Lucius Marcius Celer Marcus Calpurnius Longus 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 was active during the second century AD. 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 ...

in the last ''

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 144 with Decimus Velius Fidus as his colleague.

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. Hi ...

"L. Marcius Celer M. Calpurnius Longus Prokonsul von Achaia und Suffektkonsul unter Hadrian"
''

Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik The (commonly abbreviated ZPE; "Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy") is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to papyrology and epigraphy. It has been described as "the world's leading and certainly most prolific ...

'', 86 (1991), pp. 97-106 Longus is known entirely from inscriptions. There has been a disagreement over the evidence of Calpurnius Longus' life since

Edmund Groag Edmund Groag (2 February 1873, in Prerau – 19 August 1945, in Vienna) was an Austrian classical scholar, who specialized in Roman history. From 1892 he studied history and philology at the University of Vienna, receiving his doctorate in 18 ...

first set forth the facts of his existence in the last book he wrote, a

prosopography Prosopography is an investigation of the common characteristics of a group of people, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable. Research subjects are analysed by means of a collective study of their lives, in multiple career-line a ...

of the proconsuls of

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...

. The most recent investigation of his life was by Giuseppe Camodeca, who established a time line of his life up to his suffect consulship, which he dated to 148. Unfortunately, Camodeca was unaware that Werner Eck had published a

military diploma A Roman military diploma was a document inscribed in bronze certifying that the holder was honourably discharged from the Roman armed forces and/or had received the grant of Roman citizenship from the emperor as reward for service. The diploma ...

that securely dated Calpurnius Longus' tenure as suffect consul to 144. Accordingly, all dates taken from Camodeca's article for Calpurnius Longus' life below are adjusted four years earlier. The earliest office attested for Calpurnius Longus was ''quattuorviri viarum curandarum'', or one of the four overseers of street maintenance in Rome, one of the magistracies that comprised the ''

vigintiviri The ''vigintisexviri'' ( ''vigintisexvir''; ) were a college ( ''collegium'') of minor magistrates (''magistratus minores'') in the Roman Republic. The college consisted of six boards: * the '' decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' – 10 magis ...

''; membership in one of these four boards was a preliminary and required first step toward a gaining entry into the Roman Senate. This is dated as between the years 117 and 120. He is next attested as

military tribune A military tribune () was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribunes as a stepping stone to the Senate. The should not be confused with the ...

Legio I Italica Legio I Italica ("First Italian Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded by emperor Nero on September 22, 66 (the date is attested by an inscription). Labeled ''Phalanx Alexandri Magni'' and originally destined to the east, it ...

, which was stationed at the time in

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

; this is dated between the years 121 and 125. We can conclude Calpurnius Longus was appointed

quaestor A quaestor ( , ; ; "investigator") was a public official in ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officia ...

, for completion of this traditional Republican magistracy was the usual manner men were enrolled in the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

.Richard Talbert, ''The Senate of Imperial Rome'' (Princeton: University Press, 1984), p. 16 Although we can safely surmise he held the next two steps of the traditional Republican magistracies -- either

plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () 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 of the Roman Senate ...

aedile Aedile ( , , 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 enforce public orde ...

, then

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 disch ...

-- where his next attested office, ''legatus proconsularis'' or assistant to the proconsul, of

Bithynia and Pontus Bithynia and Pontus (, Ancient Greek ) was the name of a province of the Roman Empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). It was formed during the late Roman Republic by the amalgamation of the former kingdoms of Bithynia (ma ...

fit in: although during the second century the duties ''legatus proconsularis'' was often assumed after a Senator was praetor, there are examples of men assuming these duties before acceding to that rank. Nonetheless, it is estimated Calpurnius Longus was ''legatus proconsularis'' around 136 and that he was

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, 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 ...

of Achaea, his last attested position before his consulate, around 140.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcius Celer Marcus Calpurnius Longus 2nd-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Celer

Longus Longus, sometimes Longos (), was the author of an ancient Greek novel or romance, '' Daphnis and Chloe''. Nothing is known of his life; it is assumed that he lived on the isle of Lesbos (setting for ''Daphnis and Chloe'') during the 2nd centu ...