His
cursus honorum is known from an inscription set up at
Thibiuca, north of Carthage. The earliest office Dentilianus held was in the
decemviri stlitibus judicandis, one of the four boards that formed the
vigintiviri; membership in one of these four boards was a preliminary and required first step toward a gaining entry into the Roman Senate. Next he was commissioned
military tribune with
Legio XI Claudia, stationed at Durostorum (modern
Silistra) on the lower Danube. He returned to Rome where he assumed the traditional Republican magistracy of
quaestor, served in the public province of
Africa. Upon completion of this office Dentilianus would be enrolled in the Senate. Two more traditional Republican magistracies followed—
plebeian tribune and praetor—both as candidate of the emperor
Hadrian. Alföldy dates his tenure as praetor between the years 134 and 138. After these postings, the
sortition gave Dentilianus the opportunity to govern a province on his own, which was Crete and Cyrenaica. This province was not favored by senators, due to its elements—the island of Crete and
Cyrenaica in North Africa—were separated by the Mediterranean Sea, making governing the province more difficult. The date he governed this province lacks a firm date: Alföldy tentatively dates his tenure to the term 139/140, while
Werner Eck dates it with less precision to either the last years of Hadrian's reign or the first few of Antoninus Pius. Dentilianus eventually received his first imperial appointment after this, a commission as
legatus or commander of
Legio XII Fulminata, which was stationed on the Eastern frontier, either in
Cappadocia or
Armenia; Alföldy dates his tenure in this post from circa 141 to circa 144. This was followed by an appointment as governor of the imperial province of
Gallia Aquitania, which Alföldy between the years 146 and 149, or just prior to the time Dentilianus acceded to the consulate, while Eck dates it with less precision again to either the last years of Hadrian's reign or the first few of Antoninus Pius. We lack details for his life after Dentilianus stepped down from the consulate. Alföldy dates his age when he left the consulate as at least 46; based on our knowledge of
demographics of the Roman Empire, Dentilianus could be expected to live about 16 more years, so this silence may be more due to lack of information than he died shortly after his consulate. == References ==