Sextus Julius Sparsus 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 ...

active in the first century AD. 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 ...

for 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 ...

'' September to December AD 88 as the colleague of

Marcus Otacilius Catulus Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl� ...

. Since the recovery of a

military diploma A Roman military diploma was a document inscribed in bronze certifying that the holder was honourably discharged from the Roman armed forces and/or had received the grant of Roman citizenship from the emperor as reward for service. The diploma ...

bearing his name, Julius Sparsus has been often identified as the man to whom

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

wrote two letters on literary matters, and as the recipient of one of

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

's poems. Experts did not seriously question this identification as his ''

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

'' "Sparsus" is, as

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

wrote in an article published in the ''

Harvard Studies in Classical Philology ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' (''HSCPh'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering topics in philology and classical studies, published annually. It was established in 1890 and is published by Harvard University Press Harv ...

'', "preternaturally rare". He was only able to find it in the names of three provincials — one living in

Nemausus Deus Nemausus is often said to have been the Celtic patron god of Nemausus (Nîmes). The god does not seem to have been worshipped outside this locality. The city certainly derives its name from Nemausus, which was perhaps the sacred wood in which ...

and two in

Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern North Region, Portugal, northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now c ...

— and two Romans, a rhetor frequently cited by

Seneca the Elder Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Elder (; c. 54 BC – c. 39 AD), also known as Seneca the Rhetorician, was a Roman writer, born of a wealthy equestrian family of Corduba, Hispania. He wrote a collection of reminiscences about the Roman schools of rheto ...

, and

Gaius Lusius Sparsus Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist *Gaius Acilius *Gaius Antonius *Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius P ...

, suffect consul in 157; the existence of a third Roman with this ''cognomen'',

Gaius Pomponius Rufus Acilius Priscus Coelius Sparsus The gens Pomponia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear throughout the history of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebs in 449 BC ...

, consul in 98, was learned of after Syme wrote his paper. However, it has been pointed out that the chronology is against this identification with the consul. According to the ''

Lex Villia Annalis In Ancient Rome, the ''Lex Villia Annalis'' was a law passed in 180 BC that regulated the minimum age requirements of candidacy for different public offices within the ''cursus honorum''. The law was proposed by Lucius Villius Annalis, a Tribun ...

'', Julius Sparsus had to be no younger than 42 when he acceded to the suffect consulship in the year 88; both of Pliny's letters have been dated between the years 105 and 108, which would have made Sparsus in his sixties when the letters were written; neither letter is written in a tone suggesting they were addressed to someone older than the always correct Pliny would normally write. This has led some academics, such as R.A. Pitcher, to argue that Pliny's letters and Martial's poem are actually addressed to Sparsus' son of the same name, likely five or ten years younger than Pliny. There is evidence suggesting Julius Sparsus the consul may have been a

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 ' ...

ar governor of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Michel Christol Michel Christol (25 October 1942, Castelnau-de-Guers) is a French historian, specialist of ancient Rome, and particularly epigraphy. Biography Born in Herault, Michel Christol attended high school in Béziers then his university studies in Mon ...

has published a fragmentary inscription from

Uthina :''Uthina'' is also a spider genus (Pholcidae) Uthina or Oudna ( ar, أوذنة) was an ancient Roman- Berber city located near Tunis, Tunisia. History Uthina was a town in the province of Africa Proconsularis, now northern Tunisia. Uthina becam ...

in modern

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

of which two lines are readable. The second line clearly contains the ''cognomen'' "Sparsus". Christol first suggests this may refer to Julius Sparsus, but the other two surviving letters forces him to reject that identification; he then argues for an identification with the suffect consul of 98 mentioned above, Coelius Sparsus. While it is possible Julius Sparsus was governor of Africa — one of the pinnacles of a successful Senatorial career — it is only a slight possibility. A more likely identification with his kinsman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius Sparsus, Sextus 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Sparsus