For a period, some time about 126 AD, he was a friend of the emperor Hadrian, who appointed him to the Senate. He was appointed to the position "consul suffectus" around 130 AD, and then, in 132 AD (although Howatson shows 131), he was made prefect or legate (governor) of Cappadocia by Hadrian, a service he continued for six years. The historian Cassius Dio, states that not long after the Bar Kochba revolt in Judea had been quelled, in 135 AD, King Pharasmanes II of Iberia caused the Alani to invade neighbouring territories, including Cappadocia where their advance was robustly halted by Arrian's legions.