Lucius Varius Ambibulus (full name: Quintus Planius Sardus Lucius Varius Ambibulus), was a Roman

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 2nd century AD who occupied a number of offices in the imperial service, as well as serving as

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 ...

in either 132 or 133. His '' cognomen'' "Ambibulus" was described by Ronald Syme as "peculiar and uncommon"; he could only count five examples of its use in inscriptions found at Rome, and one more in North Africa. Based on the evidence that his father's name was also L. Varius Ambibulus, his sister's name is Varia, and his freedmen were Varii, Olli Salomies argues his original name was Lucius Varius Ambibulus, and the terms of a testamentary adoption one Quintus Planius Sardus directed Ambibulus to add his name to Ambibulus' in return for a share of the latter's estate. However, Werner Eck and

Margaret Roxan Margaret Roxan (1924–2003) was a British archaeologist and expert on Roman military diplomas. Her major contribution to the discipline was three edited collections of newly-found diplomas that acquired a scholarly authority and place as the di ...

present another possibility, based on a military diploma owned by Martin Schøyen, that mentions an equestrian "Q. Planius Sardus", the commander of ala I Ulpia contrariorum milliaria. Noting the ''nomen gentile'' "is otherwise rare in the senatorial and equestrian classes", they argue that Ambibulus is related to this equestrian, adding the "Quintus Planius Sardus" element in his name from his mother's side.

Career

The career of Ambibulus up to his consulate can be reconstructed from a damaged inscription erected in Cuicul in

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

; it was erected by order of the civic government to honor him as their patron. In this inscription, all of his posts are listed in chronological order, except oddly for the first in the list, a hitch as military tribune in a legion whose name is mostly missing. In the order Ambibulus held these offices, he began his career in his teenage years as one of the '' decemviri stlitibus iudicandis'', which was one of the four boards comprising the '' vigintiviri''. The traditional Republican magistracies followed:

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

, plebeian tribune, and praetor. After stepping down as praetor, Ambibulus served as ''praefectus frumentus dandi ex senatus'', then was selected by the sortition to be proconsular governor of

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

in 124/125. This was followed by two commissions as '' legatus legionis'' or commander of legions: Legio I Italica in

Moesia 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 ...

, and Legio III Augusta in Numidia; we know from other sources he commanded a Legio III in 132.Paul Leunissen, "Direct Promotions from Proconsul to Consul under the Principate", '' Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 89 (1991), p. 220 Subsequently, Ambibulus was suffect consul; his career after his consulship is unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varius Ambibulus, Lucius 2nd-century Romans Roman governors of Macedonia Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Ambibulus, Lucius Ancient Roman adoptees