Lucius Licinius Sura

Lucius Licinius Sura (* 40 AD in Hispania citerior ; † 110/113) was a Roman politician and senator .

Sura was from Hispania citerior . Under Vespasian he was Quatuorvir viarum curandarum and quaestor in the province of Achaia . Under Domitian , Sura worked as a highly educated speaker and lawyer and was one of Martial's patrons . As the emperor's candidate, he became praetor and tribune of the people . In 92 Sura became seriously ill. Recovered, he became a legate of the province of Gallia Belgica (probably 93/94). Probably in 97/98 Sura was then a legate of the province Germania inferior . (The date and the governorship are controversial. It could also have only been a legionary legate in Germania.)

Surah played an important role in the transition of rule to Trajan . Sura became a suffect consul around the year 98 and took part in the first Dacian war in 101 as comes Augusti and chief of staff, without a specific troop command . In order to end the war, the Dacer king asked Decebalus for peace. The negotiations were conducted by Sura. Since the conditions were too harsh for Decebalus, Decebalus decided to keep fighting. The following year, Sura became consul for the second time . In March of the same year he was back in Dacia. For his services there he received dona militaria and also took part in the second Dacian war as a legacy, for which he again received high honors, such as the dona militaria and the ornamenta triumphalia as well as a statue.

In the year 107 Sura became consul for the third time together with Quintus Sosius Senecio . Sura was the second man in the state after Trajan and a trusted friend of the emperor. He favored Hadrian and supported his accession to the throne. As a friend of the emperor, Surah was immensely rich. He built public buildings such as the thermal baths on the Aventine and buildings in Barcino , where he had an honorary statue. Due to an inscription, which is built in secondary, Sura was also attributed to the Arc de Berà , a triumphal arch on the Via Augusta near Tarraco . After his death, between 110 and 113, Sura received a state funeral and a second statue.

literature

Rudolf Hanslik : Licinius 17 . In: The Little Pauly . Volume 3, 1969, Col. 642f.
Werner Eck : Senators from Vespasian to Hadrian. Prosopographical examinations including the annual and Provincial fast of the governors . Beck, Munich 1970, pp. 71, 144f., 150ff., 225, ISBN 3-406-03096-3 ( Vestigia , Vol. 13).

Remarks

^ Hermann Dessau , Inscriptiones Latinae selectae 1022. The inscription is almost universally ascribed to Sura. But one can also raise objections to this. Since he was governor of Germania inferior according to L'Année épigraphique AE 1923, 33 , this legacy should actually be in ILS 1022 immediately before the governorship of the province of Belgica, since the cursus on this inscription is arranged in descending order and Germania inferior mostly was administered immediately after the consulate. Otherwise one would have to assume that the consular offices stood at the beginning of the inscription after consulates and priesthoods and that the special tasks with which Trajan entrusted the senator were set between them and the career path down from the Legature in Belgica to the Quatuorviri viarum curandarum . If ILS 1022 is actually assigned to Sura, it is most likely to be Géza Alföldy , Legionslegaten 16ff. to follow in chronology. But there is also the possibility that he was not governor of Lower Germany at all; namely in AE 1923, 33: centurio singularium peditum et commilitones singulares Lic. Surae leg. Namely, Legion legates singulares also had as a special troop. Then it would be possible that Sura is named as legionary legate in AE 1923, 33 - and the stranger was legate of the Bonn legio I Minerva .

↑ AE 1994, 01086

personal data
SURNAME	Licinius Sura, Lucius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sura, Lucius Licinius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Roman consul 102 and 107 and military
DATE OF BIRTH	40
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hispania citerior
DATE OF DEATH	between 110 and 113

[1] Hermann Dessau , Inscriptiones Latinae selectae 1022. The inscription is almost universally ascribed to Sura. But one can also raise objections to this. Since he was governor of Germania inferior according to L'Année épigraphique AE 1923, 33 , this legacy should actually be in ILS 1022 immediately before the governorship of the province of Belgica, since the cursus on this inscription is arranged in descending order and Germania inferior mostly was administered immediately after the consulate. Otherwise one would have to assume that the consular offices stood at the beginning of the inscription after consulates and priesthoods and that the special tasks with which Trajan entrusted the senator were set between them and the career path down from the Legature in Belgica to the Quatuorviri viarum curandarum . If ILS 1022 is actually assigned to Sura, it is most likely to be Géza Alföldy , Legionslegaten 16ff. to follow in chronology. But there is also the possibility that he was not governor of Lower Germany at all; namely in AE 1923, 33: centurio singularium peditum et commilitones singulares Lic. Surae leg. Namely, Legion legates singulares also had as a special troop. Then it would be possible that Sura is named as legionary legate in AE 1923, 33 - and the stranger was legate of the Bonn legio I Minerva .

[2] AE 1994, 01086