Marcus Junius Homullus
Marcus Junius Homullus was a
Only one office is securely attested for Homullus: governor of the imperial province of
Homullus may have been the M. Junius who was
Homullus and the Emperor
William McDermott has identified this Junius Homullus as the Homullus who is quoted in the Historia Augusta as saying to Trajan, "Domitian was a bad emperor, but had good advisors."[8] McDermott believes this anecdote was drawn from the hypothetical source for the Historia Augusta, the history of Marius Maximus. He notes that the identification is only possible if Homullus had an opportunity to confront Trajan, and points out the two were together in Cappadocia. Trajan had come under the influence of his military advisors, and had decided to expand the borders of the empire. "Such an eastern campaign must have been considered a dubious exploit, or even disastrous, by many of the members of the senate, even though it only gradually became evident how far the emperor would go," McDermott writes. "Surely Hadrian, if he were consulted, and his clique must have been appalled."[9]
McDermott speculates further that Homullus counted on Trajan's affability to avoid a charge of maiestas laesa; however, Trajan decided to replace him with Lucius Catilius Severus. "Whether Homullus held any further office is not known," McDermott writes, "but his confrontation with Trajan was so much in accordance with Hadrian's future actions as emperor that he probably fared well after Trajan's death."[10]
References
- ^ a b c Rémy, Les carrières sénatoriales dans les provinces romaines d'Anatolie au Haut-Empire (31 av. J.-C. - 284 ap. J.-C.) (Istanbul: Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes-Georges Dumézil, 1989), p. 205
- ^ Pliny, Epistulae, IV.9.15
- ^ Epistulae, V.20
- ^ Epistulae, VI.19.3
- ^ Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", Chiron, 12 (1982), pp. 351-355
- Dio Cassius, LXVIII.19
- ^ CIL VI, 31034, CIL VI, 32445
- ^ "Septimus Alexander", 65.6. Marcus Valerius Homullus, consul ordinary in 152, has also been identified as this Homullus.
- Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 29 (1980), p. 118
- ^ McDermott, "Homullus and Trajan", p. 119