Died 161 AD | ||
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Marcus Sedatius Severianus (Latin: Marcus Sedatius C. f. Severianus Iulius Acer Metillius Nepos Rufinus Ti. Rutilianus Censor; Ancient Greek: Μ. Σηδάτιος Σεουηριανὸς; ca. 105-161/162) was a senator, consul, and Roman general during the 2nd-century AD, originally from Gaul. Sedatius was a provincial governor and later a provincial consul. His career led up to consul suffect in 153. However brilliant, his career did not progress quickly through the cursus honorum. He had to earn his way from patrician to the more prestigious senatorial order. It is distinguished through his link with the oracle of Glycon (Alexander of Abonutichus) while it's end shows the military difficulties of the Empire during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He was governor of Cappadocia at the start of the Roman war with Parthia during which he was convinced by the untrustworthy oracle to invade Armenia in 161, although Parthia had been making trouble in Armenia since the death of the emperor Antoninus Pius (died 7 March 161). Sedatius committed suicide while under siege in the Armenian city of Elegeia, on the upper Euphrates. He was replaced as governor of Cappadocia by Marcus Statius Priscus.
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Background
The origin of Severianus is fixed to the city of Lemonum (modern Poitiers) in the area inhabited by the Pictones, since the discovery from that city of an inscription concerning Severianus. Thus he's also found briefly mentioned by Lucian of Samosata who remembered his Gallic origins.
An inscription mentions Sedatius Severianus is from the tribe Quirina and indicates that his ancestors had become Roman either under Claudius, or under the Flavians, and listed them also from that tribe: in fact, nearly all of the inhabitants of Gallia Comata had become Quirites during the 1st-century.
Family
According to Gilbert Charles-Picard, the power of the wealthy family of Severianus (the Sedatii) seems to be from trade and commerce. The Sedatii depended on the Loire river, and were known to have had interests in Ostia.
The social and political rise of the Sedatii illustrates the decline of the aristocratic Iulii who had been the leading class in Roman Gaul since the time of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The possible marriage of Severianus' father with Julia Rufina might have had something to do with the association between winemakers and land owners which would be the leading class in Gaul until the Flavians.
The son of M. Sedatius Severianus was M. Sedatius M. f. Severus Julius Reginus Gallus. The name Julia Regina probably came to him from his mother, the wife of Severianus. A. Chastagnol suggests Severianus had been adopted by his father-in-law, which if true meant that Sevarianus inherited the name from his mother. All that is known of his son's career is that he was the patron of the college in Ostia.
Career
The first position held by Sedatius in the senate is that of Quaestor of Sicily: he might have entered the senatorial order late in the reign of Hadrian (117-138). He first appears in the 140s, he is depicted in the inscriptions from Ostia and became tribune of the plebs which he exercised in Rome. He was then also the patron of a city, maybe of Cadurci (now Cahors) in Gaul.
He became praetor, which allowed Sedatius the command of diverse functions on the orders of the emperor. He was first officer of the legio V Macedonica which was kept stationed in Troesmis in Moesia Inferior. He is then charged as the curator of the Via Flaminia.
Later he became governor of Roman Dacia and was placed as the head of the legio XIII Gemina. Sedatius was governor of Dacia from 151-152, according to many inscriptions from Dacia. While governor of Dacia, Sedatius gained the support of local officials and was himself given the office of consul suffect with Publius Septumius Aper, grand-uncle of the future emperor Septimus Severus.
Two inscriptions from Sarmizegetusa give his full name and tells us he is the patron of Sarmizegetusa, an important Roman colony in Dacia. The monuments that portray the inscriptions were erected after his consulship. The capital of Dacia had sent a message to Rome to facilitate Severianus and show his gratitude.
Cappadocia
Sedatius is most well-known for being the governor of Cappadocia in the late 150s. The position was important, for Cappadocia was a borderland province, and so Sedatius was given two legions. Historian Marcel Le Glay suggests that his promotion was due to the support of Publicus Mummius Sisenna Rutilianus, the governor of Asia who is famous as a follower of Alexander of Abonuteichos thanks to the works of Lucian. In Cappadocia, the actions of Sedatius seem to have been more popular than in Dacia: one can see in an inscription from Zela where he is honored as the benefactor (Greek: evergetes) and founder (Greek: ktistes) of the city. Severianus also appears from an inscription in Sebastopolis.
War with Parthia
In the summer of 161, the Parthian Vologases IV, invaded Armenia and expelled the Roman-placed ruler Sohaemus, and installed his own relative Pacoras as king. Being governor of Cappadocia meant Severianus would be on the front line of any conflict involving Armenia, as was the case. Soon after, he was convinced by the soothsayer Alexander that he would win an easy victory against the Parthians should he invade Armenia. With only one legion (possibly IX Hispana), Severianus invaded Armenia and stationed his troops in Elegeia (a settlement on the Upper Euphrates), but the Parthian general Chosroes laid siege to the city. Severianus committed suicide after just three days by starving himself; his forces were massacred by the Parthians soon after.
Some historians believe that the defeat of Severianus at Elegeia explains the disappearance of the legions XXII Deiotariana and IX Hispana, but no proof exists that could confirm this hypothesis, the fate of the two legions still being mysterious and controversial.