Lucius Novius Crispinus Martialis Saturninus 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 ...

of the second century. 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 either 150 or 151 AD. His life is primarily known from inscriptions. The ''

cursus honorum The , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices'; ) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The comprised a mixture of ...

'' of Crispinus can be reconstructed from an inscription in

Lambaesis Lambaesis (Lambæsis), Lambaisis or Lambaesa (''Lambèse'' in colonial French), is a Roman archaeological site in Algeria, southeast of Batna and west of Timgad, located next to the modern village of Tazoult. The former bishopric is also ...

. If we can trust the order of offices on this inscription to reflect the order they were held, his first recorded office was sevir equitum Romanorum of the annual review of the

equites The (; , though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an (). Descript ...

at Rome. Then came his membership in the ''quattuorviri viarum curandarum'', one of the four boards that comprise 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 ...

'', a preliminary and required first step toward gaining entry into the Roman Senate. He then received a commission as a

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 ...

with

Legio IX Hispana Legio IX Hispana ("9th Hispanian Legion"), also written as Legio VIIII Hispana, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that existed from the 1st century BC until at least AD 120. The legion fought in various provinces of the late ...

, then stationed in

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...

;

Anthony Birley Anthony Richard Birley (8 October 1937 – 19 December 2020) was a British ancient historian, archaeologist and academic. He was one of the leaders of excavations at of the Roman fortress at Vindolanda and also published several books on Roman ...

dates this to the mid-120s. At this point Crispinus became a

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 ...

, and was assigned to assist in the administration of the province of

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. This was followed by the traditional Republican offices of

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 ...

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 disch ...

; the last is dated around the year 135 at the latest. Once he left the office of praetor, Crispinus then served as '' juridicus'', or judge, in Asturia and Gallaecia, around the years 136 through 138, then he was commissioned as ''

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

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 ...

from c. 146 to c. 150. Crispinus was allocated

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 ...

, which he governed in 144/145, then he was given a second commission to command another legion, III Augusta, from around 146 up until his consulate, which was likely 150.Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand'', p. 247 Crispinus' career after his consulate is a blank; it is yet unknown how much longer he lived.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novius Crispinus Martialis Saturninus, Lucius 2nd-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Gallia Narbonensis Novii Roman quaestors Tribunes of the plebs Roman legates