Marcus Annius Afrinus 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 a number of offices in the emperor's service. He 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 July-August 66 with Gaius Paccius Africanus as his colleague. He is known primarily from inscriptions. Bernard Remy states that nothing is known of his origins, but notes C. Castillo suggests Afrinus may have come from

Hispania 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 ...

.Rémy,
Les carrières sénatoriales dans les provinces romaines d'Anatolie au Haut-Empire (31 av. J.-C. - 284 ap. J.-C.)
' (Istanbul: Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes-Georges Dumézil, 1989), p. 142 The ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...

'' of Afrinus is imperfectly known. His first attested office was governor of the imperial province of

Galatia Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (c ...

from around the year 49 to 54; he is surmised to have been a popular governor, for his name and portrait appear on the coinage of Claudiconium. For reasons unknown, his advancement to the consulate was much delayed; according to the ''

Lex annales Lex or LEX may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lex'', a daily featured column in the ''Financial Times'' Games * Lex, the mascot of the word-forming puzzle video game ''Bookworm'' * Lex, the protagonist of the word-forming puzzle video ga ...

'', for non-

patricians The patricians (from la, Wikt:patricius, patricius, Greek language, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Roman Rep ...

the gap between

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 ...

and consul was 12 years, while it took Afrinus at least 17 years to advance to the consulate. We know of only one office from the consular portion of his ''cursus''. Afrinus was governor of the imperial province of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

, immediately succeeding

Lucius Tampius Flavianus Lucius Tampius Flavianus was a Roman senator who was consul twice, as a suffect consul. While the date of his first consulship is not certain, the name of his colleague for that term, Publius Fabius Firmanus, is. His second consulship, with Marcus ...

in late 69, until the year 73.

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is Professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. His ...

, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''

Chiron In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs". Biography Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology ...

'', 12 (1982), pp. 284-291 His life afterwards is a blank.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Annius Afrinus, Marcus 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Galatia Roman governors of Pannonia Afrinus, Marcus Annius