Publius Julius Geminius Marcianus 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 lette ...

senator and general. He participated in the

Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 The Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 (also called the Parthian War of Lucius Verus) was fought between the Roman and Parthian Empires over Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. It concluded in 166 after the Romans made successful campaigns ...

. Marcianus was appointed suffect consul in either 165 or 166.

Life

Marcianus was a native of

Cirta Cirta, also known by various other names in antiquity, was the ancient Berber and Roman settlement which later became Constantine, Algeria. Cirta was the capital city of the Berber kingdom of Numidia; its strategically important port city ...

in North Africa. Debrowa considers that he "was probably the first representative of his family in the Roman senate", making him a ''

novus homo ''Novus homo'' or ''homo novus'' (Latin for 'new man'; ''novi homines'' or ''homines novi'') was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul. Whe ...

''.Dabrowa, ''Legio X Fretensis: A Prosopographical Study of its Officers (I-III c. A.D.)'' (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1993), p. 60 Professor

Edward Champlin Edward Champlin is a Professor of Classics, Cotsen Professor of Humanities, and former Master of Butler College at Princeton University. He teaches Roman history, Roman law, and Latin literature and has written several books regarding these subje ...

included him as a member of "a Cirtan community at Rome" he infers existed there, whose members included:

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 ...

, consul in either 135 or 136;

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 ...

, consul c. 170; and the rhetorician Fronto. Champlin speculates Marcianus may be the "Marcianus noster" who assisted Fronto in his prosecution of Herodes Atticus.Champlin, ''Fronto and Antonine Rome'' (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1980), pp. 14f The beginning of his senatorial career was not impressive. As a member of 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 ...

'', a preliminary and required first step toward gaining entry into the Roman Senate, Marcianus was allocated to the '' tresviri capitalis'', which was not a prestigious office. Following this he held the typical series of offices: a hitch as

military tribune A military tribune (Latin ''tribunus militum'', "tribune of the soldiers") was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone ...

Legio IV Scythica Legio was a Roman military camp south of Tel Megiddo in the Roman province of Galilee. History Following the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136CE), Legio VI Ferrata was stationed at Legio near Caparcotna. The approximate location of the camp of the Leg ...

, then another hitch as military tribune in

Legio X Fretensis Legio X ''Fretensis'' ("Tenth legion of the Strait") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was founded by the young Gaius Octavius (later to become Augustus Caesar) in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the disso ...

. He returned to Rome to serve as quaestor, then

plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power o ...

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 vari ...

, legate 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 ...

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 ...

, and legate or commander of

Legio X Gemina Legio X ''Gemina'' ("The Twins' Tenth Legion"), was a Roman legion, legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was one of the four legions used by Julius Caesar in 58 BC, for his invasion of Gaul. There are still records of the X ''Gemina'' in Vien ...

. The outbreak of the

provided Marcianus with the opportunity to show his abilities. He was commissioned as commander of a collection of

vexillatio A ''vexillatio'' (plural ''vexillationes'') was a detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force created by the Roman army of the Principate. It was named from the standard carried by legionary detachments, the ''vexillum'' (plural ...

ns from Pannonia that was sent to the Parthian front, and showed he was successful as legate of Legio X Gemina. He was promoted to govern the imperial province of

Roman Arabia Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province ( la, Provincia Arabia; ar, العربية البترائية; grc, Ἐπαρχία Πετραίας Ἀραβίας) or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empi ...

, then returned to be appointed consul. Shortly after his consulship, Marcianus was appointed proconsular governor of Macedonia. This is unusual, since Macedonia was considered a province whose administration was allocated to senators before they achieved the consulship. Dabrowa explains this oddity "because of the danger of

Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. Or ...

and Germans attacking the province was really serious." The last office Marcianus is known to have held is the proconsular governorship 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 are ...

around 182.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius Geminius Marcianus, Publius 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century Roman governors of Arabia Petraea Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Arabia Petraea Roman governors of Macedonia Roman governors of Asia Geminius Marcianus