Sextus Attius Suburanus Aemilianus, commonly abbreviated as Suburanus, 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 ...

eques who helped

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 ...

consolidate his position as

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), ...

. Originally

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...

Gallia Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. In 50 BC, a ...

, Suburanus was appointed

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of the

imperial bodyguard, known as the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...

, in the year 98 and brought this important military unit under Trajan's control. For his achievement, at the end of his command of the Guard, Suburanus was adlected into the

Roman senate 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 ...

''inter

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 ...

es'', then held the suffect consulship as the colleague of the ''consul posterior'' Quintus Articuleius Paetus in AD 101.Alison E. Cooley, ''The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy'' (Cambridge: University Press, 2012), p. 467 Upon giving Suburanus the sword that the commander of the Praetorian Guard was expected to wear at all times, Trajan first unsheathed it and handing it to him uttered, "If I rule well, use this sword for me. If I rule badly, use it against me."

Career

His ''

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 '' ...

'' as an ''eques'' is partially known from an inscription set up at Baalbek in Syria (modern

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

). The earliest office Subaranus is known to have held was ''

prefectus fabrum The military engineering of Ancient Rome's armed forces was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of any of its contemporaries. Indeed, military engineering was in many ways institutionally endemic in Roman military culture, as demonstrated by ...

''. Next he was ''

us'' of the ''ala Taurina'', a cohort of auxiliary cavalry;

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 ...

mentions this unit as present at

Lugudunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settle ...

with the

Legio I Italica Legio I Italica ("First Italian Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded by emperor Nero on September 22, 66 (the date is attested by an inscription). The epithet ''Italica'' is a reference to the Italian origin of its first r ...

in early spring AD 69.

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 ...

infers from this, and that Suburanus belonged to the Roman tribe "Voltinia", that he was "one of the Narbonensian notables who came out on the side of the pretender Sulpicius Galba." Over the decades following the

Year of Four Emperors A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...

Suburanus held a number of offices in service to the Flavian emperors. He was twice ''adiutor'' to men of high rank and influence. The first was

Lucius Junius Quintus Vibius Crispus Lucius Junius Quintus Vibius Crispus (sometimes known as Quintus Vibius Crispus) was a Roman senator and ''amicus'' or companion of the Emperors, known for his wit. He was a three-time suffect consul. Family Crispus came from a family of the eq ...

, whom he assisted with the census in Hispania Tarraconensis during the latter's governorship in 74–79. The second was

Lucius Julius Ursus Lucius Julius Ursus was a relative of the Flavian dynasty, who was originally one of the equites who held several imperial appointments, but afterwards was promoted to the Roman senate. He was suffect consul three times: once under Domitian and tw ...

, who was '' praefectus annonae'' and later

Prefect of Egypt During the Roman Empire, the governor of Roman Egypt ''(praefectus Aegypti)'' was a prefect who administered the Egypt (Roman province), Roman province of Egypt with the delegated authority ''(imperium)'' of the Roman emperor, emperor. Egypt was ...

. Then Suburanus was ''prefectus ad Mercurium''. Next, he was governor of a number of minor provinces: Alpes Cottiae, Pedatius Tyrius, Gammuntius, and Lepontius. He then served as procurator in

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...

, and again in

in the year 97, when Trajan was appointed heir to Nerva. The last was a vitally important office, for this procurator handled the finances for the legions on the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

frontier, one of the largest groups of soldiers in the Roman Empire. There he proved his loyalty to Trajan; as a consequence, Trajan appointed him commander of the Praetorian Guard. His predecessor, Casperius Aelianus, had been responsible for an insurrection against the previous emperor Nerva; following emperor Nerva's death, Casperius and others involved in the mutiny were summoned before Trajan at his headquarters in

Colonia Agrippina Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium was the Roman colony in the Rhineland from which the city of Cologne, now in Germany, developed. It was usually called ''Colonia'' (colony) and was the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and t ...

under false pretenses where, in the words of

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, Trajan "put them out of the way". In the opinion of the historian John D. Grainger, the manner in which Casperius was dispatched left the rest of the men in the Praetorian Guard "surely very resentful at the execution of their officers and colleagues and at the deceitful way it had been accomplished." It was up to Suburanus to take control of these men, and rebuild their confidence in Trajan while weeding out those whom he could not trust. Meanwhile, Trajan remained on the Rhine frontier until Suburanus completed his work. Syme notes, "When

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

delivered his oration in September of the year 100, Suburanus was perhaps already a senator and designated for the consulship." Syme further notes that Suburanus was admitted to the College of Pontifices, which "advertised his rank." He enjoyed the signal honor of a second consulship, as consul ''ordinarius'' in 104 with

Marcus Asinius Marcellus Marcus Asinius Marcellus was the name of two men of the Asinii. Marcus Asinius Marcellus, the Elder Marcus Asinius Marcellus was consul in 54 as the colleague of Manius Acilius Aviola; it was the same year the Emperor Claudius died. According to ...

as his colleague. Pliny alludes to Suburanus twice in his letters, attesting that he was alive as late as the year 107.'' Epistulae'', VI.33; VII.6.10,11

Career

References

Further reading