Publius Valerius Patruinus (died AD 91) 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 flourished under the reign of

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

. 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 the ''

nundinium Nundinium was a Latin word derived from the word '' nundinum'', which referred to the cycle of days observed by the Romans. During the Roman Empire, ''nundinium'' came to mean the duration of a single consulship among several in a calendar year. S ...

'' of July–August 82 with

Lucius Antonius Saturninus Lucius Antonius Saturninus was a Roman senator and general during the reign of Vespasian and his sons. While governor of the province called Germania Superior, motivated by a personal grudge against Emperor Domitian, he led a rebellion known as ...

as his colleague. He is known entirely from inscriptions. His origins lie at

Ticinum Ticinum (the modern Pavia) was an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name (now the Ticino river) a little way above its confluence with the Padus ( Po). It was said by Pliny the Elder to have been ...

in Transpadane Italy.Remy
''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. 246 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 Patruinus is known only in piecemeal. The first office he is attested as holding was not a civil office, but a religious one: he was co-opted into the ''

sodales Augustales The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales (''singular'' Sodalis or Sacerdos Augustalis), or simply Augustales,Tacitus, ''Annales'' 1.54 were an order ('' sodalitas'') of Roman priests originally instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of t ...

'' between the years 70 and 79. Following his consulate, Patruinus is thought to have been governor of the imperial province of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

. While

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 ...

supports this interpretation of the evidence, and dates his tenure from the year 83 to 85, Bernard Remy argues the evidence in support of this posting is shaky. It is far more certain that Patruinus was governor to the important imperial province of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, which Eck dates from the year 86 to 89. Eck also dates to his governorship his son-in-law

Lucius Domitius Apollinaris Lucius Domitius Apollinaris was a Roman senator of the late first century. He is best known for his literary activities, as an acquaintance of Pliny the Younger and a patron of the poet Martial. He was appointed suffect consul in the '' nundini ...

' command of

Legio VI Ferrata Legio VI Ferrata ("Sixth Ironclad Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. In 30 BC it became part of the emperor Augustus's standing army. It continued in existence into the 4th century. A ''Legio VI'' fought in the Roman Republican ci ...

. Remy reports Patruinus died in 91. While we can know the name of his daughter, Valeria Vetilla, we can only speculate the name of Patruinus' wife was Vettia. Apparently he had no son, for there is evidence that his grandson assumed his name, as if he were

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

to continue the lineage.Olli Salomies, ''Adoptive and polyonymous nomenclature in the Roman Empire'', (Helsinski: Societas Scientiarum Fenica, 1992), pp. 47f

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius Patruinus, Publius 1st-century Romans 1st-century Roman governors of Syria Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Syria Patruinus 91 deaths Year of birth unknown