The
cursus honorum of Statius Priscus is preserved in an inscription found in Rome. His career began as an
equestrian officer, first as
praefectus or commander of the
Cohors IV Lingonum, an
auxilia nominally one thousand men in strength. Next he was a
military tribune in three different legions:
Legio III Gallica,
Legio X Gemina, and
Legio I Adiutrix. It was at this time he received
dona militaria, or decorations while fighting in the
Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136;
Anthony Birley believes Priscus was commissioned with the III Gallica when he earned this distinction. His third step in his equestrian career was as
praefectus with an
ala stationed in
Cappadocia. He then advanced from military appointments, and served as
procurator of the
vicesima hereditatium in
Gallia Narbonensis and
Aquitania. At this point Statius Priscus entered the Senate. No details are provided, but we can surmise a few details. One is that this happened under emperor Antoninus Pius. Another was that he owed his advance to the patronage of
Quintus Lollius Urbicus, of whom Birley writes, "his influence in the 140s was no doubt considerable." More importantly, instead of being
adlected into the Senate at praetorian or even quaestorian rank, he was forced to proceed through the traditional Republican magistracies of
quaestor,
plebeian tribune, and
peregrine praetor. "This reflects the conservatism of the reign of Antoninus Pius," Birley states. "Priscus must have been well over thirty when he entered the senate as a quaestor, and well over fifty when he finally became consul." His success was recognized upon his return to Rome, with his ordinary consulship. The following year he was made
curator alvei Tiberis et cloacarum urbis, the official responsible for maintaining the channels of the
Tiber River, as well as the sewers of
Rome, but his tenure was brief. Priscus is attested as governor of
Moesia Superior by another military diploma dated to February 161, as well as a dedication he erected after the death of Antoninus Pius to the new emperors Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus at
Viminacium. The northern frontier of
Roman Britain came under threat that required an experienced general, so the new emperors reassigned him there later that year. He had been in Britain only a few months when a more serious threat presented itself—the
war with Parthia. In 162
Vologases IV defeated
Marcus Sedatius Severianus in
Armenia;
Roman Syria was threatened. Priscus was made governor of
Cappadocia. His forces, made up of Eastern auxiliaries and several legions transferred from the Rhine and the Danube, quickly crushed the Parthians and destroyed the town of
Artaxata. Priscus then installed
Sohaemus, who was under the protection of Rome, on the Armenian throne, and rebuilt the city of
Valarshapat. The satirist
Lucian records how one contemporary historian described "how Priscus the general merely shouted out and 27 of the enemy dropped dead." Birley comments, "It is foolhardy to try to squeeze some truth out of evidence of this kind, but one might perhaps suppose, at least, that Priscus was a man with an aggressive and boisterous style of leadership." According to Cassius Dio, when
Avidius Cassius (the governor of Egypt and Syria) was declared emperor by his legions, it was Priscus who informed Emperor Aurelius. Cassius declared himself emperor at the behest of Aurelius' wife who convinced Cassius and his legions that the emperor had died. Aurelius quickly defeated Cassius and installed Priscus as governor of Syria. ==Family==