Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 10. 1969 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1969)

Szemle – Rundschau - Fitz Jenő: The Governors of Britain. X, 1969. p. 179–180.

SZEMLE — RUNDSCHAU THE GOVERNORS OF BRITAIN A. R. Birley: The Roman Governors of Britain. Epigraphische Studien, 4, 1967, 63- 102. One of the greatest obstacles in the way of prosopographical research of the past decades was the fact that the governors of one of the most important Roman provinces, Britain, were known from a summary more than forty years old only, the paper by D. Atkinson, "The Governors of Britain from Claudius to Diocletian^ (JRS, 12, 1922, 60-73). The lack of a special study was but partly supplied by the list of E. Birley, published as an appendix to The Coinage of Roman Britain by G. ASKEW (London 1951); one could not absolutely rely on a simple enumeration without documents, notes and explanation, nor did the circumstances of the publication facilitate research. This is why a work like that of the present author was eagerly expected. His treatment is doubtless equally laconical. Beside the name and the year (years) of each senator we find the definition of his origin, the inscriptions regarding his activity in Britain, the number of literary statements, his cursus reconstructed by the help of the latter, finally commentaries containing a short justification which, alluding to a selection of the divergent views propounded in the special literature only, mention the part of a career outside Britain but exceptionally. Contrary to the treatment of studies of a similar character, the enumeration of the governors is not followed by any summary or analysis as regards the regularities or rules manifested by the careers of the persons figuring in the list, or the problems of the origin and social rank of the governors in general. Thus the author's view on the partition of Britain (dated between 211 and220, possibly to 213, by A.J.GRAHAM, JRS, 56, 1966, 107 recently) may be ascertained from a comparison of the dates only: Ulpius Marcellus governed the undivided Britain between ?2U and 212 yet, C. Iulius Marcus Britannia inferior in 213 already. The laconical style and the restraint from bold suggestions and conclusions make the list doubtless a work of lasting value. However, the caution in assessing the approximate dates seems to be somewhat exaggerated. In the author's view Sex. Minicius Faustinus Cn. Iulius Severus governed Britain in the period between 127 and 133. There would be no risk, however, in restricting this time span to the years 129/130 to 133. The senator held the consul's office in 127, then he governed Moesia inferior from 127 at the earliest, but from 128 more probably. In the case of Q. Antistius Adventus Postumius Aquilinus the dating between 169 and 180 seems to be equally too much. After his consulate, held in 168 probably, he was legate of praetentura Italiae et Alpium, transferred to the government of Germania inferior afterwards. He could not come to Britain before the middle third of the 170s in any case. As it was supposed also by E. Birley (o.e., 81; Carnuntum Jahrbuch, 1957, Table 10), the triennium beginning with 175 seems to be the most likely. Further the author dated the governorship of (Caerellius? Priscus) in Britain to the time span between ?169 and 180. We accept that the consulate of this senator may be dated to 172 approximately, but in this case the years between 169 and 172 cannot be included in the period of his Britannic mission in any case. However, his consulate was followed by the government of Germania superior, so he must have been one of the successors of Q. Antistius Adventus in Britain. The suggestion made by E. Birley, from 178 ? to 181 ?, seems to be acceptable in this case as well. In our earlier papers we reconstructed the careers of some governors otherwise than the author. Sex. Calpumius Agricola. We have dated the Damasna diplorn (CIL, XVI 110), mentioning his consulate, to the 27 th September 158 (Epigraphica, 28, 1966, 56 and note 36). Instead of 159, accepted by literature, this dating is supported by the events in Dacia and also the career of Agricola's fellow-consul, Ti. Claudius Iulianus Naucellius, governor of Germania superior during 160 already (CIL, XIII, 8036 = D., 2907). We do not think that the inscription CIL, III, 7505 = D., 2311 justifies the suggestion that Agricola may have governed Dacia before M. Claudius Fronto. This inference is absolutely ruled out by Fronto's cursus honorum (CIL, VI, 1377 = D. 1098) in our judgment. We regard Agricola as the governor of Moesia inferior, between 166/167 and 168/169 approximately (Die Laufbahn der Statthalter in der römischen Provinz Moesia inferior, Weimar, 1966, 19 — 21.) The person mentioned in the Troesmis inscription (CIL, III, 7505=/)., 2311), Marci[anus], served under his command before the legio V Macedonica was ordered to Dacia. L. Ulpius Marcellus. As the author has pointed out, the identification of the governor of Pannónia inferior with that of Britain in Commodus' time is fully gratuitous, as a matter of fact. The Pannonnia inscription (CIL, III, 10285) cannot be dated exactly, so the uncertainty is increased by the other Ulpius Marcellus, governing Britain between ?211 and 212. But perhaps an identification with this second Marcellus is admissible? In both cases the greatest obstacle of such a suggestion is the well-known fact that the governors of Lower Pannónia did not reach the government of Britain by their regular advancement. The only doubtless exception is С Valerius Pudens (called by his Pannonian inscriptions the governor of one Augustus instead of two, as the author states), having ruled Germania inferior after 197 and Britain in 205. if at the end of the second century or at the beginning of the third only two persons named Ulpius Marcellus were active instead of three, the identification of L. Ulpius Marcellus with one of the governors of Britain cannot be done without doubt as yet. The identification with the legate in Commodus' time was possible by the help of a bold conjecture only; we our12* 179