Lucius Calventius Vetus Carminius 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 flourished during the

Principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...

. He was suffect consul in AD 51, replacing

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was the name of several Roman men who lived during the early Roman Empire. They were descendants of Orfitus who was adopted by Servius Cornelius Scipio, an otherwise unknown member of the patrician bra ...

. Carminius is known entirely from inscriptions. In his monograph on Roman naming practices in the Early Empire, Olli Salomies noted that although he was better known as Lucius Calventius Vetus, his sons used the ''nomen'' Carminius as their ''

gentilicium The (or simply ) was a hereditary name borne by the peoples of Roman Italy and later by the citizens of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It was originally the name of one's (family or clan) by patrilineal descent. However, as Rome expande ...

'', and there is at least one known "Carminius" in

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...

who may owe his citizenship to this man, which "seems to imply that he was originally a Carminius (Vetus?) and that he was adopted by a L. Calventius."Olli Salomies, ''Adoptive and polyonymous nomenclature in the Roman Empire'', (Helsinski: Societas Scientiarum Fenica, 1992), p. 25

Life

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 Carminius is preserved in an acephalous inscription at Rome. His earliest office was in the ''

decemviri stlitibus judicandis The ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' was a civil court of ancient origin, traditionally attributed to Servius Tullius, which originally dealt with cases concerning whether an individual was free. History Originally these decemvirs were a jury of ...

'', one of the four boards that formed the ''

vigintiviri __NOTOC__The ''vigintisexviri'' ( ''vigintisexvir''; ) were a college ( ''collegium'') of minor magistrates (''magistratus minores'') in the Roman Republic. The college consisted of six boards: * the ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' – 1 ...

''; membership in one of these four boards was a preliminary and required first step toward gaining entry into the Roman Senate. Next was as

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 ...

, and upon completion of this traditional Republican magistracy Carminius would be enrolled in the Senate. The next magistracy he held was

plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

. Here the inscription lists the office ''curator locorum publicorum'', which is odd because it was usually held after the next Republican magistracy Carminius is known to have achieved,

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 ...

. Once Carminius had completed his duties as praetor, he was eligible to hold a number of important responsibilities. The first recorded was ''praefectus frumenti dandi'', or the prefect responsible for the distribution of Rome's free grain dole. Next he was governor of the imperial province of Lusitania; an inscription in his name found in the Roman villa of Ammaia at São Salvador da Aramenha, tells us his tenure was around the year 44. At some point he was admitted to the ''

Quindecimviri sacris faciundis In ancient Rome, the were the fifteen () members of a college (''collegium'') with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This ''collegium'' also oversaw t ...

'', one of the four most prestigious ''

collegia A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the ''Lex Julia'' during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their ...

'' or priesthoods of ancient Rome. The last office this inscription attests for Carminius, which he held after his consulship, is 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 ' ...

ar governorship 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 ...

, which appears to have been during the 60s. Carminius is known to have had two sons. One is Lucius Carminius Lusitanicus, suffect consul in 81; he was doubtlessly born during his father's tenure in Lusitania. The other is Lucius Calventius Sextus Carminius Vetus, suffect consul in 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calventius Vetus Carminius, Lucius 1st-century Romans Roman governors of Lusitania Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Asia Calventius Vetus Carminius, Lucius