Marcus Sedatius Severianus

Marcus Sedatius Severianus (Latin: Marcus Sedatius C. f. Severianus Iulius Acer Metillius Nepos Rufinus Ti. Rutilianus Censor;[I 1] Ancient Greek: Μ. Σηδάτιος Σεουηριανὸς;[I 2] ca. 105-161/162)[1][2] was a senator, consul, and Roman general during the 2nd-century AD, originally from Gaul. Sedatius was a provincial governor and later a provincial consul. His career led up to consul suffect in 153.[3] However brilliant, his career did not progress quickly through the cursus honorum. He had to earn his way from patrician to the more prestigious senatorial order. It is distinguished through his link with the oracle of Glycon (Alexander of Abonutichus) while it's end shows the military difficulties of the Empire during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He was governor of Cappadocia at the start of the Roman war with Parthia during which he was convinced by the untrustworthy oracle to invade Armenia in 161,[4] although Parthia had been making trouble in Armenia since the death of the emperor Antoninus Pius (died 7 March 161). Sedatius committed suicide while under siege in the Armenian city of Elegeia, on the upper Euphrates. He was replaced as governor of Cappadocia by Marcus Statius Priscus.[5]

Background

The origin of Severianus is fixed to the city of Lemonum (modern Poitiers) in the area inhabited by the Pictones, since the discovery from that city of an inscription concerning Severianus.[I 3] Thus he's also found briefly mentioned by Lucian of Samosata who remembered his Gallic origins.[4]

An inscription[I 1] mentions Sedatius Severianus is from the tribe Quirina and indicates that his ancestors had become Roman either under Claudius, or under the Flavians, and listed them also from that tribe: in fact, nearly all of the inhabitants of Gallia Comata had become Quirites during the 1st-century.[6]

Family

According to Gilbert-Charles Picard, the power of the wealthy family of Severianus (the Sedatii) seems to be from trade and commerce. The Sedatii depended on the Loire river, and were known to have had interests in Ostia.[7]

The social and political rise of the Sedatii illustrates the decline of the aristocratic Iulii who had been the leading class in Roman Gaul since the time of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The possible marriage of Severianus' father with Julia Rufina might have had something to do with the association between winemakers and land owners which would be the leading class in Gaul until the Flavians.[8]

The son of M. Sedatius Severianus was M. Sedatius M. f. Severus Julius Reginus Gallus. The name Julia Regina probably came to him from his mother, the wife of Severianus. A. Chastagnol suggests Severianus had been adopted by his father-in-law,[9] which if true meant that Sevarianus inherited the name from his mother. All that is known of his son's career is that he was the patron of the college in Ostia.

Career

Ruins of the forum from the Roman colony, Sarmizegetusa, which Severianus was the patron of.[I 1]

The first position held by Sedatius in the senate is that of Quaestor of Sicily: he might have entered the senatorial order late in the reign of Hadrian (117-138). He first appears in the 140s, he is depicted in the inscriptions from Ostia[I 4] and became tribune of the plebs which he exercised in Rome. He was then also the patron of a city, maybe of Cadurci (now Cahors) in Gaul.

He became praetor, which allowed Sedatius the command of diverse functions on the orders of the emperor. He was first officer of the legio V Macedonica which was kept stationed in Troesmis in Moesia Inferior. He is then charged as the curator of the Via Flaminia.

Later he became governor of Roman Dacia and was placed as the head of the legio XIII Gemina. Sedatius was governor of Dacia from 151-152, according to many inscriptions from Dacia.[10] While governor of Dacia, Sedatius gained the support of local officials and was himself given the office of consul suffect with Publius Septumius Aper,[I 5] grand-uncle of the future emperor Septimus Severus.[11]

Two inscriptions[I 6] from Sarmizegetusa give his full name and tells us he is the patron of Sarmizegetusa, an important Roman colony in Dacia. The monuments that portray the inscriptions were erected after his consulship. The capital of Dacia had sent a message to Rome to facilitate Severianus and show his gratitude.[I 7]

Cappadocia

The position Sediatius is most known for is being the governor of Cappadocia in the late 150s.[12] The position was important, because Cappadocia was an important borderland province, and so Sedatius was given two legions. It is possible that his promotion was due to the support of Publius Mummius Sisenna Rutilianus.[13] Sisenna is famous as a follower of Alexander of Abonuteichos thanks to the works of Lucian. In Cappadocia the actions of Severianus seem to have been less popular than in Dacia: one can see in an inscription from Zela[14] where he is honored as the benefactor (Greek: evergetes) and founder (Greek: ktistes)[15] of the city.[16] Severianus also appears from an inscription in Sebastopolis.[I 8]

War with Parthia

For more details on this topic, see Roman-Parthian War of 161-166.

