The Arretium Inscription lists Volusianus's appointments in reverse chronological order according to the usual Roman practice. In chronological order they are: •
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; •
EX V DECVRIIS – Signifies membership on one of the panels of five judges of equestrian status available to decide issues of fact; •
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 official appointments reserved for members of the order; •
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 on the
Caelian Hill. The
centurio deputatus postings ranked high in the centurionate and were highly political and had the rank of
primi ordines, the most senior legionary centurions. 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 also mooted by Pflaum This hypothesis could explain the apparent anomaly, but neither authority seems particularly attached to it; •
PRIMVS PILVS LEGIONIS XXX VLPIAE – Senior ranking centurion of this legion which was normally stationed at
Castra Vetera (modern
Xanten) in the province of
Germania Inferior. Bray suggests that it was during this posting that Volusianus came to the attention of Gallienus when he campaigned against the
Franci in
Germania Inferior in the early years of his reign; Pflaum suggests that this was a reference to such an occasion, although nothing is known of the circumstances.). The formulation
Augg NN (i.e.,
Augustorum Nostrorum– '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. •
LEGIONIS X ET XIII GEMINAE PROVINCIAE PANNONIAE ITIM (most likely a misspelling of item
) LEGIONIS DACIAE – Indicates that Volusianus was associated with a detached force. The
PLRE suggests he was the
praepositus. The detachment included units from
Legio X Gemina which is assumed to have had its main base at
Vindobona in
Pannonia Superior (modern
Vienna,
Austria) at this time and
Legio XIII Gemina. The latter legion was thought to have been based at
Apulum in the province of
Dacia (modern Alba Julia in
Romania), but this item in the inscription suggests that 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 refer to additional detachments of
Legio V Macedonica, which, like
XIII Gemina, is known to have served in Dacia. 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; •
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 units 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 to 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; •
TRIBVNVS COHORTIS I PRAETORIAE, PROTECTOR AVGG NN – This appointment to the tribunate (command) of the senior praetorian cohort is placed in 259(?). Again the formulation
Augg NN indicates that there were two ruling Emperors, so this appointment preceded the capture of Gallienus' father, the Emperor 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.
Protector Augg NN is the first known reference to a newly formed unit of the
comitatus of Gallienus, the
Protectores Augusti Nostri (i.e. 'Bodyguards of Our August Lord') which was made up of senior officers attached to the Imperial retinue. As the senior Praetorian
tribunus, Volusianus would almost certainly have qualified for membership; •
PRAEFECTVS VIGILVM PERFECTISSIMVS VIR – Volusianus is now Prefect of the Watch (probably 259 AD).
Perfectissimus Vir was an honorific denoting membership of the second rank of the equestrian order. It indicates that the equestrian concerned holds a Court appointment; •
PRAEFECTVUS PRAETORIO EMINENTISSIVS VIR – About 260(?). The
Praetorian Prefect usually served ‘in the Imperial Presence’.
Eminentissimus Vir (
lit., 'Most Eminent Man') was an honorific signifying the highest equestrian rank reserved for the Praetorian Prefect. Given that the text records Volusianus with this title as well as
Perfectissimus Vir - see above - it is curious that it never shows him as a
Vir Egregius (i.e., 'Chosen Man', the honorific denoting the lowest rank of equestrians in the Imperial service); •
VIR CONSULARIS ORDINARIUS – Volusianus was
consul ordinarius with Gallienus in 261 - i.e., he was one of the two consuls appointed by the regular constitutional process (election by the
Senate at the direction of the Emperor) who gave their name to the year according to the Roman practice. 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 who had held the office of consul (i.e.,
consulares). ==Significance of his consular appointment==