The Praetorian Metilius Pudens and the Civil War in Rome

Authors

  • Evgenii A. Guskov Samara Branch of Moscow City University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu02.2022.108

Abstract

This paper is concerned with a dedicatory stele of some Metilius Pudens, named a warrior of the 19th praetorian cohort in its text. According to paleographic features, it is dated to the second half of the first century AD. The inscription was published only in 1995, but has not attracted wide attention of researchers yet. The role of the Pudens in the events of 69 is unknown due to the scanty content of the stele. The article proves that Pudens could only serve in the guard of Julii-Claudii and during the civil war fought first on the side of Otho. Then, like many former othonians, he supported the party of Vespasian and was eventually enrolled in his praetorium, which could reach 20,000 people. The conditions of service and resignation of Metilius Pudens are revealed; the organization of the new guard, consisting of soldiers of the Flavian legions, former praetorians of Otho and legionaries of Vitellius, is described. The long duration of Metilius Pudent’s service was due to the need to maintain a group balance in the Flavian guard. Taking into account the large proportion of former vitellian soldiers in the new corps, the new administration pursued a cautious demobilization policy in order to break mutual responsibility and prevent a repeat of the situation with the Praetorians of Otho, who, after being dismissed by Vitellius, came out in support of Vespasian. Since the othonians were absolutely loyal to the new authorities in gratitude for the possibility of rehabilitation after the humiliation by Vitellius in April 69, they were seen as a counterweight to the vitellians.

Keywords:

civil war 68-69 AD, the Praetorian Guard, XIX cohors, Metilius Pudens, ancient Rome

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Author Biography

Evgenii A. Guskov, Samara Branch of Moscow City University

PhD in History, Associate Professor

References

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Published

2023-02-02

How to Cite

Guskov, E. A. . (2023). The Praetorian Metilius Pudens and the Civil War in Rome. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 67(1), 113–127. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu02.2022.108

Issue

Vol. 67 No. 1 (2022)

Section

World History

License

Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.