Lucius Aemilius Juncus was a

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 ...

of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, and a philosopher. He was consul suffect in the last three months of 127 with

Sextus Julius Severus Gnaeus Minicius Faustinus Sextus Julius Severus was an accomplished Roman general of the 2nd century. He also held the office of suffect consul in the last three months of 127 with Lucius Aemilius Juncus as his colleague. Biography Julius Severus ...

as his colleague.

Life

According to John Oliver, Juncus came of an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

background.Oliver
"Philosophers and Procurators, Relatives of the Aemilius Juncus of Vita Commodi 4,11"
'' Hesperia'', 36 (1967), p. 46 There is a lead

tessera A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus. Historical tesserae The oldest known tesserae ...

found in Beirut attesting to a procurator of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

named L. Aemilius Juncus (), who has been identified with this suffect consul or the suffect consul of 179 who was exiled in 183. In either case, Juncus is likely not related to the

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

Aemilia gens The gens Aemilia, originally written Aimilia, was one of the greatest patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens was of great antiquity, and claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. Its members held the highest offices o ...

, although he may be descended from a

client Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuable ...

freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...

of a member of that family. Oliver infers that Juncus married Varia Archelais, the daughter of Tiberius Varius Caelianus, the ''diadochos'' of a philosophical school at

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

between 107 and 120, prior to his consulship, because "a consular would have presumably contracted a more splendid marriage than that with the daughter of a philosopher." Oliver wonders whether Juncus had met Varia while visiting Athens with 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 ...

in 125. A letter of Hadrian's to Coronea in 135 shows that he appointed Aemilius Juncus as special commissioner for

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

, to look into construction works in

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...

that had been facing ten years of delays. An inscription attests that, along with the emperor Hadrian, he recommended Tiberius Claudius Hermoneikos son of Pleistoxenos to receive the title of ''aristopoleiteutes'' from the city of

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

. By Varia, Juncus had at least one son, also named

Lucius Aemilius Juncus Lucius Aemilius Juncus was a senator of the Roman Empire, and a philosopher. He was consul suffect in the last three months of 127 with Sextus Julius Severus as his colleague. Life According to John Oliver, Juncus came of an equestrian backgrou ...

, suffect consul in 154 and proconsul 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 ...

in 171/172. Juncus the Elder was still alive when his son was appointed consul. There is evidence Varia and Juncus had two more children.

Writings

Oliver makes a persuasive argument that Juncus the older is the author of a philosophical tract Περὶ Γἡρῳς ("On Old Age"), from which an extended extract was preserved in

Stobaeus Joannes Stobaeus (; grc-gre, Ἰωάννης ὁ Στοβαῖος; fl. 5th-century AD), from Stobi in Macedonia, was the compiler of a valuable series of extracts from Greek authors. The work was originally divided into two volumes containin ...

.Translated by Oliver, "Philosophers and Procurators", pp. 54-56

References

External links

Paul von Rohden Paul von Rohden (12 December 1862, Barmen – 28 February 1939, Pieterlen) was a German-Swiss schoolteacher and historian known for his research in the field of prosopography. He was the son of theologian Ludwig von Rohden (1815–1889) and the bro ...

Aemilius 54
In: '' Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft''. Band I,1, Stuttgart 1893, Sp. 550. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aemilius Juncus, Lucius 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century writers Senators of the Roman Empire Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Philosophers of Roman Italy Juncus, Lucius