Bithynia et Pontus
The claim in the "Historia Augusta" that Pupienus held three praetorian proconsular governorships is unlikely. For one thing, as Bernard Rémy points out, during Pupienus' lifetime the province of Bithynia et Pontus was an imperial one, governed by an imperial "legatus". Remy points out another problem: that being awarded three praetorian proconsular governorships violates what we know of Roman practice, and lacks any similar cases. Remy pointedly quotes the opinion of André Chastagnol who recommended "to admit an information provided by the "Augustan History" only if it is confirmed by another document" and considers that, faced with such an unreliable source, one must permit "methodical doubt and hypercritical attitude to prevail." No "fasti" or list of governors of any of the three provinces to which the "Historia Augusta" assigns Pupienus includes him as a governor.