Pollienus AuspexThere has been enormous scholarly discussion over what offices should be assigned to this Pollienus Auspex and which to his son of the same name. This reconstruction is taken from Mennen’s ''Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284'' (2011), pp. 116-118 (fl. late 2nd century and early 3rd century AD) 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 ...

military officer and

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 was appointed

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 ...

sometime between AD 170 and 174. His ''

praenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bi ...

'' is thought to be Tiberius.

Biography

Pollienus Auspex was a member of the possibly Italian ''gens Pollieni''. Reaching the office of ''

'' sometime between AD 170 and 174, he was appointed '' Legatus Augusti pro praetore'' or governor of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

between 173 and 175. He was next made ''Iudex ex delegatione Caesarum'' (or the judicial deputy of the emperor in Rome) between 176 and 180, when

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

and

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

were on the Danube fighting the second of the

Marcomannic Wars The Marcomannic Wars (Latin: ''bellum Germanicum et Sarmaticum'', "German and Sarmatian War") were a series of wars lasting from about 166 until 180 AD. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi ...

. Auspex's next appointment was around AD 180 as '' praefectus alimentorum (viarum) Appiae et Flaminiae'' (or officer responsible for ensuring the grain supply and the upkeep of the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is ...

and the

Via Flaminia The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had ...

). It was a position he held on three separate occasions. Then sometime between 180 and 200, Auspex was the

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 ' ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Africa Proconsularis. It has also been suggested that he may have been a ''legatus Augusti pro praetore'' of

Moesia Inferior 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 ...

between 193 and 197. In 204 Auspex was a member 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 ...

''. Pollienus Auspex was a man who wielded enormous influence in the imperial court. In around AD 206 he successfully interceded before the emperor on behalf of his nephew Pollienus Sebennus who was accused of acting improperly while governor of

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celts, Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were th ...

, and even mocked the incoming emperor

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

when Severus announced his self-adoption into the imperial family of

.Mennen, p. 118;

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, ''Roman History'' 77:9:2-4 Auspex was the father of Pollienus Auspex, who was suffect consul around AD 185.

Footnotes

Sources

* Mennen, Inge, ''Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollienus Auspex, Tiberius 2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Romans Auspex Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Dalmatia Roman governors of Africa Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown