Marcus Nummius Umbrius Primus Senecio Albinus (fl. late 2nd century to early 3rd 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 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 was appointed

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in AD 206 with

Lucius Fulvius Gavius Numisius Petronius Aemilianus Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

as his colleague.

Biography

Senecio Albinus probably originally came from the town of Beneventum in Southern Italy, where, due to his building activities in the town, he was recognized as the ''civis patronus'' (or

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

) of the town. The family also had estates in and around Brixia. It has been traditionally held that Senecio Albinus was the biological son of Nummius Albinus, a half brother of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Didius Julianus Marcus Didius Julianus (; 29 January 133 or 137 – 2 June 193) was Roman emperor for nine weeks from March to June 193, during the Year of the Five Emperors. Julianus had a promising political career, governing several provinces, including Dal ...

, who was probably condemned to death after his overthrow by

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

in 193. At some point, Senecio Albinus was adopted by Marcus Umbrius Primus, a member of the ''Umbrii Primi'' from

Compsa Compsa (modern Conza della Campania) was an ancient city of the Hirpini, near the sources of the Aufidus, on the boundary of Lucania and not far from that of Apulia, on a ridge 609 m above sea level. It was betrayed to Hannibal in 216 BC af ...

(today

Conza della Campania Conza della Campania (or Conza di Campania; formerly called Compsa, commonly known as Conza (Campanian: )) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and former Latin Catholic (arch)bishopric in the province of Avellino in the region of Campania in souther ...

), which had very close ties to Beneventum.It has also been argued that Senecio Albinus was instead the biological son of Marcus Umbrius Primus, who was later adopted by Nummius Albinus. See Mennen’s ''Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284'' (2011), pgs. 112-115 Senecio Albinus’ career under the

Severan Dynasty The Severan dynasty was a Ancient Rome, Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period (chronology), Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus (), w ...

was remarkable, given his relationship to Didius Julianus. Possibly of

Patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

status, he began his career as a ''

Triumvir Monetalis The ''triumvir monetalis'' ( ''tresviri'' or ''triumviri monetales'', also called the , abbreviated IIIVIR A. A. A. F. F.) was a moneyer during the Roman Republic and the Empire, who oversaw the minting of coins. In that role, he would be respons ...

'' before gaining some military experience as '' sevir equitum Romanorum turmae primae'' (or commander of the first cavalry unit). This was followed by his posting as ''curator'' of

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

. Then, around AD 199, he was an imperial candidate of Septimius Severus for the position of

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 ...

. Next, he was a ''

legatus proconsulis 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 ...

'' in

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 ...

before fulfilling the same role in

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 ...

around AD 202, either under his adopted father Umbrius Primus (who was the proconsular governor), or just after his father stepped down from office. Around AD 204 he presented himself as a candidate of the Emperor for the position of

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 vario ...

. Then in the year 206 Senecio Albinus was appointed '' consul prior''. In around 208 or 209, he was appointed the ''electus ab Augustis ad cognoscendum vice sacra'' (the officer presiding over judicial cases in place of the emperor), when Severus and his sons were on campaign.Mennen, pg. 112 Possibly between 209 and 212, Senecio Albinus was the ''

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 ...

'' of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia was the ...

. This was followed by his posting as imperial legate of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

, probably from 212 to 214. Finally, he may possibly have been 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 ' ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

around AD 221 or 222. From 191, Senecio Albinus had been one of the '' Salii Palatini'', and since 199 he had been a ''pontifex'', a member of the

College of Pontiffs The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see ''collegium'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other '' ...

. He had at least one son,

Marcus Nummius Senecio Albinus Marcus Nummius Senecio Albinus (fl. 3rd century AD) was a Roman Empire, Roman Senate of the Roman Empire, senator who was appointed Roman consul, consul in AD 227 with Marcus Laelius Fulvius Maximus Aemilianus. Nothing else of his career has been p ...

, who became consul in the year 227.

Footnotes

Sources

* * Mennen, Inge, ''Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284'' (2011)

References

Literature

* PIR ² N 238 {{DEFAULTSORT:Umbrius Primus Senecio Albinus, Marcus Nummius 2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Romans Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Hispania Tarraconensis Roman governors of Dalmatia Roman governors of Asia Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown