Lucius Licinius Sura was an influential Roman Senator from Tarraco, Hispania, a close friend of the Emperor Trajan and three times consul, in a period when three consulates were very rare for non-members of the Imperial family. The dates of two of these consulates are certain: in 102 and 107 AD he was consul ordinarius; the date of his first consulate, as a suffect consul has been debated. Fausto Zevi postulated that he was also suffect consul in 97, based on a plausible restoration of part of the Fasti Ostienses, which reads "..]us". However, two more recently recovered fragments of military diplomas show that the name of this consul is L. Pomponius Maternus, who is otherwise unknown. Most authorities have returned to endorsing C.P. Jones' surmise that Sura was consul for the first time in the year 93. He was a correspondent of Pliny the Younger. Life He was mentioned by a number of contemporary writers, who provide hints about his personality. The earliest mention of Sura are in three of Martial's epigrams. In the first (I.49), addressed to Licinianus of Bilbilis in 85/86, Sura is described as wealthy. The second (VI.64) is published in 89/90, wherein Martial defends his trifles against criticism by appealing to the highest authorities, who include, besides Sura, Silius Italicus, consul in 68, Marcus Aquilius Regulus, and the emperor himself. The third, dated to the year 92, congratulates Sura on recovering from a serious illness (VII.47); Ronald Syme speculates that Sura was one of the victims of an epidemic that followed one of the Dacian Wars. Arrian, in his Life of Epictetus, has the title character refer to a rich catamite belonging to Sura. A third writer is Pliny the Younger, who addressed two letters to Sura on scientific matters. Licinius Sura was a close and trusted companion of the emperor Trajan, and Cassius Dio tells how Trajan proved his fidelity: one day, without prior notice, he went to Sura's house; then, after dismissing his bodyguard, Trajan bathed, had Sura shave him, and dined with him. The following day he said to those who had disparaged Sura: "If Sura had desired to kill me, he would have killed me yesterday." How Sura came to be a trusted companion is unclear. Edmund Groag surmised that it was Sura who suggested Trajan's name as an heir to the emperor Nerva after the latter was confronted by a