Titus Calestrius Tiro Orbius Speratus 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 series of offices in the emperor's service. He was suffect consul late in the year 122 as the colleague of Gaius Trebius Maximus. He is one of three Titi Calestrii Tirones identified as living in the first half of the second century. One is the friend of

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 ...

, who was

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 ...

in the year 93; next is the subject of this article; the third is Titus Calestrius Tiro Julius Maternus, governor of Lycia et Pamphylia from 136 to 138 and the son of the second. Ronald Syme observes that the ''

gentilicium The (or simply ) was a hereditary name borne by the peoples of Roman Italy and later by the citizens of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It was originally the name of one's (family or clan) by patrilineal descent. However, as Rome expande ...

'' Calestrius is

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan ...

in origin, and rare, attested only at

Veii Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the ...

in Italy.

Life

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 Orbius Speratus can be recovered in part from a Greek inscription his son erected at Iotape (modern

Aytap Aytap (Ancient Greek: , ''Iotape'') is a historical port city that is 30 km-33 km, east of Alanya, located in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey. Along with Alanya, Aytap is situated in the district of the Antalya Province. Where Aytap is s ...

). His earliest known office was

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

which he served in Bithynia and Pontus; Bernard Rémy dates his tenure in this office as falling between 102 and 104. This was followed by his service as a '' legatus'' or assistant to 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 ' ...

ar governor of

Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the ...

. Orbius Speratus returned to Rome where he advanced through the traditional Republican magistracies of plebeian tribune and

. Once he stepped down from his praetorship, Orbius Speratus was appointed curator of the Viae Valeria, Tiburtina, and a third road whose name is lost. He was then commissioned ''

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 V Macedonica ''Legio V Macedonica'' (the Fifth Macedonian Legion) was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied in 43 BC by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus (later known as the Emperor Augustus). It was bas ...

, stationed in

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 ...

. After this, he governed two provinces. The first was the public province of

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

; Werner Eck dates his tenure to the

ar term 111/112. The second was

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

; Eck dates his tenure in this province from the year 113 to 116. Rémy observes that the wait between Orbius Speratus' last attested appointment and his advancement to the consulate is notable, and suggests that while he was favored by Trajan, he may have been a member of the party opposed to Trajan's successor Hadrian, and the delay was, at least in part, punishment for this.Rémy, ''Les carrières sénatoriales'', p. 92 Details of the life of Orbitus Speratus after his consulate are yet unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calestrius Tiro Orbius Speratus, Titus 2nd-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Achaia Roman governors of Cilicia