Titus Flavius Postumius Titianus (fl. late 3rd and 4th century AD) 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 ...

statesman who served as senator and

consul suffectus A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

Biography

Postumius Titianus was a member of the third century ‘’gens Postumii’’, which was not descended from the Republican family of the same name. In his early career he was an imperial candidate for both the offices of quaestor and

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 ...

. Before the year 291, he was either a suffect consul or perhaps '' adlectus inter consulares''. Around 291/292, Postumius Titianus was appointed '' corrector Transpadanae cognoscens vice sacra'' and ''electus ad iudicandas sacras appellationes'' (that is, the Corrector of Cisalpine Gaul and the officer responsible for the management of imperial judicial duties and the execution of the emperor's will). During this time he built and dedicated a temple to

Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (, "Unconquered Sun"), sometimes simply known as Helios, was long considered to be the official sun god of the later Roman Empire. In recent years, however, the scholarly community has become divided on Sol between traditionalists ...

at Comum. In 292/293, he was the ''Corrector Campaniae'', and was the first official who served in this capacity. This was followed in 293/294 or 294/295 by his posting as ''consularis aquarum et Miniciae'' (or the official with

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 ...

imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from '' auctoritas'' and '' potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic a ...

responsible for maintaining the

aqueducts Aqueduct may refer to: Structures *Aqueduct (bridge), a bridge to convey water over an obstacle, such as a ravine or valley *Navigable aqueduct, or water bridge, a structure to carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railw ...

and grain importation into Rome). He employed a Titus Aelius Poemenius as his assistant, who set up an inscription to Postumius Titianus when he completed his posting. From July 295 to July 296, he was the proconsular

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 ...

Africa Proconsularis 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 ...

, replacing

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 ...

. Then in 301, he was appointed '' consul prior'' alongside Virius Nepotianus. Finally, he was appointed ''

Praefectus urbi The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, an ...

'' of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, a position he held from 12 February 305 to 19 March 306. Before 295 he had been appointed to two priestly positions, that of Augur and '' Pontifex dei Solis''. Later on in his career, Postumius Titianus was given another religious role, that of ''duodecemvir urbis Romae'' (a college created in connection with the temple of Venus and Roma dedicated by Hadrian in AD 135). He continued to serve his priestly functions into the reign of

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

. At some point, he was also the Curator of Lyons, Cales and another unspecified town. Postumius Titianus was also described as an orator. Postumius Titianus was the last person who styled himself ''Cos. II'' on achieving an ordinary consulship on the basis of a previous suffect consulship.Bagnall, Roger S., ''Consuls of the Later Roman Empire'' (1987), pg. 137

Notes

References

* Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I AD 260–395, Cambridge University Press (1971) * Mennen, Inge, ''Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284'' (2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Flavius Postumius Titianus, Titus 3rd-century Romans 4th-century Romans Flavii Postumii Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Africa Urban prefects of Rome Augurs of the Roman Empire Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown