Volusianus (L. Petronius Taurus Volusianus) - Career

Career

The Arretium Inscription lists Volusianus’s appointments in reverse chronological order according to the usual Roman practice. In chronological order they are:

1. LAVRENS LAVINAS – This signifies the holding of a minor priesthood. The holders had to be of equestrian status. This indicates that he had the property qualifications required for equestrian status, but was not yet admitted to the Ordo Equester - see Roman equestrian order for a fuller explanation of this distinction;
2. EX V DECVRIIS – Signifies membership of one of the panels of five judges of equestrian status available to decide issues of fact;
3. EQVO PVBLICO – Indicates that he had taken part in the annual parade of the equestrians in Rome and was, therefore, an accredited member of the Ordo and was eligible for an official appointments reserved for members of the order;
4. CENTVRIO DEPVTATVS – One of the commanders of the troops detached from the provincial armies for special service about the Emperor. These were formed into a unit known as the Peregrini. When the Emperors were in Rome the Peregrini were quartered at the Castra Peregrina Peregrina on the Caelian Hill. The centurio deputatus postings ranked high in the centurionate and were highly political. It seems surprising, therefore, that Volusianus should have been given this job as his first recorded military appointment. It was possible for equestrians to be directly commissioned into the legionary centurionate if an opening could be found in one of the provincial garrisons. However, in the case of the Peregrini a prior posting as a legionary centurion in the provinces was usually a sine qua non. Bray suggests, tentatively, that Volusianus might have had an unrecorded posting as a legionary centurion before he went to the Castra Peregrina, a proposition more confidently asserted by Pflaum. This may explain the apparent anomaly, but there is no evidence to support the notion;
5. PRIMVS PILVS Pilus LEGIONIS XXX VLPIAE – Senior ranking centurion of this legion which was normally stationed at Castra Vetera (modern Xanten) in the province of Germania Inferior. Pflaum suggests that Volusianus might have held this appointment prior to the accession of the Licinii (253 AD) during the reign of Trebonianus Gallus. Again, there is no evidence for this, but it is a plausible conjecture. Bray suggests that it was at this time that Volusianus came to the attention of Gallienus when he campaigned against the Franci in Germania Inferior in the early years of his reign;
6. PRAEPOSITVS EQVITVM SINGVLIARORVM AVGG NN - Commander of a troop of the Emperor's mounted bodyguard - i.e. the 'Imperial Horse Guard'. The Equites Singulares usually served directly under the command of the Emperor, but Pflaum suggests that Volusianus was entrusted with this command to carry out a special mission. It was certainly the case that in the mid-Third Century the term praepositus indicates a commander appointed for a specific mission or campaign. The formula Augg NN (i.e. Augusti Nostri– i.e. 'of Our August Lords)’ indicates that there were two Emperors when Volusianus held this office. It is generally assumed that the Emperors concerned were Valerian and Gallienus. In other words, this posting occurred at some stage in the period 253-60 AD.
7. LEGIONIS X ET XIII GEMINAE PROVINCIAE PANNONIAE ITIM (ITEM?) LEGIONIS DACIAE – Commander (praepositus(?)) of a detached force made up of units from Legio X Gemina which had its main base at Vindobona in Pannonia Superior (modern Vienna, Austria) and Legio XIII Gemina. The latter legion was at this time based at Apulum (Apulum (castra) in the province of Dacia (modern Alba Julia in Romania), but, according to this item in the inscription, it may also have had detachments serving in Pannonia. (This could explain the formulation provinciae Panonniae ('of the province of Pannonia') as intended to distinguish these elements from the main body of the legion (in Dacia). The detachments 'legionis Daciae' (i.e. 'of the Dacian legion') might, therefore, refer either to additional detachments of Leg. XIII transferred from Dacia or to elements of Legio V Macedonica, the other Dacian legion. The use of such ad hoc formations composed of elements of more than one legion and detached from their parent-bodies became increasingly necessary in the troubled middle years of the Third Century AD;
8. TRIBVNVS COHORTIS III VIGILUM; XI VRBANAE; III PRAETORIAE – Indicates Volusianus was, successively, a cohort commander in the Vigiles (Roman Watch) (255?), the Cohortes Urbanae(256?), and the Praetorian Guard (257?). The Roman Watch rarely and the Urban Cohorts never on record served outside Rome and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it may be presumed that it was in Rome that Volusianus served these appointments. However, Praetorian Cohorts usually followed the Emperor wherever he was. In the middle-late 250s AD they were, presumably divided between the co-Augusti Valerian and Gallienus However, this item in the record of Volusianus's cursus seems to indicate that Coh. III was with Gallienus in the West at this time;
9. TRIBVNVS COHORTIS I PRAETORIAE PROTECTOR AVGG NN – This appointment to the senior praetorian cohort is placed in 259?). Again the formulation Augg NN indicates that there were two rulling Emperors so this appointment preceded the capture of Valerian by the Persians. The reference indicates that Coh.I was in the west when Volusianus commanded it, but - unlike the case of Cohs. VI and VII - there is no coin-evidence to support this supposition. This is the also first known reference to he new Imperial bodyguard formation, the Protectores Augusti Nostri (i.e. 'Bodyguards of Our August Lords'). Christol argues that this formation was created specifically for officers serving in the comitatus of Gallienus. The senior Praetorian tribune would almost certainly have fallen into this category;
10. PRAEFECTVS VIGILVM PERFECTISSIMVS VIR – Volusianus is now Prefect of the Watch (probably 259 AD). Perfectissimus Vir was an honorific indicating membership of the second rank of the equestrian order;
11. PRAEFECTVUS PRAETORIO EMINENTISSIVS VIR – About 260(?). The Praetorian Prefect usually served ‘in the Imperial Presence’. Eminentissimus Vir (lit 'Most Eminent Man') was the highest equestrian rank.
12. VIR CONSULARIS ORDINARIUS – According to the fasti Volusianus was consul ordinarius with Gallienus in 261 - i.e. he was one of the two consuls who gave their name to the year according to the Roman practice although - again according to Roman practice - he is likely to have stepped down after a few weeks/months in favour of a consul suffectus Nevertheless, by achieving this office he became a member of the highest rank of the senatorial nobility, the Viri Consulares, which made him eligible for the highest offices in the Imperial System that were reserved for senators.