Lucius Valerius Propinquus 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 ...

active in 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 ...

who replaced the ordinary consul

Marcus Annius Verus Marcus Annius Verus may refer to: * Marcus Annius Verus (grandfather of Marcus Aurelius) * Marcus Annius Verus (father of Marcus Aurelius) * Marcus Annius Verus, emperor as Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – ...

and was the colleague of the other ordinary consul, Gaius Eggius Ambibulus, for the remainder of the first ''

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 126. His full name was reconstructed by

Géza Alföldy Géza Alföldy (June 7, 1935 – November 6, 2011) was a Hungarian historian of ancient history. Life Géza Alföldy was born in Budapest. He studied at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Budapest from 1953 to 1958, where he i ...

from a fragmentary inscription found in

Tarraco Tarraco is the ancient name of the current city of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). It was the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula. It became the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis following the latter's creation during the Roman Empire ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and is thought to be Lucius Valerius Pomponius Granius Grattius CerealisGeminius Restitutus.

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 ...

identified his place of origin as Liria in

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 northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia, was t ...

Career

Due to the state of the Spanish inscription, only a few of the offices Propinquus held are known for certain. The earliest that can be identified is ''

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 VI Victrix Legio VI Victrix ("Victorious Sixth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian (who, as Augustus, later became Rome's first emperor). It was the twin legion of VI ''Ferrata'' and perhaps held vet ...

, around 120;

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 ...

is uncertain whether Propinquus held his commission before or after the legion's transfer to

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 ...

in 122, or whether he was the predecessor or successor of

Publius Tullius Varro Publius Tullius Varro was a Roman general and senator during the reign of Hadrian. The commander of two different legions during his career, one of his most important military roles was as commander of Legio VI Victrix during its transfer from Vet ...

, consul in 127, also known to have commanded the legion around that period. The inscription indicates he was next governor of a province, but all of the name is lost except for the initial letter "A". While

Arabia Petraea Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province or simply Arabia, was a frontier Roman province, province of the Roman Empire beginning in the 2nd century. It consisted of the former Nabataean Kingdom in the southern Levant, th ...

is a possibility, Birley believes a more likely candidate is

Gallia Aquitania Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a list of Roman provinces, province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, wher ...

(usually referred to in Roman inscriptions as simply "Aquitania").

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 ...

agrees with Birley, and dates his tenure as 123/124 to 124/125. Propinquus held no further offices until after his consulship, when he was appointed ''cura alvei Tiberius''; also following his consulate, Propinquus was co-opted into the ''

quindecimviri sacris faciundis In ancient Rome, the were the fifteen () members of a college (''collegium'') with priestly duties. They guarded the Sibylline Books, scriptures which they consulted and interpreted at the request of the Senate. This ''collegium'' also oversaw ...

'', one of the major priesthoods of ancient Rome. This was followed by Propinquus being appointed governor of the imperial province 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 ...

130/131 to 132 and 133. His career was successfully completed when the

sortition In governance, sortition is the selection of public officer, officials or jurors at random, i.e. by Lottery (probability), lottery, in order to obtain a representative sample. In ancient Athenian democracy, sortition was the traditional and pr ...

selected him

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 ...

ar governor of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, one of the most desired proconsular offices to hold; Propinquus was governor in 140/141.Syme, "Proconsuls of Asia", pp. 272f

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valerius Propinquus, Lucius Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome 2nd-century Romans Roman governors of Asia Roman governors of Gallia Aquitania Roman governors of Germania Inferior