Marcus Roscius Coelius

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marcus Roscius Coelius came from the Roman family of the Roscier , served as the legionary legion in Britain during the early imperial period in the 1960s and was consul suffect in 81 AD .

Life

Marcus Roscius Coelius was the legate of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix stationed in Britain in the 1960s . For a long time he had a bad relationship with the governor Marcus Trebellius Maximus , the governor of the Roman province , who, according to the historian Tacitus, was hated by the soldiers because of his greed. This conflict intensified during the Roman civil war in the Four Emperor's Year (69 AD), when several candidates for the imperial throne fought against each other, most recently Vitellius against Vespasian , with the British legions initially recognizing Vitellius as ruler. Trebellius accused Roscius Coelius of rebellious activities; the legate, in turn, assumed that the governor's stinginess had impoverished the legionaries. The latter, like the auxiliary groups, supported the position of Roscius Coelius. After all, Trebellius was so isolated that he had to escape from his province and sought refuge in Vitellius.

After Trebellius had fled, Britain was provisionally administered by the legionary legates, including Roscius Coelius. Then Marcus Vettius Bolanus received the office of governor as Trebellius' successor from Vitellius. But Vespasian managed to assert himself in the power struggle against Vitellius and to become the new emperor. In 70 AD, Gnaeus Iulius Agricola , who later became the father-in-law of Tacitus , replaced Roscius Coelius as legate of Legio XX Valeria Victrix by order of Gaius Licinius Mucianus , who temporarily headed the government in Rome for Vespasian.

Despite his behavior, Roscius' career did not end under the new balance of power; rather, he officiated during the reign of Emperor Titus , the son and successor of Vespasian, in March and April 81 AD as a suffect consul and had Gaius Iulius Iuvenalis as an official colleague.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ This name form is offered by CIL 6, 2060 , Tacitus ( Historien 1, 60), however, the spelling Roscius Caelius .
  2. ↑ Tacitus, Historien 1, 59f. and 2, 65; Agricola 16.
  3. ↑ Tacitus, Historien 1, 60; 2.65; 2, 97.
  4. ^ Tacitus, Agricola 7.
  5. ↑ CIL 6, 2060 .
personal data
SURNAME Roscius Coelius, Marcus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Coelius, Marcus Roscius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman suffect consul 81 AD
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century
DATE OF DEATH after 81