Lucius Neratius Marcellus was a governor of Roman Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 early in the 2nd century.

He held the office by 103 and probably succeeded Tiberius Avidius Quietus

Tiberius Avidius Quietus

Tiberius Avidius Quietus was a Roman politician the lived between the 1st century and the 2nd century.Quietus came from a wealthy, distinguished and well connected political family in Faventia...

 a year or two earlier. He was a former senator and friend of Pliny the Younger

Pliny the Younger

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...

 and their letters discussing the Roman Principate

Principate

The Principate is the first period of the Roman Empire, extending from the beginning of the reign of Caesar Augustus to the Crisis of the Third Century, after which it was replaced with the Dominate. The Principate is characterized by a concerted effort on the part of the Emperors to preserve the...

 are recorded. Pliny requested that Marcellus make Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

 a tribune

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

 in Britain and although Suetonius eventually declined the post, the story does indicate that Marcellus was able to make military appointments easily through the network of patronage

Patronage

Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...

 and apparently without consulting the army.

There is evidence that there was unrest in Northern Britain during Marcellus' governorship which resulted in the frontier becoming the line of the Stanegate

Stanegate

The Stanegate, or "stone road" , was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked two forts that guarded important river crossings; Corstopitum in the east, situated on Dere Street, and Luguvalium in the west...

.