Quintus Pompeius Senecio Sosius Priscus (fl. 2nd century) 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 was appointed

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

during the reign of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

. Sosius Priscus is known for possessing the longest attested name of the ancient Romans. This was due to the practice of

polyonymy Over the course of some fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy employed a system of nomenclature that differed from that used by other cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, consisting of a combination of personal and fa ...

, where elements of his ancestor's name were incorporated into his own. In full, his name is: : Quintus Pompeius Senecio Roscius Murena Coelius Sextus Iulius Frontinus Silius Decianus Gaius Iulius Eurycles Herculaneus Lucius Vibullius Pius Augustanus Alpinus Bellicius Sollers Iulius Aper Ducenius Proculus Rutilianus Rufinus Silius Valens Valerius Niger Claudius Fuscus Saxa Amyntianus Sosius Priscus He received a portion of his lengthy name from his father, Quintus Pompeius Sosius Priscus, consul in AD 149, and, although the inscription that recorded his father's full name is damaged, enough of it survives to establish this: : Quintus Pompeius ..Bellicius Sollers Iulius Acer Ducenius Proculus Rutilianus Rufinus Silius Valens Valerius Niger Claudius Fuscus Saxa Amyntianus Sosius Priscus

Life

An outline of Sosius Priscus' career is preserved, along with his full name, in the inscription . It shows his career began as the ''

Praefectus ''Praefectus'', often with a further qualification, was the formal title of many, fairly low to high-ranking, military or civil officials in the Roman Empire, whose authority was not embodied in their person (as it was with elected Magistrates) but ...

feriarum Latinarum''; this was followed by a posting as ''

triumvir monetalis The ''triumvir monetalis'' ( ''tresviri'' or ''triumviri monetales'', also called the , abbreviated IIIVIR A. A. A. F. F.) was a moneyer during the Roman Republic and the Empire, who oversaw the minting of coins. In that role, he would be respons ...

''. Around the year AD 162, he stood and was elected as a candidate of the

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), ...

for the office of quaestor; being the Emperor's candidate for one of the traditional magistracies was an important distinction, reserved either for members of the Patrician order or for those close to the emperor. Upon completion of this office qualified the holder for admission into the Senate. Next he was appointed

legatus 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 ...

, serving under his father who was 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 ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

, possibly around the year AD 163/164.

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 i ...

, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand unter den Antoninen'' (Bonn: Habelt Verlag, 1977), p. 216 As a patrician, he was allowed to skip holding either the office of

aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to ...

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 o ...

. Finally, Priscus was elected to the office of

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 ...

, possibly around AD 167. In AD 169, Sosius Priscus was elected '' consul ordinarius'' with Publius Coelius Apollinaris as his colleague. He was then appointed to the proconsular posting of ''praefectus alimentorum'' (or the officer responsible for organising Rome's food supply). This was followed by his appointment as proconsular governor of Asia at an unknown date. A member of 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 '' ...

, Sosius Priscus was married to

Ceionia Fabia Ceionia Fabia (flourished 2nd century) was a noble Roman woman and a member of the ruling Nerva–Antonine dynasty of the Roman Empire. Life Fabia was the first-born daughter to Lucius Aelius and Avidia. In 136, her father was adopted by Hadria ...

. They had at least one son, Quintus Pompeius Sosius Falco, who was appointed consul in AD 193.

Sources

* PIR ² P 651

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pompeius Senecio Sosius Priscus, Quintus 2nd-century Romans Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Asia Claudii Julii Senecio Sosius Priscus, Quintus Roscii Sosii Valerii Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Moneyers of ancient Rome