Lucius Volusius Maecianus (c. 110 – 175) 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 ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

, who advised the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

on legal matters, as well educating his son the future

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 ...

in the subject. Originally of the equestrian class, Maecianus held a series of imperial offices culminating with

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in 161, when Marcus Aurelius adlected him ''inter praetorios'', or with the rank of

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 ...

, into 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 ...

. Maecianus 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 an undetermined '' nundinium'' around AD 166. We can follow his career as an ''eques'' from an inscription set up in Ostia to honor Maecianus as the patron of that '' colonia''. This inscription attests that he was

of the Cohort I Aelia classica, and '' prefectus fabrum'', two steps in the '' tres militiae'' of the equestrian class. The next notable office was a sinecure from the emperor Antoninus Pius himself: ''prefectus vehiculorum'', or director of the public post. According to

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 ...

this was done so Maecianus "could remain in Rome, where he would be available to give advice on legal problems in the council -- one of those experts to whom, Marcus ureliusrelates, Pius was so ready to listen." Other positions he held in Rome include ''a studiis'', ''a libellis'' (also known as '' ab epistulis''), and ''a censibus''. At this point Maecianus was promoted to senior equestrian offices. The first was ''

Praefectus annonae The ("prefect of the provisions"), also called the ("prefect of the grain supply"), was a Roman official charged with the supervision of the grain supply to the city of Rome. Under the Republic, the job was usually done by an aedile. However, ...

'', or overseer of the grain supply for the capital city. Next was prefect of Egypt in 161, the largest province governed by an ''eques''. It was after Marcus Annaeus Syriacus succeeded him in Egypt that Maecianus was admitted into the Senate. Following his promotion to the Senate, Marcus Aurelius appointed Maecianus prefect of the '' aerarium Saturni'' so, as Birley explains, the emperor "was able to keep this eminent lawyer, his former tutor, by his side." His suffect consulate followed a few years later.

Writings

Maecianus was the author of a monograph on trusts ('' fideicommissa'') in 16 books, another on the ''Judicia publica'', and a third on the Rhodian laws relating to maritime affairs.

Fergus Millar Sir Fergus Graham Burtholme Millar, (; 5 July 1935 – 15 July 2019) was a British ancient historian and academic. He was Camden Professor of Ancient History at the University of Oxford between 1984 and 2002. He is among the most influentia ...

, ''The Emperor in the Roman World'' (Cornell: University Press, 1992), p. 103 His treatise on numerical divisions, weights and measures (''Assis distributio''), is extant, with the exception of the concluding portion. An edition by Emil Seckel and B. Klübler, was published as part of Huschke, ''Jurisprudentiae anteiustinianae reliquias'', vol. 1 (1908).

Writings

References

Further reading