Aulus Platorius Nepos was a Roman senator who held a number of appointments in the imperial service, including the governorship of Britain. He was

suffect consul 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 ...

succeeding the ''consul posterior'' Publius Dasumius Rusticus as the colleague of the emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman '' municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispan ...

for March to April 119 AD. Anthony Birley notes that Nepos' career "in two important respects was an unusual one for a governor of Britain. In the first place, it is the only example recorded before the time of

Severus Alexander Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself wa ...

of a man who had begun his career in the least favored post in the vigintivirate, the ''tresviri capitales'', later receiving an emperor's backing in his candidature for a higher post.... Secondly, this is only one of three known instances (the others being those of L. Flavius Silva (''ord''. 81) and C. Bruttius Praesens (II ''ord''. 139) of such men proceeding to the consulship after a single senior praetorian appointment."Birley, ''The ''Fasti'' of Roman Britain'', (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981) p. 102

Life

It is unclear where he was born and raised, but because he was explicitly described as a friend of the emperor

before his accession, and both share the same tribe (Sergia), Birley states that it is "not improbable" that Nepos came from Southern Spain; he notes that the nomen Platorius is attested in

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic d ...

.Birley, ''Fasti'', p. 101 In the final years of the 1st century Nepos served as a military tribune with Legio XXII Primigenia at

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

under the eye of the governor of Germania Superior, who brought him to the attention of

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presid ...

, who, in turn, directly supported his candidacy for senatorial offices. Nepos likely became

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 ...

in 111, then curator of the three roads in

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscans. T ...

in 112 and 113 before becoming legate of Legio I Adiutrix during Trajan's Parthian campaigns. Upon Hadrian assuming the imperial throne, Nepos was made governor of Thracia, then

in the spring of 119. Shortly afterwards he was made

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 Germania Inferior, and while governor received Hadrian during his tour in 121. He accompanied Hadrian to Britain in 122, when he was made governor of that province, and oversaw the construction of Hadrian's Wall. He probably brought Legio VI Victrix with him from the continent to assist in the construction and perhaps to replace Legio IX Hispana which had left around 108. His tenure as governor of Roman Britain is securely dated by two military diplomas, one dated to 17 July 122, and the other to 15 September 124. Nepos sought no further office after his time in Britain. Bricks bearing his name, and dated to 134, show he owned a brickworks near Rome. At some point Nepos held the augurate. The '' Historia Augusta'' twice records how Hadrian came to dislike his old friend, which Birley attempts to explain, for the ''Historia'' is considered an unreliable source. Birley suggests that A. Platorius Nepos Calpurnianus, curator of the Tiber in 161, was his son.Birley, ''Fasti'', p. 105

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platorius Nepos, Aulus 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans Roman governors of Thracia Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Britain Roman governors of Germania Inferior Augurs of the Roman Empire Nepos