Gaius Curtius Justus
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Gaius Curtius Justus 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 several posts in the emperor's service during the Antonine dynasty. 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 150 with Gaius Julius Julianus as his colleague. Justus is known primarily through surviving inscriptions, although he could be identical with the Curtius Justus mentioned as a ''scriptor rei rusticae'' by
Gargilius Martialis Quintus Gargilius Martialis was a third-century Roman writer on horticulture, botany and medicine. He has been identified by some with the military commander of the same name, mentioned in a Latin inscription of 260 as having lost his life in the co ...
(2.1.4,7).Anthony R. Birley, ''The Fasti of Roman Britain'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), p. 253


Life

Based on his membership in the Pollia
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
, Justus' origin is thought to be in north Italy. 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 known from an inscription set up at
Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa was the capital and the largest city of Roman Dacia, later named ''Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa'' after the former Dacian capital, located some 40 km away. Built on the ground of a camp of t ...
in modern Romania. His career began in his teens as one of the ''quattuorviri viarum curandarum'', or overseers of the maintenance of the public roads of Rome. This was one of the four boards that comprised the ''
vigintiviri __NOTOC__The ''vigintisexviri'' ( ''vigintisexvir''; ) were a college ( ''collegium'') of minor magistrates (''magistratus minores'') in the Roman Republic. The college consisted of six boards: * the ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' – 1 ...
''; membership in the ''vigintiviri'' was a preliminary and required first step toward a gaining entry into the Roman Senate. Next Justus was elected
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 this at Rome, and upon completion of this traditional Republican magistracy he would be enrolled in the Senate. After this
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
adlected him ''inter tribunicos''. Justus completed this portion of his Senatorial career as peregrine praetor. Justus served what
Anthony Birley Anthony Richard Birley (8 October 1937 – 19 December 2020) was a British ancient historian, archaeologist and academic. He was the son of Margaret Isabel (Goodlet) and historian and archaeologist Eric Birley. Early life and education Anthony ...
considered "a rather lengthy series of appointments between the praetorship and consulship". First were a series of appointments in Rome: '' sevir equitum Romanorum'', ''praefectus frumenti dandi'', and ''curator'' of several Italians roads -- the
via Clodia The Via Clodia was an ancient high-road of Italy. Situated between the Via Cassia and the Via Aurelia, it is different from them notably in that the latter was designed primarily for military long-haul, irrespective of settlements they met, bu ...
, Annia, Cassia and Ciminia. This was followed with a commission as ''
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 XX Valeria Victrix Legio XX Valeria Victrix, in English Twentieth Victorious Valeria Legion was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The origin of the Legion's name is unclear and there are various theories, but the legion may have gained its title ''Valeria ...
during the reign of
Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius (Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatoria ...
, which at the time was stationed in
Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...
. Later in Pius' reign, Justus was
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 ' ...
of a public province, most likely
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, then governor of
Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...
.Birley, ''The Fasti'', p. 252 In a footnote, Birley cites
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 ...
as observing that none of the ten known ''praefectura frumenti dandi'' of the period AD 70-138 continued to a consular office. Dates for the last three offices can be inferred. Working backwards, since he was governor of Dacia prior to being suffect consul, and his tenure probably lasted three years, we can surmise he was governor c. 147-c. 150; this was preceded by a year as proconsul. His time with Legio XX Valeria Victrix, Birley concludes, "may thus have coincided with the campaigns of
Quintus Lollius Urbicus Quintus Lollius Urbicus was a Numidian Berber governor of Roman Britain between the years 139 and 142, during the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. He is named in the ''Historia Augusta'', although it is not entirely historical, and his name ...
, but, at all events, may be assigned to the early or mid-140s." Working forwards, since his adlection was an act of Hadrian, his praetorship was, at the latest, not very long after 138, the year of Hadrian's death.
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 this magistracy around the year 135. An inscription found in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
also attests that Justus was a member of 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 ...
, a prominent Roman priesthood. Justus is known to have held one consular post, governor of
Moesia Superior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
; his tenure is attested by an incomplete
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 ...
that can be dated to either 158 or 159.Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand'', p. 234


Family

Although the name of his wife is not known, her existence can be inferred from the presence of Gaius Curtius Pollia Rufinus, ''
tribunus laticlavius In the Roman army of the late Republic and the Principate, the ("broad-striped tribune") was one of the six military tribunes in a legion. Usually, they were a young man around the age of 20 that belonged to a wealthy family. Or they were friends ...
'' of
Legio XIII Gemina , in English the 13th Twin Legion was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was one of Julius Caesar's key units in Gaul and in the civil war, and was the legion with which he crossed the Rubicon in January, perhaps the 10th, 49 BC. The legion ...
, which was stationed in Dacia during Justus' governorship.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtius Justus, Gaius 2nd-century Romans Justus, Gaius Roman governors of Dacia Roman governors of Sicily Roman governors of Upper Moesia Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome