Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

The Equestrian Career 155

treasury) in a province (like Quirinius in Asia, Philos.VSII, 29, omitted
byPflaum,Carrières,p.1073)orinRome(Heliodorus,VSII,32),aprocurator
(Dionysius,JOAIXL,1953,6–7)orab epistulis graecis(theofficialinchargeof
theemperor’sGreekcorrespondence)(Hadrianos,VSII,10),justasTrajan’s
doctor, Statilius Criton, became aprocurator(if a restoration in Robert,La
CarieII,p.167,no.49iscorrect).Plutarchwasmadeepitropos(i.e.,procurator)
ofAchaeainhisoldage(Euseb.Chron.ad119—Icanseenoreasontodis-
missthis)andathird-centuryPalmyrene,IuliusAureliusSeptimiusVorodes,
wasprocurator Augustiandalsoprocurator centenariusof Zenobia(Bull. Ét. Or.
Inst. Fr. DamasIX,1942–43,60–61).Pflaumtendstosee‘‘careers’’whereper-
hapstherewerenone.Hesays,forinstance,ofP.AeliusZeuxidemusAristus
Zeno(Carrières,No.205),whowashighpriest(archiereus)ofAsiaandadvo-
catus fisciinPhrygiaandtheninAsia,thathewasprobablytoooldwhenfirst
appointed to go through the normal stages of the career.That is surely to
misconceivetheman’sposition—comparetheUlpiiLycini,grandfatherand
grandson(MAMAVI,373,conflatedbyPflaum,Carrières,p.1074),whowere
bothadvocatus fisciinPhrygia.Theseexamplessuggestagainthatthe‘‘career’’
wasnotessentialtoequestrianoffice-holding.

3. Even with military posts the ‘‘career’’ is not perhaps as prevalent as
   Pflaum supposes.The possibility of holding a prefecture or tribunate as a
   sinecureisexplicitlyattestedinthelateRepublic(NeposAtt.6,4;seealso
   Cic.ad fam.7,8,1,andad Att.5,21,10),andSuet.Div. Claud.25recordsthe
   institutionofa‘‘atypeoffictitiousmilitarypost’’byClaudius(seeHirsch-
   feld,Verwaltungsbeamten, p. 422). Moreover it has long been recognized—
   thoughthefactisnot,Ithink,explicitlyacknowledgedbyPflaum—thatthe
   officeofpraefectus fabrum(prefectofengineers)intheEmpirewasnormallya
   sinecure.Onemightwellsuspectthatthesinglemilitarytribunate(withno
   legionmentioned)heldbyC.JuliusSpartiaticus(Carrières,No.24bis)was
   nominal. In that case he perhaps never left Sparta, and his procuratorship
   couldbeconsidered,likesomepostsmentionedabove,anadjunctofhislocal
   position—notethatC.IuliusLaco,probablyhisbrother(JRS51[1961]:118),
   wasalsoaprocurator.ThenC.StertiniusXenophon(Carrières,No.16)moved
   intotheimperialservice,asarchiatros(chiefdoctor),fromaprofitableprac-
   ticeinRome.Surelythetribunateandpraefectura fabrumwhichheheldwere
   nominalpostsgivenhimasClaudius’comes(companion)ontheBritishex-
   pedition?SimilarlywiththejuristCaeciliusCrescensVolusianus(Carrières,
   142)whowaspraefectus fabrumandthenadvocatus fisci Romae(i.e.,advocatus fisci
   inRome).ItisworthnotingthecaseofoneP.MessiusAugustinusMaecianus
   (sonofCarrières,No.231),‘‘ayouthofsenatorialrankwhohadfilledthree
   postsofequestrianstatus.’’Thepostsheldbyayouth(puer)willsurelyhave