In the summer of 161, the Parthian Vologases IV, invaded Armenia and expelled the Roman-placed ruler Sohaemus, and installed his own relative Pacoras as king. Being governor of Cappadocia meant Severianus would be on the front line of any conflict involving Armenia,[17] as was the case. Soon after, he was convinced by the soothsayer Alexander that he would win an easy victory against the Parthians should he invade Armenia. With only one legion (possibly IX Hispana),[18] Severianus invaded Armenia and stationed his troops in Elegeia (a settlement on the Upper Euphrates),[19] but the Parthian general Chosroes laid siege to the city. Severianus committed suicide after just three days by starving himself;[20] his forces were massacred by the Parthians soon after.[21]

Some historians believe that the defeat of Severianus at Elegeia explains the disappearance of the legions XXII Deiotariana and IX Hispana,[22] but no proof exists that could confirm this hypothesis, the fate of the two legions still being mysterious and controversial.[23]

Family tree

See also

Inscriptions

  1. 1 2 3 AE 1913, 55 (ILS, 1981)
  2. ↑ Studia Pontica III, p.244 no.271
  3. ↑ AE 1981, 640
  4. ↑ CIL XIV, 246, CIL XIV, 247, CIL XIV, 248, and CIL XIV, 250
  5. ↑ Fasti Ostienses, fragment XXIX and CIL II, 2008 ; CIL II, 5
  6. ↑ (ILS 9487) ; IDR III/2, 97 and IDR III/2, 98. See also CIL III, 1575 ; IDR III/1, 70 in From Mehadia.
  7. ↑ CIL III, 1562 (ILS, 3896).
  8. ↑ IGR III, 113

References

  1. 1 2 Picard 1981, p. 889.
  2. ↑ The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto with Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Lucius Verus, Antoninus Pius, and various friends p.21,342
  3. ↑ Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis Truly Beyond Wonders: Aelius Aristides and the Cult of Asklepios p. 63
  4. 1 2 Lucian Alexander 27
  5. ↑ Birley, Marcus Aurelius, 123, citing A.R. Birley, The Fasti of Roman Britain (1981), 123ff.
  6. ↑ Picard 1981, p. 888.
  7. ↑ Picard 1981, p. 893-915.
  8. ↑ (French) Bernard Rémy, Les carrières sénatoriales dans les provinces romaines d'Anatolie, Istanbul-Paris, 1989, p. 220.
  9. ↑ (French) A. Chastagnol, Les modes d'accès du Sénat romain au début de l'empire, published by BSNAF, 1971, pp. 282-313.
  10. ↑ Ioan Piso, Fasti Provinciae Daciae I, 1993, p. 61-65.
  11. ↑ Anthony R. Birley, Septimius Severus: The African Emperor, Routledge, 2000, p. 37.
  12. ↑ Bernard Rémy, Les carrières sénatoriales dans les provinces romaines d'Anatolie, Istanbul-Paris, 1989, pp. 219-222.
  13. ↑ (French) Marcel Le Glay, D'Abônouteichos à Sabratha, les déviations de la religion romaine au temps de Marc Aurèle, citing Attilio Mastino (dir.), L'Africa romana 6, Sassari, 1989, pp. 35-41.
  14. ↑ Henri Grégoire, Franz Cumont, Studia Pontica, III, p. 244, no. 271.
  15. ↑ The term is an honorific and should not be taken literally. Severianus is placed at the head of the founding myths by his advantages and is honored accordingly.
  16. ↑ Deniz Burcu Erciyas, Wealth, Aristocracy And Royal Propaganda Under the Hellenistic Kingdom of the Mithradatids in the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey, Brill Academic Publishers, 2005, p. 52.
  17. ↑ A.R. Birley The Fasti of Roman Britain 1981 p.121
  18. ↑ A.R. Birley Marcus Aurelius p.278
  19. ↑ The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto with Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Lucius Verus, Antoninus Pius, and various friends p.330
  20. ↑ Lucian How to Write History 21, 14, 25
  21. ↑ Timothy Venning (Editor) A Chronology of the Roman Empire p. 539
  22. ↑ M. Mor, Two Legions - The same fate ? (The disapperance of the legions IX Hispana and XXII Deiotariana), Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 62, 1986, p. 267
  23. ↑ The XXII Deiotariana is attested for the last time in Egypt in 119 : J. Schwartz, Où est passée la legio XXII Deiotariana ?, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 76, 1989, pp. 101-102.  PDF (46.1 kb) and the IX Hispana in Nijmegen in 130: P.J. Sijpesteijn, Die legio nona hispania in Nimwegen, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 111, 1996, pp. 281-282.  PDF (457 kb)

Sources

Preceded by
Sex. Caecilius Maximus and M. Pontius Sabibus		 Consul suffectus of the Roman Empire with P. Septimius Aper
153 		Succeeded by
Q. Petiedius Gallus and C. Cattius Marcellus
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