Gaius Valerius Severus 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 of the second century. He was suffect consul in the ''

nundinium Nundinium was a Latin word derived from the word '' nundinum'', which referred to the cycle of days observed by the Romans. During the Roman Empire, ''nundinium'' came to mean the duration of a single consulship among several in a calendar year. S ...

'' of September to December 124 as the colleague of

Gaius Julius Gallus Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius ...

. Severus is primarily known from inscriptions. Severus is attested as

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 ...

ar governor of two public provinces, both prior to his consulate. The first province was Achaea, for the term 117/118. The second province was

Lycia et Pamphylia Lycia et Pamphylia was the name of a province of the Roman empire, located in southern Anatolia. It was created by the emperor Vespasian (69–79), who merged Lycia and Pamphylia into a single administrative unit. In 43 AD, the emperor Claudius ...

, for a prolonged term from 120 to 122.

Speculations

Due to the lack of information about Severus, experts have attempted to identify him with the subject of less well preserved inscriptions. For example,

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

noted that an inscription from

Thubursicum Khamissa, ancient ''Thubursicum Numidarum'' or ''Thubursicum'', is an Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman and Byzantine Empire, Byzantine archeological site, in Souk Ahras Province of northeastern Algeria.

concerning ..ius Severus could detail an otherwise unknown portion of his career, which lists offices that include "Legate of Lycia-Pamphylia, consul, legate of one of the two Germanies, proconsul of Africa .... He clearly belongs to the period from Hadrian to Marcus inclusive. A priesthood, that of ''sodalis Hadrianalis'', standing in the praetorian posts of his cursus along with ''XV vir s. f.''." However, Syme admits that the first part of his name could be restored another way, such as lfius Severus, the name of two other attested men of this period. He also admits, "No need to add that there are a number of unattached Severi among the suffecti of the Antonine age." A second proposed identification is by N. Lamboglia, who restored Severus' name in a fragmentary and mutilated inscription from Albenga. This would add the office of governor of Galatia and Cappadocia to his ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...

''. However, in his discussion of Valerius Severus, Bernard Rémy demolishes the plausibility of this restoration.Rémy,
Les carrières sénatoriales dans les provinces romaines d'Anatolie au Haut-Empire (31 av. J.-C. - 284 ap. J.-C.)
' (Istanbul: Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes-Georges Dumézil, 1989), p. 298f

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius Severus, Gaius 2nd-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Achaia Roman governors of Lycia et Pamphylia

Severus Severus is the name of various historical and fictional figures, including: ;Emperors of the Roman empire *Septimius Severus (145–211), Roman emperor from 193 to 211 (rarely known as ''Severus I.'') *Severus Caracalla (188–217), Roman emperor f ...