06-19-2016, 01:21 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-19-2016, 09:31 AM by Nathan Ross.)
(06-18-2016, 06:26 PM)keith A Wrote: I don't know if there was some form of age qualification required for a civil service post
Italus was quattuorvir iure dicundo of Aquileia, which I think was one of the top four civil magistates of the city; a man had to be 30 to serve as duumvir, so I would guess this might be the same. There's an inscription to a 'duumvir designate' aged only 20 though, so the rule was clearly ignored at times! But Italus was probably one of the older set of equestrian officers who came from the decurionate, starting his first post around his early 30s (the younger set seem to have started in their early 20s, and were mostly sons of centurions who had entered the equestrian order, I believe.)
V Gallorum Eq turn up later in Britain, I think, so it's possible that they were one of the units brought to the province by Cerealis and had served under him previously in the Batavian war. However, if there's no evidence that Italus was in that war we probably shouldn't take this idea too far!
The only reference I can find to Italus fighting in Batavia comes from one of Stephen Dando Collins's books, and is entirely fictitious.
Nathan Ross
