Quintus Fulvius Gillo Bittius Proculus 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 who held at least one office in imperial service. He was
suffect consul for the ''
nundinium'' November-December AD 98 with
Publius Julius Lupus as his colleague. He is also known by the shorter form of his name, Quintus Bittius Proculus.
Proculus' family connections have been a matter of dispute. A number of scholars have attempted to connect him to the suffect consul of the year 76,
Marcus Fulvius Gillo. Some have suggested that he was the son of the older Gillo; others that he was
adopted by the older man. In his monograph on Roman naming practices, Olli Salomies finds either possibility unlikely, and points out the more likely possibilities are that "he could be a Bittius adopted by a Q. Fulvius; or he could be a Bittius whose mother was a sister of, or in some other way related to, M. Fulvius Gillo."
Pliny the Younger refers to him in passing as the stepfather of his second wife, which would make him the husband of
Pompeia Celerina.
[Pliny, '' Epistulae'', IX.13]
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 '' ...
'' of Proculus is known only piecemeal. The earliest office attested for him is prefect of the ''
aerarii Saturnii'' as the colleague of
Publicius Certus, which he would have held after being
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 ...
;
Mireille Corbier
Mireille Corbier (born 24 May 1943) is a French historian of Classical history. Currently Research Director emerita at Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), she has published a number of books and articles, and since 1992 has been ed ...
dated his tenure in this office to the years 96 and 97. This financial office usually directly led to its officeholder attaining the consulate, but the prosecution of
Pliny the Younger, although it failed to convict Certus, prevented him from reaching that office.
[
The other office Proculus is known to have held is ]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 are ...
; an inscription at Cyzicus
Cyzicus (; grc, Κύζικος ''Kúzikos''; ota, آیدینجق, ''Aydıncıḳ'') was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peni ...
allows his tenure to be dated to 115/116.
Proculus is attested to have been admitted to the Arval Brethren by the year 101. The inscriptions of this priesthood attest he attended their rituals in the years 105, 117, and 118. It is from the records of this priesthood that we learn he had died by 7 February 120, when Publius Malius Garbo was co-opted to fill the vacancy created by his death.[Corbier, ''L'aerarium saturni et l'aerarium militare'' p. 119]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulvius Gillo Bittius Proculus, Quintus
1st-century Romans
2nd-century Romans
Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome
Roman governors of Asia
Ancient Roman adoptees