Lucius Aemilius Carus (fl. 2nd century AD) 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 ...

military officer and senator who served as ''

consul suffectus 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 one of the '' nundinia'' in the first half of AD 144, with Quintus Egrilius Plarianus as his colleague. His life is known primarily through inscriptions.

Biography

The son of Lucius and a member of the Roman tribe ''Camilia'', Carus' career began with his appointment to the ''

decemviri stlitibus judicandis The ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' was a civil court of ancient origin, traditionally attributed to Servius Tullius, which originally dealt with cases concerning whether an individual was free. History Originally these decemvirs were a jury of ...

'', one of the four boards 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 ...

''; membership in one of these four boards was a preliminary and required first step toward gaining entry into the Roman Senate. This was followed by serving as a

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 ...

, firstly of the

Legio VIII Augusta Legio VIII Augusta ("Augustus' Eighth Legion") was one of the oldest legions of the Imperial Roman army. In republican service They were ordered to Cisalpine Gaul around 58 BC by Julius Caesar and marched with him throughout the entirety of t ...

, at the time stationed at ''

Argentoratum Argentoratum or Argentorate was the ancient name of the city of Strasbourg. The name was first mentioned in 12 BC, when it was a Roman military outpost established by Nero Claudius Drusus. From 90 AD the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stati ...

'' ( Strasbourg), then of the

Legio IX Hispana Legio IX Hispana ("9th Spanish Legion"), also written Legio VIIII Hispana, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that existed from the 1st century BC until at least 120 AD. The legion fought in various provinces of the late Roman ...

, sometime after AD 122. Returning to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Carus began his climb up the series of Republican magistracies: first appointed '' quaestor'' to the Emperor, 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 ...

before achieving the

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 ...

ship. Returning to the military sphere, Carus was granted the rank of ''

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 office ...

'', commanding the

Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix ("Trajan's Victorious Thirtieth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Their emblems were the gods Neptune and Jupiter and the Capricorn. ''Ulpia'' is Trajan's own '' gens'' ('' Ulpia''), while the cognomen "''V ...

. Anthony Birley notes this was unusual assignment, for Legio XXX and Legio IX were both stationed in the same province,

Germania Inferior Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...

, and men were rarely assigned command of a legion in the same army as they had held a tribunate; Birley could only list 14 men with that distinction. He returned to civilian life, serving as curator of the Via Flaminia. His next assignment was as ''

Legatus Augusti pro praetore A ''legatus Augusti pro praetore'' (literally: "envoy of the emperor – acting for the praetor") was the official title of the governor or general of some Imperial provincess of the Roman Empire during the Principate era, normally the larger ones ...

'' (or governor) of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Arabia Petraea 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 Emp ...

from AD 142 to 143. In 144, he was appointed suffect consul, and this was followed up with an appointment as imperial '' censitor'' of

Gallia Lugdunensis Gallia Lugdunensis (French: ''Gaule Lyonnaise'') was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum (today's Lyon) ...

. Finally, Carus was made ''Legatus Augusti pro praetore'', or governor, of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

. Carus was a member of the ''

Quindecimviri sacris faciundis In ancient Rome, the were the fifteen () members of a college (''collegium'') with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This ''collegium'' also oversaw ...

'', the ''

collegium A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the ''Lex Julia'' during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their rea ...

'' of Roman priests entrusted with the care of the Sibylline oracles, and the ''

sodales Flaviales The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence o ...

'', a less prominent ''collegium''.

Family

Carus' son, also named Lucius Aemilius Carus, was ''Legatus Augusti pro praetore'' of the province of '' Tres Daciae'' in AD 174/175, and suffect consul at some point between 170 and 175.Géza Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter der Antoninen'' (Bonn: Rudolf Habelt Verlag, 1977), p. 224 and note

Sources

* Campbell, Brian. ''The Roman Army, 31 BC - AD 337: A Sourcebook'', Routledge (2006) * Klebs, Elimarus. ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani, Saec. I, II, III, Pars I'' (1897)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aemilius Carus, Lucius 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century Roman governors of Arabia Petraea Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Arabia Petraea Roman governors of Cappadocia Roman governors of Dacia Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Aemilii