Publius Afranius Flavianus 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 at least one office in the service of the emperor. It is believed Flavianus 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 one of the '' nundinia'' that fell in the last half of 117, based on a restoration of a

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 ...

dated 18 August; if this restoration is correct, then he was the colleague of

Lucius Cossonius Gallus Lucius Cossonius Gallus was a Roman senator, who held a number of offices in the imperial service. He was suffect consul in one of the '' nundinia'' that fell in the last half of AD 117 as the colleague of Publius Afranius Flavianus. His full n ...

. Flavianus is known only through surviving inscriptions. Flavianus was governor of the imperial province 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 ...

from 111 to 115; it is possible that he was the direct successor of

Titus Julius Maximus Manlianus Titus Julius Maximus Manlianus was a Roman senator active in the early second century who held a number of offices in the emperor's service. He was suffect consul for the ''nundinium'' July to September 112 as the colleague of Publius Stertinius ...

, believed to have been governor from the year 107 until 111. Since Flavianus governed an imperial province, one can reasonably expect that Flavianus was also a ''

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 a legion prior to 111, since both offices were usually required for senators in the emperor's service to reach the consulate -- although there are exceptions to this practice. Nevertheless, evidence is lacking whether he had commanded one or not. An inscription erected in

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...

by the contemporary

Asiarch Asiarch ( grc, Ἀσιάρχης, Asiarches, ruler of Asia) was a prominent position in the Roman province of Asia (Roman province), Asia, the nature of which is not entirely clear. The Asiarchs were probably the annual representatives of the most i ...

attests that Flavianus 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 ' ...

ar governor 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 area ...

, the pinnacle of a successful senatorial career, for the term 130/131.Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''Chiron'', 13 (1983), pp. 169, 171 n. 413 There is no record of him after his governorship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afranius Flavianus, Publius 2nd-century Romans Roman governors of Pannonia Inferior Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Asia Flavianus, Publius Afranius