Gaius Tettius Africanus Cassianus Priscus 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 held a number of appointments during the reigns of the emperor

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 ...

and his sons. Pavis d'Escurac observes that Priscus is the only known ''eques'' to hold the ranks of both ''

praefectus vigilum The ''Vigiles'' or more properly the ''Vigiles Urbani'' ("watchmen of the Rome, City") or ''Cohortes Vigilum'' ("Cohort (military unit), cohorts of the watchmen") were the firefighters and police of ancient Rome. History The ''Triumviri Nocturn ...

'' (commander of the ''

vigiles The ''Vigiles'' or more properly the ''Vigiles Urbani'' ("watchmen of the City") or ''Cohortes Vigilum'' ("cohorts of the watchmen") were the firefighters and police of ancient Rome. History The ''Triumviri Nocturni'' (meaning ''three men of th ...

'' or night watch), ''

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 ...

'' (overseer of the grain supply of Rome);Pavis d'Escurac
''La préfecture de l'annone, service administratif impérial d'Auguste à Constantin''
(Rome: Ecole française de Rome, 1976), p. 324 Priscus was also ''

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 , conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt , common_name = Egypt , subdivision = Province , nation = the Roman Empire , era = Late antiquity , capital = Alexandria , title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis , image_map = Roman E ...

. His progression through these three senior appointments is documented in an inscription in Asisium, now at the church di S. Pietro in Assisi, in which he is saluted at "most devout and munificent for the homeland and citizens". His name on this inscription is recorded as Gaius Tettius C.f. Ouf(entia) Africanus. We have little information on the dates, let alone about the facts, of his tenure as commander of the ''vigiles'' or overseer of the ''annonae''. Since his successor as ''praefectus annonae'',

Lucius Laberius Maximus Lucius Laberius Maximus was a governor of Roman Egypt in 83 CE, and prefect of the imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, during the reign of Roman Emperor Domitian, in 84 CE. Prior to achieving these positions, Laberius Maximus h ...

, is known to have held that office in the year 80, it follows Priscus held it before that year, and commanded the ''vigiles'' for a period in the 70s. In contrast, we are better informed about Priscus' term as governor of Egypt, which he held from 80 to 82. We have an inscription concerning a dedication he made for the emperor

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

, dated to no later than 28 August 81. Graffiti on one of the

Colossi of Memnon The Colossi of Memnon ( ar, el-Colossat, script=Latn, italic=yes or ''es-Salamat'') are two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which stand at the front of the ruined Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, the largest temple in the Theba ...

dated to 2 December 82, gives us the name of his wife, Funisulana Vettula.

References

{{s-end 1st-century Romans 1st-century Roman governors of Egypt Ancient Roman equites Praefecti annonae Roman governors of Egypt Praefecti vigilum