Year: 1978
Type: article
Abstract: A RRIAN STATES in his Cynegencus 1.4 that his lifelong interests were philosophy, generalship and hunting. 1 With the topic of generalship the Anabasis Alexandri immediately springs to mind, but Arrian's interests in the art of command went far beyond his historical pursuits and assumed a personal and contemporary significance.2 As legatus Augusti pro praetore of Cappa do cia (ca 131-137), Arrian held a military post on the Euphrates frontier second in importance only to the governorship of Syria.To this point in his life Arrian had led one of the most brilliant public careers of the Hadrianic period, especially for a novus homo from Nicomedia.He had been the first Greek (known so far) to govern a western province, when he served as proconsul of Baetica in the late 120' s; he became the first Bithynian to hold the consulship, probably in 129; and he was only the second Greek to command in Cappadocia.(c.Julius Quadratus Bassus was the first Greek governor, 107/8-110/11.)Nor was Arrian a novice at military command: he probably saw action in Trajan's Parthian war as a tribune and possibly served as legatus legion is on the Danubian frontier in the early 120'S.3In 135 deteriorating relations between Rome and Caucasian Iberia prompted pharasmanes II to summon the Sarmatian Alani through the Caucasus in a display of force.Cappadocia was threatened.Arrian assembled his army, deterred the Alani, and Roman territory was
Author: Everett L. Wheeler
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W1487622358