View source for Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius

{{Short description|2nd century Roman senator, consul and governor}}
'''Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius''' was a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Roman senate|senator]] active during the first half of the second century AD. He was [[Roman consul|consul]] for 137 as the colleague of [[Lucius Aelius]].<ref>{{CIL|15|900}}, {{CIL|15|1057}}</ref> Balbinus is known only from non-literary sources, where he is usually referred to by the short form of his name, '''Publius Coelius Balbinus'''.
Olli Salomies speculates that Balbinus came from [[Hispania]], and notes that [[Ronald Syme]] has suggested that the elements "Vibullius Pius" in Balbinus' name came from his mother.<ref name=Salonies-141>Salomies, ''Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire'' (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), p. 141</ref> Salomies further suggests that Balbinus was the son of Publius Coelius Apollinaris, consul in 111, and the father of Publius Coelius Apollinaris, consul in 169.<ref name=Salonies-141/>
The ''[[cursus honorum]]'' of Balbinus up to his consulate is known from an inscription reported from Rome.<ref>{{CIL|6|1383}}</ref> He began his career as one of the ''[[decemviri stlitibus judicandis]]'', one of the four boards that form the ''[[vigintiviri]]''; membership in one of these four boards was a preliminary and required first step toward gaining entry into the Roman Senate. He served as ''sevir equitum Romanorum'', then was [[military tribune]] with the [[Legio XXII Primigenia]], then stationed in [[Germania Superior]] at [[Mogontiacum]]. Once he had returned from his posting on the Rhine frontier, Balbinus would have become a [[quaestor]], which would have enrolled him in the Roman Senate, but instead the emperor [[Hadrian]] first [[adlecti|adlected]] him into the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Patrician class]]; if the order of the offices he held on the inscription reflects the order of the offices he held, both this, and his admission to the ''[[Salii|salii Collinus]]'' also came before he was quaestor to emperor Hadrian. Becoming a Patrician excused him from the traditional Republican magistracies between quaestor and [[praetor]]. His consulate followed.
The only consular post Balbinus is known to have held was governor of [[Dalmatia]], according to [[Werner Eck]]'s interpretation of an inscription found at [[Salona]]; Eck dates the period he held this posting simply as "after 137".<ref>Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''[[Chiron (journal)|Chiron]]'', 13 (1983), pp. 194f</ref> The rest of Balbinus' life is a blank.
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Lucius Aelius]], and<br/>[[Sextus Vettulenus Civica Pompeianus]] |as=Ordinary consuls}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of early imperial Roman consuls|Consul]] of the [[Roman Empire]] |regent1=[[Lucius Aelius]] II |years = 137}}
{{s-aft|after= [[Kanus Junius Niger]], and<br/>[[Gaius Pomponius Camerinus]] |as=Ordinary consuls}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius, Publius}}
[[Category:2nd-century Roman consuls]]
[[Category:Roman governors of Dalmatia]]
[[Category:Vibullii]]