Gaius Aufidius Victorinus 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 ...

and general of the second century. A friend of the Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

and the son-in-law of the advocate and orator

Marcus Cornelius Fronto Marcus Cornelius Fronto (c. 100late 160s AD), best known as Fronto, was a Roman grammarian, rhetorician, and advocate. Of Berber origin, he was born at Cirta (modern-day Constantine, Algeria) in Numidia. He was suffect consul for the '' nundiniu ...

, he was twice

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 thro ...

and governor of several

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

Career

Victorinus came from Pisaurum in

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

. He was a student of Fronto at the same time as Marcus Aurelius, where their friendship began. In 155 Victorinus became suffect consul, then from c. 162 to c. 166 he was governor of

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesont ...

, where he was commissioned to repulse the invading

Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis'') river. They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in ...

, which he did successfully. Two letters Fronto wrote to him while governor survive. In the first, Fronto petitions for his help in getting a position for the ''rhetorician'' Antoninus Aquila. In the second, Fronto updates Victorinus about his two sons, whom Victorinus had left with Fronto while in Germania Superior. After his tenure in Germania Superior, Victorinus became governor of Dacia (168/9), then

Hispania Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces created in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) in 27 BC. Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of ...

(probably 170/1) and

Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern North Region, Portugal, northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now ...

(171-172). Victorinus then held the Proconsulate of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

(c. 173/5) and between 177 and 179 was governor of

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 ...

. In the last year of his tenure as

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 ...

(probably from 179 to 183), Victorinus was consul a second time with

Commodus Commodus (; ; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was Roman emperor from 177 to 192, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from 180. Commodus's sole reign is commonly thought to mark the end o ...

as his colleague. At the death of Marcus Aurelius and the beginning of Commodus' tenure, Victorinus was still in high esteem, but

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 of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

suggests that Commodus, probably at the instigation of the powerful

Praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...

Sextus Tigidius Perennis, sought to kill Victorinus.

Family

Victorinus married Fronto's daughter Gratia. They had at least three sons. One died at the age of three in Germania Superior while Victorinus was governor of that province.Fronto, ''De nepote Amiss'', II; ''Ad Verum Imp.'' II.9; both translated by Haines, ''Correspondence'', vol. 2 pp. 223-234. The other two are Marcus Aufidius Fronto (consul ordinarius 199) and Gaius Aufidius Victorinus (consul ordinarius 200).

Career

Family

References

Further reading