The Equestrian Career 157we get the first documentary use, in an inscription from Bulla Regia, not
availabletoPflaum,butreportedinFasti Archeologici13(1958):4404(witha
photograph,pl.XXVI,fig.78),andStudi Romani7(1960):331,andprinted
asAE1962, 183. It details the career of one Q. Domitius Marsianus up to
the post of procurator of the emperor’s private property (patrimonium)in
theprovinceofNarbonensisandgivesanexampleofthelettersofappoint-
ment(codicilli)of MarcusAureliusmakinghimaducenarius.Inthereignof
Commodusthenumberof lessimportantpostshadswollensufficientlyto
makeitworthwhiletouseducenariusquitecommonlyasasemi-officialterm
ondocuments,andtousecentenariusandsexagenarius(notfoundinliterary
sources with this meaning) to distinguish the lower levels.Trecenariusalso
appears,butonlytwiceintheperiodcoveredbyPflaum.Foralmostacen-
turythesetermsareincommonusetodesignategradesofpost;theirsig-
nificance is attested explicitly by Dio 53, 15, 5: ‘‘As for the procurators, the
verytitleoftheirrankisderivedfromthelevelofthepaygiventothem,’’
whichissupportedby52,25,2,fromtheMaecenasspeech;bothpassagesre-
latetoDio’sowntime.Buteveninthisperiodthesetermsstillappearinonly
oneinfourofthecareersdiscussedbyPflaum.Ninepostsareexplicitlyat-
tested,eightofthemonlyonce,assexagenariate,ten(eightornineofthem
onceonly)ascentenariate,andseventeen(sevenonceonly)asducenariate.
In the face of the total of 182 posts which on Pflaum’s reckoning (Procura-
teurs,p.105)areattestedforthisperiod,thesefigures(whicharepurelyfor
guidanceanddonottakeaccountofmanydifficulties)arenotveryimpres-
sive.Moreover,thereareconsiderablevariationsinterminology—procurator
ducenarius(a procurator holding a ducenariate post),promotus ad ducenariam
(advancedtoaducenariate[procuratorship]),ducenarius praefectus vehiculorum
(ducenariate prefect of the statewagons),adsumptus in consilium ad HS LX
(admitted to the council with a salaryof 60,000 sesterces)—which should
indicatethatthetermsdidnothaveanestablishedfunction.Inthesecond
halfofthethirdcenturyducenariusatleastcametobeanhonorifictermnot
relatedtospecificposts.
Thedocumentaryusesofsexagenariusandcentenariusgivelittleopportu-
nity of checking for coherence.The uses ofducenariusdo, however, show
thatthereweresomeposts,especiallythoseinEgypt,wherethelevelofpay
was stable. Pontus and Bithynia also is a post which remained ducenariate
from the mid-first to the early third century (Carrières, No. 325). But it is
also clear that therewere posts, like those ofpraefectus vehiculorum,a studiis
(a‘‘secretarial’’postwhosepreciseroleisuncertain),theimperialdomainat
Hadrumetum,ormemberoftheemperor’scouncil(consiliarius),whichcould
be held at two levels of pay. Others fluctuated in importance.The procu-