Marcus Antius Crescens Calpurnianus 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 ...

, who held several offices, including acting 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 ...

in the late second century AD, and as one of the ''

quindecimviri sacris faciundis In ancient Rome, the were the fifteen () members of a college (''collegium'') with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This ''collegium'' also oversaw t ...

'' present at the

Secular Games The Saecular Games ( la, Ludi saeculares, originally ) was a Roman religious celebration involving sacrifices and theatrical performances, held in ancient Rome for three days and nights to mark the end of a and the beginning of the next. A , sup ...

of 204. An approximate chronology of his career can be established. Two inscriptions found in Ostia attest to Calpurnianus present in that city as ''pontifex Volcani'' in the years 194 and 195. A fragmentary inscription from Rome attests that after serving as

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

he officially served as '' juridicus'' in Britain when he had to replace an unnamed consular, then after his election to the ''quindecimviri sacris faciundis'' the

sortition In governance, sortition (also known as selection by lottery, selection by lot, allotment, demarchy, stochocracy, aleatoric democracy, democratic lottery, and lottocracy) is the selection of political officials as a random sample from a larger ...

awarded him the office of

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 Macedonia. Birley notes that most experts date Calpurnianus' tenure as acting governor to about 200 "on the death or sudden disappearance of

Virius Lupus Virius Lupus ( – after 205) (possibly Lucius Virius Lupus) was a Roman soldier and politician of the late 2nd and early 3rd century. Biography Virius Lupus was the first member of the ''gens Virii'' to attain high office in the Roman Em ...

." However, there is no firm basis to presume he was elected to the ''quindecimviri'' in 204, nor that the two offices of ''juridicus'' and proconsul fell close to that year; the duty of acting governor may have fallen on his shoulders when a governor of the province was killed in battle in the far north of the province. Birley lists two or three other incidents around 185 when the legions in Britain attempted to make different legionary commanders emperor. "Further evidence will be needed before this dating of Calpurnianus' acting governorship can be regarded as definite," Birley concludes Little more is known of Calpurnianus. Birley speculates that he "preferred to devote himself to his private or local concerns, for example at Ostia, which was presumably his home." Birley also notes the existence of Marcus Antius Gratillianus,

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 ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in 213, and suggests Gratillianus could be Calpurnianus' son.Birley, ''Fasti of Roman Britain'', p. 140

References

Antius Crescens Calpurnianus, Marcus Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Macedonia 3rd-century deaths 3rd-century Romans Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Antii {{AncientRome-politician-stub

See also

References