Gnaeus Pinarius Cornelius Clemens

Gnaeus Pinarius Cornelius Clemens (fl. 1st century AD) was a Roman military officer and senator who was appointed Suffect consul during the reign of Vespasian.

Biography

Possibly originating from Hispania, Clemens Pinarius was admitted into the Senate sometime during the reign of the emperor Nero (54-68). Prior to AD 74, most probably either AD 71 or 72, he was appointed consul suffectus. Following this he was appointed curator exercitus qu sacrarum locorum publicorum (or the official responsible for maintaining the religious and public buildings of Rome).

Clemens Pinarius’ next posting was as Legatus Augusti pro praetore (or imperial governor) of the province of Germania Superior, a position he held from around AD 72/73 to 74/75. Taking parts of the Legio VIII Augusta and the Legio XI Claudia, he undertook a campaign on the right bank of the Rhine in Germania Magna, for which the emperor Vespasian awarded him the ornamenta triumphalia (or insignia of a triumph). Travelling through the sparsely populated Agri Decumates in AD 74, Clemens Pinarius constructed a road from Argentoratum through to the upper Danube. This road shortened the distance between Augusta Vindelicorum and Mogontiacum by 160 km or seven days' march.

Clemens Pinarius was buried in the town of Hispellum. Gnaeus Pinarius Cornelius Severus, the suffect consul of AD 112, was probably his grandson.

Sources

• CIL XIII, 9082
• CIL XI, 5271
• CIL XII, 113
• Pinarius Cornelius Clemens,Gnaeus in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.