Gaius Octavius Tidius Tossianus Lucius Javolenus Priscus 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 ...

and jurist who flourished during the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as ...

. Many of his judgments are quoted in the '' Digest''. Priscus served as suffect consul for 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 ...

'' (period) September to December 86AD as the colleague of

Aulus Bucius Lappius Maximus Aulus Bucius Lappius Maximus was a Roman senator who flourished during the Flavian dynasty; Brian W. Jones considers him one of Domitian's ''amici'' or advisors. He held the consulate twice. Name and family Older authorities refer to him as Luci ...

Name

The shorter version of his name is "Lucius Javolenus Priscus", or simply "Javolenus Priscus". His full name is known from , where the second praenomen is written inside the second O of ''Tossiaano'' (sic), leading Olli Salomies to suggest in his monograph on Imperial Roman naming practices that "Lucius" was "added at some later stage, perhaps erroneously".Salomies, ''Adoptive and polyonymous nomenclature in the Roman Empire'', (Helsinski: Societas Scientiarum Fenica, 1992), p. 120 However, several inscriptions give his name as "Lucius Javolenus Priscus". Anthony Birley notes that his names "Javolenus, Tidius, and Tossianus all point to

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, and specifically

Iguvium Gubbio () is an Italy, Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History The city's ...

as the ''origo'' of Priscus."Birley, ''The Fasti'', p. 214 However Birley points to

Géza Alföldy Géza Alföldy (June 7, 1935 – November 6, 2011) was a Hungarian historian of ancient history. Life Géza Alföldy was born in Budapest. He studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Budapest from 1953 to 1958, where he in ...

's argument that he ought to be connected with the Octavii of Nedium in

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 ...

where Javolenus Priscus had been honored. "It therefore seems quite probable that he was born a C. Octavius, and that he received his other names by adoption into an Umbrian family." However, Salomies argues that if he was adopted, "from the order of the names we should surely rather conclude that he was a L. Iavolenus adopted by a C. Octavius."

Imperial career

There is no historical record of Javolenus Priscus prior to his taking command of

Legio IV Flavia Felix Legio IV Flavia Felix ("Lucky Flavian Fourth Legion"), was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 70 by the emperor Vespasian (r. 69–79) from the cadre of the disbanded Legio IV ''Macedonica''. The legion was active in Moesia Supe ...

, stationed near

Burnum Burnum (; or Burnum Municipium), an archaeological site, was a Roman Legion camp and town. It is located 2.5 km north of Kistanje, in inland Dalmatia, Croatia. The remains include a praetorium, the foundations of several rooms, the amphithea ...

, in modern Croatia; it may be he was adlected into the Senate ''inter praetorios''. He was next appointed ''

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

Legio III Augusta ("Third Augustan Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Its origin may have been the Republican 3rd Legion which served the general Pompey during his civil war against Gaius Julius Caesar (49–45 BC). It supported the general Octavia ...

in 83, serving as the ''de facto'' governor of

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

. Birley believes it was in 84 when Javolenus Priscus came to

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...

and served as a '' juridicus'' (senior judge) and remained there for two years. He returned to Rome where he held his consulship; becoming a consul was considered the highest honor of the Roman state. 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 ...

attests that on 26 October 90 Priscus was governor of

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesontio' ...

. He was governor of the province of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

at the beginning of

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 ...

's reign. For the term 101/102 he was proconsul of

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 ...

, which occupied the territory of modern Tunisia. Returning once again to Rome, Priscus was co-opted into 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 '' ...

, the most important of the four major

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

s of ancient Roman priests; their duties included overseeing the state cult and providing advice on sacral law.

Career as a jurist

Birley notes that Javolenus Priscus' "principal claim to fame was as a jurist." Of the many citations of his legal opinions, one concerns the will of Seius Saturninus, ''archigubernus ex classe Britannica'', a case which must have come before him while he was ''juridicus'' in Britain. He was the leader of the

Sabinian school The Sabinian school was one of the two important schools of Law in Rome during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. The Sabinians took their name from Masurius Sabinus but later were known as ''Cassians'' after Sabinus' student, Cassius Longinus. Sabini ...

, and was the teacher of the jurist

Salvius Julianus Lucius Octavius Cornelius Publius Salvius Iulianus Aemilianus (c. 110 – c. 170), generally referred to as Salvius Julianus, or Julian the Jurist, or simply Julianus, was a well known and respected jurist, public official, and politician who ser ...

. He is best known for his saying that "every definition in civil law is dangerous, for rare are those that cannot be subverted." (''Omnis definitio in iure civili periculosa est; parum est enim, ut non subverti posset.'''' Digest'' 50.17.202.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Javolenus Priscus, Lucius 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans 1st-century Roman governors of Syria Ancient Romans in Britain Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Syria Roman governors of Africa Ancient Roman jurists Octavii 60s births 120s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain