Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator 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
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and lawyer. He served as
ordinary consul for the year 118 AD as the colleague of the Emperor
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
. Salinator was a member of the circle of friends and peers around
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...
.
Salinator was a member of the Pedanii, who had their roots as Roman colonists in the town of
Barcino in
Tarraconensis. Salinator himself was the son of
Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator, suffect consul in either the year 83 or 84.
[Syme]
"The Ummidii"
'' Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', 17 (1968), p. 85
Pliny addresses three letters to Salinator (whom he calls Pedanius Fuscus), and mentions him in three more. However, the three letters Pliny wrote him are on trivial matters: one contains advice to Salinator about how to study -- although Pliny notes Salinator's "particular interest is pleading"; the other two are essays wherein Pliny describes his daily schedule. The other letters mentioning him to third parties provide us more information about Salinator. One concerns Salinator's debut speech in the Senate, where he was opposed by another young Senator also delivering his debut speech,
Ummidius Quadratus. Another, addressed to
Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus
Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus (45 – 136 AD) was an Iberian Roman politician. He was a prominent public figure in the reigns of Roman emperors Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian. He was the last private citizen to receive a third consulship; such honors ...
, congratulates Servianus on the betrothal of his daughter to Salinator.
Ronald Syme supplies a name for her:
Julia, the daughter of Hadrian's sister
Domitia Paulina.
[
As for Salinator's senatorial career, we know few details. Pliny's third letter mentioning him is a letter for recommendation for one Nymphidius Lupus, written to the emperor ]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 ...
in the year 110. In this letter he writes that "Fuscus Salinator" has also recommended Lupus in a manner to imply that Salinator was a governor at some time before 110. Over which province he was governor is not stated in the letter, but the consensus of the experts is that it was likely Moesia Inferior
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
. He may be the subject of a mutilated inscription recovered from Durostorum; the tenure of this unknown senator has been dated by Werner Eck from the year 108 to the year 110.
After he completed his term as ordinary consul, Salinator vanishes from recorded history, which is surprising. "The consular Fasti in the early season of Hadrian's reign duly disclose several of his allies," Syme writes. As Hadrian's colleague in his first consulate as emperor, Pedianus Fuscus Salinator would occupy a very prominent position in Hadrian's list of appointees. One would expect to hear more of Salinator, yet as Syme notes, he is "only a name in the ''Fasti''".[Syme, "The Ummidii", p. 87] While his disappearance could be attributed to falling out of favor with Hadrian -- the emperor is known to have executed four men thought to have been a threat to him ( Avidius Nigrinus, Cornelius Palma, Calpurnius Piso Licinianus and Lusius Quietus) -- Syme suggests that Salinator and his wife simply succumbed to "a malady or a pestilence soon after 118."[
Salinator is known to have had a son by Julia, the daughter of Servianus, named Lucius Pedanius Fuscus Salinator. This son, along with his grandfather Servianus, were accused of being involved in a plot against Hadrian; as a result both men were forced to commit suicide shortly before Hadrian's death.]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 ...
, ''Marcus Aurelius: A Biography'', revised edition (London: Routledge, 1987), pp. 41f, 232f
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedanius Fuscus Salinator (consul 118), Gnaeus
2nd-century Romans
Imperial Roman consuls
Fuscus Salinator 100