Aulus Marius Celsus 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

who held several offices in the emperor's service during the first century AD, as well as playing a role in the

Year of Four Emperors A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) are more exa ...

. He was

suffect consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

of 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. ...

'' of July to August 69 as the colleague of

Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus (born 31) was the maternal grandfather of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. Life A member of gens Arria, a family of consular rank, Antoninus was also an office holder, having been twice consul: the first time was in 69 with A ...

Life

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...

suggests that Marius Celsus was a native of Nemausus in

Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in Occitania and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first ...

(modern

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

), based on the existence of Gaius Marius Celsus, a magistrate of that city and husband of Pompeia the daughter of Toutodivix. His career began under

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

. Celsus' earliest known appointment was ''

legatus legionis A legate (Latin: , ) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman army, equivalent to a high-ranking general officer of modern times. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in comman ...

'' or commander of the

Legio XV Apollinaris Legio XV Apollinaris ("Apollo's Fifteenth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was recruited by Octavian in 41/40 BC. The emblem of this legion was probably a picture of Apollo, or of one of his holy animals. XV ''Apollinaris ...

, first in

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

, then in

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. Nero designated Celsus suffect consul for a designated ''nundinium'' in 69 before his death. After the suicide of Nero, Galba made him part of his inner circle; Celsus was present, along with Aulus Ducenius Geminus,

Urban prefect 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 ...

, when Galba announced Piso Licinianus as his choice for his heir. Then Celsus was assigned to meet with the

vexillatio A ''vexillatio'' (: ''vexillationes'') was a detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force created by the Roman army of the Principate. It was named from the standard carried by legionary detachments, the ''vexillum'' (: ''vexill ...

ns from the Illyrian legions camped in the '' Porticus Vipsania'' and convince them to accept Galba's choice of heir; the soldiers drove him away at spear-point. After Galba's death, Celsus was in great danger of being killed by the soldiers for he had visibly shown his loyalty to Galba.

Otho Otho ( ; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. A member of a noble Etruscan civilization, ...

saved him with cunning and took him into his own inner circle. Upon hearing that

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius ( ; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius became emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil wa ...

was marching on Rome with the Rhine legions, Otho picked Celsus, along with Suetonius Paullinus and Appius Annius Gallus to lead the troops in Rome against them. During the Battle of Locus Castorum, where the two armies first met, Celsus commanded the cavalry, which was the first group to encounter the enemy. Despite the Othonian victory at Locus Castorum, the decisive battle was still to come: Bedriacum. Celsus' military knowledge was esteemed enough that he was included in Otho's council prior to the battle; there he supported Suetonius' advice that the Othonian forces play for time so they could be joined by other units expected from the Illyrian provinces and the Danubean legions. However, Otho decided on engaging the opposing forces immediately. The two generals were reduced to members of Licinius Proculus's staff, "advisers in name, in fact as scapegoats for any mishaps that occurred," as Gwyn Morgan pointedly notes. This battle went against Otho. During the fighting Celsus had joined Titianus, and was with him when Titianus returned to their camp; Celsus called a meeting of the officers where he recommended surrender, and, the following morning, accompanied Annius Gallus to the Vitellian camp to negotiate that surrender. Some days later, Vitellius had caught up with his soldiers and considered what to do with the surviving generals who had sided with Otho. Suetonius and Proculus claimed they had actually supported Vitellius, and had done everything they could to sabotage Otho's military effectiveness, but received only his contempt in exchange. Otho's brother Titianus was pardoned because of his loyalty and incompetence. Only Marius came out of this well; Vitellius seems to have thought of him as an honorable man. The new emperor overlooked his earlier loyalties, and immediately took Celsus among his confidants. Celsus was allowed to keep the consulship that Otho had assigned him, although he lost one month from the promised ''nundinium'' so Vitellius could reward his supporters with suffect consulships. Under Emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

, Celsus served as governor of the important imperial provinces of

Germania Inferior ''Germania Inferior'' ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed ''Germania Secunda'' in the 4th century AD, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Cl ...

in 71–73, leading Syme to make "the rational assumption that he terminated the

Batavian Rebellion The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi (Germanic tribe), Batavi, a small but militarily powerful G ...

."Syme
"Governors dying in Syria"
''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 41 (1981), pp. 133f Whether this assumption is correct, it is clear that after his posting in Germany was concluded, Celsus was swiftly transferred to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

(73-74).Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten", pp. 291-293 It is possible that Celsus died while governor of the latter province; Marcus Ulpius Traianus is attested as governor there shortly after Celsus' arrival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marius Celsus, Aulus 1st-century Romans 1st-century Roman governors of Syria Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Germania Inferior Roman governors of Syria Marii