Quintus Fuficius Cornutus 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 first half of the second century AD, who held a number of offices in the emperor's service. 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 ...

for the ''

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. ...

'' April-June AD 147 with Aulus Claudius Charax as his colleague. Cornutus is known only from inscriptions.

Career

His ''

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 ...

'' can be reconstructed from an incomplete inscription found at Casalbordino, near

Vasto Vasto ( Abruzzese: '; , ) is a ''comune'' on the Adriatic coast of the Province of Chieti, in southern Abruzzo, Italy. During the Middle Ages it was called ''Guastaymonis'', '' Vasto d'Aimone'' or ''Waste d'Aimone''. Fascist Italy called the city ...

in Italy. The location of this monument led Géza Alföldy to surmise that Cornutus' home was at this village, or neighboring Frentanum where Cornutus was known to own estates. Restoration of the inscription assumes it recorded which of the four boards of 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 ...

'' Cornutus held, namely the ''quattuorviri viarum curandarum'', which oversaw the maintenance of the roads of the city of Rome. More certain is that he was 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 ...

, and that while holding that commission Cornutus saw combat where his achievements led to him being awarded ''

dona militaria As with most other military forces the Roman military adopted an extensive list of decorations for military gallantry and likewise a range of punishments for military transgressions. Decorations, awards and victory titles Crowns *Grass crown � ...

'', or military decorations. However, where he saw combat, and with which unit, is not known; the part of the inscription containing that information is missing. Valerie Maxfield lists two possible occasions on which this could have happened: "the '' bellum Iudaicum'' of A.D. 132-5 in which C. Popilius Carus Pedo, consul the same year as Cornutus, was decorated"; or the ''expeditio Britannica'' during the governorship of

Quintus Lollius Urbicus Quintus Lollius Urbicus was a Berber governor of Roman Britain between the years 139 and 142, during the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. He is named in the ''Historia Augusta'', although it is not entirely historical, and his name appears ...

. Maxfield, V.br>"The Dona Militaria of the Roman Army"
(Durham theses, Durham University, 1972), vol. 2 p. 23

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 rather doubtful that Cornutus participated in the Jewish War, noting that Hadrian "was notably ungenerous with ''dona'' for the Jewish war." Enough of the inscription survives to attest that Cornutus was the imperial candidate for the Republican magistracies 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 ...

; Alföldy dates the last office to no later than 138,Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand'', pp. 351-353 while Maxfield dates it to around 137. Being the candidate of the emperor was an important honor. Once he stepped down from the praetorship, Cornutus was appointed '' juridicus'' for Asturia and Callaecia. Alföldy notes he was one of three men who held this position in a narrow period: Alföldy arranges the three putting Lucius Novius Crispinus (later suffect consul around 150) first, who was replaced by Lucius Coelius Festus, and who was in turn replaced by Cornutus around the year 140; Cornutus is surmised to have remained in this appointment for three years. Cornutus received a commission 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 a legion whose name is lost, but appears to have been stationed in one of the two

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 ...

n provinces; Alföldy dates his commission from about 142 to 144, while Maxfield offers the dates of about 141 to 143. This was followed by his governorship of the imperial province of

Pannonia Inferior Pannonia Inferior, lit. Lower Pannonia, was a province of the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sirmium. It was one of the border provinces on the Danube. It was formed in the year 103 AD by Emperor Trajan who divided the former province of Pannonia ...

, which he held from the year 144 to 147. Upon returning to Rome, Cornutus acceded to the consulate. The only office Cornutus is known to have held after his consulate was governor of

Moesia Inferior 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 ...

, which he held from c. 151 to c. 153/154.Alföldy, ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand'', p. 231

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuficius Cornutus, Quintus 2nd-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Pannonia Inferior Roman governors of Lower Moesia