Gaius Valerius Pudens 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 ...

Senator who was a

suffect consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

and held at least three imperial appointments during the late 2nd - early 3rd centuries. His career is known almost entirely from inscriptions in the four provinces he is known to have governed.

Anthony Birley Anthony Richard Birley (8 October 1937 – 19 December 2020) was a British ancient historian, archaeologist and academic. He was the son of Margaret Isabel (Goodlet) and historian and archaeologist Eric Birley. Early life and education Anthony ...

, ''The Fasti of Roman Britain'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), p. 156 Valerius Pudens was a native of Cuicul, now

Djémila Djémila ( ar, جميلة, links=, lit=Ǧamīlah, translit=Beautiful (one)), formerly Cuicul, is a small mountain village in Algeria, near the northern coast east of Algiers, where some of the best preserved Roman ruins in North Africa are foun ...

. His earliest attested post was governor of

Pannonia Inferior Pannonia Inferior, lit. Lower Pannonia, was a province of the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sirmium. It was one of the border provinces on the Danube. It was formed in the year 103 AD by Emperor Trajan who divided the former province of Pannonia ...

in April 193, then his consulship either in the later part of 193 or in 194, before becoming

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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 Agrippin ...

at some point between 197 and 200. After his tenure as governor in Lower Germany, he was appointed governor of

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...

. An inscription at Bainbridge fort records new barracks being built under his governorship, possibly in connection with recent uprisings by the

Brigantes The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geogr ...

, and attests his presence there in 205. Birley believes he was the predecessor of

Lucius Alfenus Senecio Lucius Alfenus Senecio was a Roman figure of the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. Career Born in Curculum, Africa (Roman province) ( Djemila, Algeria), Lucius Alfenus Senecio was a Numidian ( Romanised Berber). He served as ''procurator Augusti' ...

, but admits the evidence equally supports Pudens as Senecio's successor. Pudens is last heard of as proconsul of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

in 211/212. While proconsul, according to

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

, he refused to hear a case against a Christian "perceiving from the indictment that it was a case of vexatious accusation; tearing the document in pieces, he refused so much as to hear him without the presence of his accuser, as not being consistent with the imperial commands."Tertullian, ''ad Scapulam''
4.3
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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius Pudens, Gaius 2nd-century births 3rd-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 3rd-century Romans Roman governors of Britain People from Sétif Province Roman governors of Germania Inferior Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome

See also

Notes