Lucius Neratius Priscus was a

Roman Senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

and leading jurist, serving for a time as the head of the

Proculeian school The Proculeian or Pegasian school was one of the two most important schools of law in ancient Rome during the 1st and 2nd centuries. Origin The Proculeians originally took their name from the prominent jurist Proculus, but later came to often be ca ...

. He was suffect consul in 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 ...

'' of May–June 97 as the colleague of Marcus Annius Verus.

Family

The origins of the gens Neratia lie in the Italian town of

Saepinum Saepinum (modern Altilia, near Sepino) was a Samnite town located c. south of the modern Campobasso in south central Italy. Saepinum was on the ancient road from Beneventum to Corfinium. History The position of the original town is on the m ...

in the heart of

Samnium Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The ...

; Priscus' father was the homonymous suffect consul of the year 87. He is known to have a younger brother,

Lucius Neratius Marcellus Lucius Neratius Marcellus (''fl''. 1st century – 2nd century AD) was an imperial Roman military officer and senator who held a number of posts in the Emperor's service. Marcellus was elected consul twice, first under Domitian in 95AD and ag ...

, who was adopted by their uncle

Marcus Hirrius Fronto Neratius Pansa Marcus Hirrius Fronto Neratius Pansa was a Roman senator who held several posts in the emperor's service. He was appointed suffect consul in either AD 73 or 74. Pansa is known primarily through epigraphic inscriptions. The origins of the gens Ne ...

who was suffect consul in either 73 or 74 and co-opted into the Patrician class; Marcellus became suffect consul two years before Priscus, and ordinary consul in 129. The existence of a son with the identical name and consul in either 122 or 123, inferred from the existence of the possible governor of

Pannonia Inferior Pannonia Inferior, lit. Lower Pannonia, was a province of the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sirmium. It was one of the border provinces on the Danube. It was formed in the year 103 AD by Emperor Trajan who divided the former province of Pannonia ...

, was disproved by a 1976 paper written by G. Camodeca, whose findings were embraced by

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

Career

Most of Priscus' advancement through 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 '' ...

'' has been established. His first known office was 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 ...

with

Legio XXII Primigenia Legio XXII Primigenia ("Fortune's Twenty-Second Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army dedicated to the goddess Fortuna Primigenia. Founded in AD 39 by the emperor Caligula for use in his campaigns in Germania, the XXII ''Primigenia' ...

between c. 79 to c. 80, in

Mogontiacum Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Main ...

(modern

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

). Next he held the office of quaestor (c. 83/84), and upon completion of this traditional Republican magistracy Priscus would be enrolled in the Senate. The two other magistracies followed:

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 ...

(c. 85/86) and

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 ...

(c. 88/89); usually a senator would govern either a public or imperial praetorian province before becoming a consul, but none is known for Priscus. After serving as suffect consul, Priscus was admitted to the ''

collegia 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 ...

'' of the ''

Septemviri epulonum The (Latin for "feasters"; sing. ''epulo'') arranged feasts and public banquets at festivals and games ''( ludi)''. They constituted one of the four great religious corporations (''quattuor amplissima collegia'') of ancient Roman priests. Esta ...

'', one of the four most prestigious ancient Roman priesthoods. He was also entrusted with governing, in succession, the imperial provinces of

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 ...

(98-101), then Pannonia (102-105). The '' Digest'' of

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

records that the emperor

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 ...

invoked the help of Priscus and Titius Aristo on a point of law. According to the '' Historia Augusta'', there was a rumor that Trajan considered making Priscus his heir to the empire, before finally deciding on Hadrian to succeed him. Despite being a potential rival for the throne, Priscus was one of the legal experts the emperor Hadrian relied on for advice. Sir Ronald Syme looks to have considered Priscus as being another name used by or for

Publius Cornelius Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neratius Priscus, Lucius 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Germania Inferior Roman governors of Pannonia Epulones of the Roman Empire Ancient Roman jurists Priscus, Lucius Neratius