustus, later became Rome's first emperor). It was the twin legion of VI ''Ferrata'' and perhaps held vete ...

, stationed during the first century in

Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia was the ...

. Italus concluded his military career as ''praefectus'' of the

Ala I Flavia Singularium Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, S ...

, a unit comprising 1000 horsemen.

Interim governor of Asia

Italus then began his next part, advancing up the civil ranks of the equestrian order. His first appointment was as

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...

of Hellespontus, a district in the Senatorial province of

Bithynia et Pontus Bithynia and Pontus ( la, Provincia Bithynia et Pontus, Ancient Greek ) was the name of a province of the Roman Empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). It was formed during the late Roman Republic by the amalgamation o ...

. At some later point he was appointed procurator in the adjacent Senatorial province of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. While Italus held this appointment, "a mysterious individual came forward claiming to be Nero" (to use

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

's words) appeared in Asia. Even twenty years after his death, the name of the last Julio-Claudian emperor could rally supporters, and Domitian expected the governor of the province, the

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ...

Gaius Vettulenus Civica Cerealis, to handle the threat. Instead, according to Brian Jones, Civica ignored the pretender, possibly fearing "that intervention might exacerbate the situation, involve war with Parthia and prejudice the successful conclusion of the Dacian campaign." Domitian had Civica murdered and ordered Italus to replace him as governor. In reward for his loyalty, Italus was afterwards promoted to ''procurator ducenarus'' of the Lactorates, a subject people whose territory straddled the provinces of

Gallia Lugdunensis Gallia Lugdunensis (French: ''Gaule Lyonnaise'') was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum (today's Lyon) ...

and

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...

. His mission was probably to manage their production of imperial goods.

Further senior offices

Despite the death of Domitian, Italus was still favored, and this initiated the third or final part of his career. Under Trajan he was appointed ''

Praefectus annonae The ("prefect of the provisions"), also called the ("prefect of the grain supply") was a Roman official charged with the supervision of the grain supply to the city of Rome. Under the Republic, the job was usually done by an aedile. However, in ...

'', or the person in charge of the public dole of bread to the inhabitants of Rome; he is assumed to have held this post between 95 and 100. His next recorded appointment was as governor of Roman Egypt; his tenure in this office has been dated from 100 to 103. His primary concern as governor was to safeguard the harvest and delivery of grain to the populace of Rome, but surviving letters from his administration show his responsibilities extended further. One, written in Latin and dated 19 February 103, concerns 6 recruits to be added to the ranks of a cohort commanded by one Celsianus. A second, written in Greek and dated to 19 May 103, concerns the ruinous state of the records office for the Arsinoite nome, and orders the '' strategi'' of the nome to build a new one at a cost of 3,282 ''

drachmae The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: # An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, fro ...

''. The motivation for his letter may have been that the 14-year tax cycle for the province fell in that year.

Richard Duncan-Jones Richard Phare Duncan-Jones, FBA, FSA (born 14 September 1937) is a British historian of the ancient world who specialises in Roman economy and society. Early life and education Duncan-Jones is the son of philosopher Austin and playwright and ...

, ''Money and government in the Roman empire'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1994), p. 61 His life after the year 105, the year the statue was erected by order of the municipal senate, is unknown, as well as whether he married and if so had any children.

Career

Interim governor of Asia

Further senior offices

References

Further reading