Gaius Julius Priscus (born 250)
Born 250 CE.
Gaius Julius Priscus (fl. 3rd century) was a Roman soldier and member of the Praetorian Guard in the reign of Gordian III. As the brother of Roman Emperor Philip the Arab, he was also Prefect of Mesopotamia and Procurator of Macedonia. Priscus was born in the Roman province of Syria, possibly in Damascus, son of a Julius Marinus, a local Roman citizen, possibly of some importance. The name of his mother is unknown, but his brother was Marcus Julius Philippus, later the Roman Emperor known as "Philip the Arab". Priscus was probably older than Philip, since the latter's political career was pushed by the former's own influence. According to several inscriptions, Priscus was praefectus of the province of Mesopotamia, a frontier province on the border with Persia, therefore highly militarized. He was the Procurator of Macedonia, second in command to Egypt's governor and held judicial responsibilities in Alexandria. Priscus became a member of the Praetorian Guard around 242 during Gordian's Persian campaign, and, when Timesitheus – the praetorian prefect – died in 243, he convinced the young emperor to substitute him with his own brother Philip.
Text from the Wikipedia article Gaius_Julius_Priscus, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.