Marcus Petronius Honoratus 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 ...

'' eques'' who held a number of military and civilian positions during the reigns of the Emperors

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 ...

and

Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius (Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatoria ...

, which included ''

praefectus annonae The ("prefect of the provisions"), also called the ("prefect of the grain supply") was a Roman official charged with the supervision of the grain supply to the city of Rome. Under the Republic, the job was usually done by an aedile. However, in ...

'' and ''praefectus'' or governor of

Roman Egypt , conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt , common_name = Egypt , subdivision = Province , nation = the Roman Empire , era = Late antiquity , capital = Alexandria , title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis , image_map = Roman E ...

Life

His career is documented in an inscription found at Rome, which was erected by ''negotiatores ole riex Baetica'', or oil merchants from

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic di ...

, which was one of the most important sources of quality oil; this group had chosen Petronius Honoratus as their patron. His career began with the ''

tres militiae The ''tres militiae'' ("three military posts") was a career progression of the Roman Imperial army for men of the equestrian order. It developed as an alternative to the ''cursus honorum'' of the senatorial order for enabling the social mobility ...

'': first as prefect or commander of Cohors I Raetorum, which was stationed at the time in Germania Inferior, followed by military tribune with

Legio I Minervia Legio I Minervia ( First Legion "Minervan", i.e., "devoted to the goddess Minerva") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 82 by emperor Domitian (r. 81–96), for his campaign against the Germanic tribe of the Chatti. ...

also stationed in Germania Inferior, and lastly as prefect of

ala Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, Seydu ...

II Thracum Augusta pia fidelis, which was stationed in

Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for "Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in what is now Algeria in the Maghreb. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell). The province had been part of the Kingd ...

. This concluded his military career. At this point Honoratus began his civilian career, probably after the beginning of the reign of Antoninus Pius. He became ''procurator monetae'', or head of the imperial mint, which received an annual income of 100,000

sesterces The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The na ...

. He advanced to ''procurator'' of the '' vicesima hereditatium'', or overseer of the collection of the 5% inheritance tax, which received an annual income of 200,000 sesterces. This was followed with the appointment as procurator of the imperial properties in the provinces of Gallia Belgica and the two German provinces. Henriette Pavis d'Escurac notes Honoratus advanced to this posting without holding any governmental procuratorships, which is unusual: she compares his career to another ''eques'',

Gaius Junius Flavianus Gaius Junius Flavianus was a Roman ''eques'' who held a number of appointments in the second century AD. He is known from a series of inscriptions. His public career is known from dedication by the ''mercatores frumentari'' and ''oleari Afrari'' to ...

, was governor of Alpes Maritimes before advancing to procurator of imperial properties in Asturia and Galicia. Here Honoratus received a series of appointments to senior equestrian positions. D'Escurac agrees with

Hans-Georg Pflaum Hans-Georg Pflaum (3 June 1902, Berlin – 26 December 1979, Linz) was a German-born French historian. Life Pflaum, who came from a Jewish family of industrialists, at first studied law in Breslau and Heidelberg, afterwards taking a position in ...

's suggestion that the rapidity of his brilliant career may be partly explained by his kinship with

Marcus Petronius Mamertinus Marcus Petronius Mamertinus, possibly known as Sextus Petronius Mamertinus, was a Roman senator originally of the Equestrian order. He served as suffect consul in 150 AD as the colleague of Marcus Cassius Apollinaris. Edward Champlin has argued ...

, who was

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 150 AD and governor of Egypt several years before Honoratus.d'Escurac, ''La préfecture de l'annone'', p. 344 Honoratus returned to Rome to serve as ''procurator a rationibus'', or head of the accounting section, and remained in Rome as ''annonae praefectus'', or overseer of the grain supply for the capital city. Then he was appointed ''praefectus'' or governor of Egypt from 147 to 148 AD; several primary sources attest to his presence there from August 29, 147 to November 11, 148 AD, and because his successor is not attested before 150, Honoratus could have remained in office through 149 AD. Guido Bastianini
a al 299^p"">"Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30^a al 299^p"
''

Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik The ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' (commonly abbreviated ZPE; "Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy") is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to papyrology and epigraphy. It has been described as "th ...

'', 17 (1975), pp. 290f His presence as ''annonae praefectus'' therefore is placed before 147. He assumed this post as the immediate successor of

Lucius Valerius Proculus Lucius Valerius Proculus was a Roman '' eques'' who held a number of military and civil appointments during the reigns of the Emperors Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. He is known primarily from inscriptions and non-literary papyrus. The career of Val ...

, who held the office from 144 to 146; d'Escurac notes Petronius Honoratus was also the immediate successor of Proculus in Egypt.

Life

References

Further reading