Marcus Metilius Aquillius Regulus (his recorded full name is Marcus Metilius Aquillius Regulus Nepos Volusius Torquatus Fronto) 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 ...

of the second century AD. A member of 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 ...

order, he held the office of ''

consul ordinarius 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 157 with another patrician,

Marcus Vettulenus Civica Barbarus Marcus Vettulenus Civica Barbarus was a Roman senator of the second century AD. A member of the Patrician class, he held the office of '' consul ordinarius'' in 157 with another patrician, Marcus Metilius Aquillius Regulus, as his colleague. Barba ...

, as his colleague. The Metilii were an Italian family, likely from

Transpadana Cisalpine Gaul ( la, Gallia Cisalpina, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts (Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC it was con ...

. Regulus himself was the son of

Publius Metilius Secundus Publius Metilius Secundus was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Hadrian. He was suffect consul in one of the earlier '' nundinia'' of 123 as the colleague of Titus Prifernius Geminus. He is known entirely from inscriptions. B ...

, suffect consul in 123. Olli Salomies, in his study of the naming practices of the first centuries of the Roman Empire, notes that it "seems plausible enough" to infer his mother was a member of the gens Aquillia, and suggests that his praenomen was inherited from that side of the family. His career began in his teens with the ''

Vigintiviri __NOTOC__The ''vigintisexviri'' ( ''vigintisexvir''; ) were a college ( ''collegium'') of minor magistrates (''magistratus minores'') in the Roman Republic. The college consisted of six boards: * the ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' – 1 ...

'', as one of the ''

tresviri monetalis The ''triumvir monetalis'' ( ''tresviri'' or ''triumviri monetales'', also called the , abbreviated IIIVIR A. A. A. F. F.) was a moneyer during the Roman Republic and the Empire, who oversaw the minting of coins. In that role, he would be respons ...

'';Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand'', p. 328 assignment to this board was usually allocated to patricians or favored individuals. This was followed at 25 by a posting as

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 ...

, then at 30 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 ...

. By the age of 32 or 33 Regulus was appointed consul, the usual age for patricians.For the age requirements of each step of a Senator's career under the Empire see John Morris
"Leges Annales under the Principate"
''Listy filologické / Folia philologica'', 87 (1964), pp. 316-337; more recently restated in Richard Talbot, ''The Senate of Imperial Rome'' (Princeton: University Press, 1984), pp. 16-27 Regulus is known to have held the priestly offices in the ''

sodales Flaviales The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence o ...

'', the '' Salii collini'', and in the ''

collegium A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the ''Lex Julia'' during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their reaff ...

'' of

augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metilius Aquillius Regulus, Marcus 2nd-century Romans Aquillii Augurs of the Roman Empire Imperial Roman consuls Aquillius Regulus, Marcus Roman patricians Senators of the Roman Empire