Tiberius Claudius Julianus 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 ...

and literary figure who held several offices in the imperial service during the later second 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 ...

during 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 September-October 154 with Sextus Calpurnius Agricola as his colleague. Julianus came from a well-to-do family in Roman Asia Minor. His grandmother, Julia Quintilia Isauria, was the daughter of

Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus ( el, Τιβέριος Ἰούλιος Κέλσος Πολεμαιανός, translit=Tibérios Ioúlios Kélsos Polemaianós), commonly known as Celsus ( – before ), was an Ancient Greek military commander a ...

, consul in 92.

Literary connections

Julianus is known to have had a number of contacts or interactions with literary figures of his generation, most prominently the orator

Marcus Cornelius Fronto Marcus Cornelius Fronto (c. 100late 160s AD), best known as Fronto, was a Roman grammarian, rhetorician, and advocate. Of Berber origin, he was born at Cirta (modern-day Constantine, Algeria) in Numidia. He was suffect consul for the ''nundinium' ...

. Edward Champlin includes him, along with Gaius Aufidius Victorinus and

Gaius Arrius Antoninus Gaius Arrius Antoninus was a Roman senator and jurist active in the last half of the second century AD, who held a number of offices in the emperor's service. The date when he was suffect consul is not attested, but has been estimated to be aro ...

, as "marked out as a special intimate of Fronto's." Champlin notes that while Victorinus received five of the surviving letters of the rhetor Fronto, Julianus received four, adding that "in a fit of despair Fronto could consider Iulianus to be his only remaining friend". Three of Fronto's surviving letters to him provide information about Julianus. The first (''Ad Am.'' I.5) ostensibly is a letter of commendation on behalf of a young man named Calvisius Faustinianus for a post in Julianus' provincial army; but as Champlin notes, Fronto brushes aside all matters of Faustinianus' military skills to praise the young man's eloquence, challenging Julianus to test the man's judicial ability, and his literary taste. The next (''Ad Am.'' I.19), which Champlin notes is difficult to read, "appears to treat of a literary quarrel with that eternal disciple,

Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, or ...

".Champlin, ''Fronto'', p. 36 The third (''Ad Am.'' I.20) concerns a provincial lawsuit, where Julianus has asked for Fronto's intervention; the letter mentions one Valerianus, whom Champlin identifies with a grammaticus who was the teaching colleague of

Pertinax Publius Helvius Pertinax (; 1 August 126 – 28 March 193) was Roman emperor for the first three months of 193. He succeeded Commodus to become the first emperor during the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors. Born the son of a freed slave ...

. Champlin offers other possible connections for Julianus. The ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

'' mentions that the sophist Damophilius was patronized by one Julianus who might be Claudius Julianus, although he has been identified with

Didius Julianus Marcus Didius Julianus (; 29 January 133 or 137 – 2 June 193) was Roman emperor for nine weeks from March to June 193, during the Year of the Five Emperors. Julianus had a promising political career, governing several provinces, including Dal ...

. Another possible connection is with

Herodes Atticus Herodes Atticus ( grc-gre, Ἡρώδης; AD 101–177) was an Athenian rhetorician, as well as a Roman senator. A great philanthropic magnate, he and his wife Appia Annia Regilla, for whose murder he was potentially responsible, commissioned ...

: in his ''Lives of the Sophists'' Philostratus mentions a letter Herodes wrote to a Julianus wherein he describes his slave nicknamed "Hercules of Herodes", although this Julianus has also been identified with an Antoninus Julianus from Hispania, whom Aulus Gellius recounts got the better of his opponents in a contest at a literary banquet over the quality of Greek versus Latin poetry.

Imperial career

His ''

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 '' ...

'' is only imperfectly known. There is evidence that Julianus was ''

legatus legionis A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...

'' or commander of Legio XI Claudia, stationed at Durostorum (

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Sil ...

);

Géza Alföldy Géza Alföldy (June 7, 1935 – November 6, 2011) was a Hungarian historian of ancient history. Life Géza Alföldy was born in Budapest. He studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Budapest from 1953 to 1958, where he in ...

dates the tenure of his commission as from around the year 145 to 148. Following his consulate, Julianus is attested as governor of Germania Inferior in the year 160; Alföldy estimates the actual span of his governorship as extending from 160 to 163.Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand'', p. 227

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julianus, Tiberius Claudius 2nd-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Germania Superior