Aulus Vicirius Martialis 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 during the reign of

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. 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 ...

'' July-August 98 with Lucius Maecius Postumus as his colleague. Martialis is known only through surviving inscriptions. Ronald Syme speculated that his ''

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 ...

'' indicated an origin in either Erutria or Campania, noting a number of Vicirii attested in inscriptions from those parts of Italy. Martialis was the son of an Aulus Vicirius A.f. Proculus, attested as a military tribune of Legio IV Scythica and flamen Augusti during the reign of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

, and interred at

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. Martialis is known to have had a brother,

Aulus Vicirius Proculus Aulus Vicirius Proculus was a Roman senator active during the last half of the first century AD. He was suffect consul for the ''nundinium'' September to December 89 with Manius Laberius Maximus as his colleague. Proculus is known only through sur ...

, suffect consul in the year 89. Martialis is known to have held only one office, as

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

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

in 113/114. It had been thought at one time his brother Proculus instead had been proconsul, but R. Merkelbach has clearly shown Martialis was the governor.Merkelbach
"Ephesische Parerga (1): Der Proconsul A. Vicirius Martialis"
''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 24 (1977), p. 150

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicirius Martialis, Aulus 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Asia