Titus Flavius Norbanus 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 ...

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 ...

who was active during the reign of

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

. He is known for his activities while holding two imperial posts: governor of

Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...

, and

Praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...

. Norbanus' identity has posed a problem. Until recently he was mentioned only three times in the primary sources: as "Norbanus Lappius" in the ''

Epitome de Caesaribus The ''Epitome de Caesaribus'' is a 5th-century Latin historical work based on the '' Liber de Caesaribus'' (also known as ''Historiae abbreviatae'') by Aurelius Victor. It is a brief account of the reigns of the Roman emperors from Augustus ...

''; and twice as simply "Norbanus", once in a poem addressed to him by

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...

,Martial, ''

Epigrams An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia. ...

'', ix.84 the second time by

Dio Cassius Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

in his history.Dio Cassius
67.15
/ref> A name ("Lappius Maximus") in a letter quoted by

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...

in one of his letters, was thought to apply to him. Thus he had been surmised to be Lucius Appius Maximus Norbanus, a composite identity with Aulus Bucius Lappius Maximus. Then 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 ...

from Bulgaria was published in the late 1950s showing "Lappius" was likely a different person from Norbanus. That they were two different people was definitely proven by another military diploma published by

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 ...

and Andreas Pangerl in 2007, giving both his

praenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...

and

gentilicium The (; or simply ) was a hereditary name borne by the peoples of Roman Italy and later by the citizens of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It was originally the name of one's (family or clan) by patrilineal descent. However, as Rome expan ...

: "Titus Flavius".Eck and Pangerl, "T. Flavius Norbanus, praefectus praetorio Domitians, als Statthalter Rätiens in einem neuen Militärdiplom", ''

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 ...

'', 163 (2007), pp. 239–251 It was now clear that the author or a copyist of ''de Caesaribus'' had muddled the two men into one. In addition, Eck and Pangerl drew attention to one implication of Norbanus' complete name: these two elements imply that Norbanus was a relation to emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

and his sons, for we find "Titus Flavius" is a common element in the names of many of their relatives.

Governor of Raetia

At least as early as 13 May AD 86, Norbanus was

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * Procurator (Ancient Rome), the title of var ...

of Raetia, as attested by the military diploma published in 2007. He still held this post in January 89 when

Lucius Antonius Saturninus Lucius Antonius Saturninus was a Roman senator and general during the reign of Vespasian and his sons. While governor of the province called Germania Superior, motivated by a personal grudge against Emperor Domitian, he led a rebellion known as t ...

, governor of

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesont ...

, revolted against the emperor Domitian. The reasons for Saturninus' revolt defy investigation. Both Norbanus and Aulus Bucius Lappius Maximus, governor 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 ...

quickly responded; Lappius Maximus with detachments of the legions under him, Norbanus with troops drawn from the four '' alae'' and eight '' cohortes'' stationed in Raetia. The two governors defeated Saturninus with his two legions before his allies the

Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis'') river. They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in ...

could cross the Rhine. The expert consensus is that for his loyalty at this critical moment Norbanus was rewarded with promotion to praetorian prefect, one of the three most prestigious offices an ''eques'' could aspire to.

Praetorian prefect

When Norbanus entered into the office of praetorian prefect is not precisely known. Some experts suggest that he was first

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 ...

for a brief time. No positive confirmation of this post has been found, and there is little room to insert him into the list of governors of this province: based on the work of

Guido Bastianini Guido Bastianini (born September 10, 1945 in Florence) is an Italian papyrologist and palaeographer. Bastianini completed his papyrological studies in Florence 1970. He took part in various archaeological missions in Egypt organized by the Istit ...

, there is a possible gap around the year 90 when there are no precisely dated documents attesting to either

Marcus Mettius Rufus Marcus Mettius Rufus was a Roman '' eques'' who flourished during the reign of the emperors Domitian and Trajan. He was appointed to a series of imperial offices, including ''praefectus'' or governor of Roman Egypt. Hans-Georg Pflaum first trace ...

or Titus Petronius Secundus in office, and a more substantial gap of precisely dated documents in 93 between Secundus and Marcus Junius Rufus. However, in his poem, which dates to either 94 or 95, Martial mentions that Norbanus has returned to Rome after an absence of 6 years, making it unlikely that Norbanus proceeded directly from Raetia to command of the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and ga ...

. What is definite is that Norbanus held this office with Petronius Secundus as his colleague at the moment when the emperor Domitian was assassinated, 18 September 96. According to

both Norbanus and Secundus knew about the plot to kill the emperor. Why they failed to protect Domitian is unknown. Domitian, notorious for his suspicious nature, appointed loyal men to important positions, and Norbanus had proven his loyalty. Experts speculate whether Norbanus was in on the plot, stood aside to permit it to happen—or perhaps he, too, was murdered in the aftermath. What is clear, in

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 ...

's words, is that "Norbanus slips out of historical record, and now, in October 97, a new commander, Casperius Aelianus, exploits the trouble".Syme, ''Tacitus'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958), p. 10

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flavius Norbanus 1st-century Romans Norbanus Roman governors of Raetia Praetorian prefects