Ovinius Paternus

Ovinius Paternus was a member of the Paterni, a prominent third century senatorial family. He was appointed consul prior in AD 267 alongside Arcesilaus.^[1] He exercised his duties in Rome while the emperor Gallienus was campaigning along the Danube against the Goths. In AD 281, Paternus was assigned by lot to a Proconsular province, either Africa or Asia, but in an unusual move he refused to accept the offered post. Instead, he took up the position of Praefectus urbi of Rome.^[2]