Gaius Cestius Gallus was a Roman senator active during the mid-first century AD. He was ordinary consul for the year 35 with Servilius Nonianus as his colleague. [1] Suetonius describes him as "a lecherous old spendthrift" and states that the emperor Augustus had expelled him from the Senate for his shameful behavior. The emperor Tiberius reprimanded Gallus for his debauched ways, but a few days later the emperor responded to an invitation to one of his banquets on condition that it followed Gallus' usual routine—and that the serving girls be naked. [2]
Besides the notice of his consulate, Gallus appears twice in the pages of Tacitus. The first is in his account of AD 21, when Gallus is reported to have made a speech in the Senate complaining that "the vilest wretches" would slander "respectable citizens" then escape punishment for their harm by clutching a statue of the emperor; in his speech, Gallus mentions specifically one Annia Rufilla. (It is unknown if Annia Rufilla had spoken about Cestius Gallus.) His speech provoked a response from the assembled body that forced Drusus the Younger to order Annia Rufilla summoned, convicted, and confined to the common prison. [3]
His second appearance is in the account of the year 32, in the aftermath of the fall of Sejanus. Tiberius prompted Gallus to read to the Senate a letter he sent the emperor, in which he accused the ex-praetor Quintus Servaeus and the equestrian Minucius Thermus of being supporters of the feared but now dead praetorian prefect. In response to Gallus' prosecution, the two then offered up Julius Africanus and Seius Quadratus as other associates of Sejanus to avoid proscription. [4]
Gallus is known to have had at least one son, Gaius Cestius Gallus, suffect consul in 42.
(Vipsania) Agrippina the Elder was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Augustus' daughter, Julia the Elder. Her brothers Lucius and Gaius Caesar were the adoptive sons of Augustus, and were his heirs until their deaths in AD 2 and 4, respectively. Following their deaths, her second cousin Germanicus was made the adoptive son of Tiberius, Augustus' stepson, as part of the succession scheme in the adoptions of AD 4. As a result of the adoption, Agrippina was wed to Germanicus in order to bring him closer to the Julian family.
Gnaeus Domitius Afer was a Roman orator and advocate, born at Nemausus (Nîmes) in Gallia Narbonensis. He flourished in the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. He was suffect consul in the nundinium of September to December 39 as the colleague of Aulus Didius Gallus.
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus was a Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father was the politician Tiberius Claudius Nero and his mother was Livia Drusilla, who would eventually divorce his father, and marry the future-emperor Augustus in 38 BC. Following the untimely deaths of Augustus' two grandsons and adopted heirs, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Tiberius was designated Augustus' successor. Prior to this, Tiberius had proved himself an able diplomat, and one of the most successful Roman generals: his conquests of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and (temporarily) parts of Germania laid the foundations for the empire's northern frontier.
Lucius Aelius Sejanus, commonly known as Sejanus, was a Roman soldier, friend, and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, of which he was commander from AD 14 until his execution for treason in AD 31.
Drusus Julius Caesar was the son of Emperor Tiberius, and heir to the Roman Empire following the death of his adoptive brother Germanicus in AD 19.
Gaius Asinius Gallus was a Roman senator, son of Gaius Asinius Pollio and Quinctia. He was the second husband of Vipsania, eldest daughter of Marcus Agrippa and first wife of Tiberius, who ultimately imprisoned him.
Nero Julius Caesar was the adopted grandson and heir of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, alongside his brother Drusus. Born into the prominent Julio-Claudian dynasty, Nero was the son of Tiberius' general and heir, Germanicus. After the deaths of his father and of Tiberius' son, Drusus the Younger, Nero and his brother Drusus were adopted together by Tiberius in September AD 23. As a result of being heirs of the emperor, he and his brother enjoyed accelerated political careers.
Gaius Rubellius Blandus was a Roman senator who lived during the Principate. Blandus was the grandson of Rubellius Blandus of Tibur, a member of the Equestrian class, who was the first Roman to teach rhetoric. He was suffect consul from August to December AD 18 with Marcus Vipstanus Gallus as his colleague. In AD 33, he married Julia Livia, granddaughter of the Roman emperor Tiberius.
Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus was a Roman rhetorician, poet and senator. Tacitus writes that Scaurus was "a man of distinguished rank and ability as an advocate, but of infamous life." He was suffect consul from July to the end of the year AD 21, with Gnaeus Tremellius as his colleague.
Quintus Pomponius Secundus was a Roman aristocrat of the first century, and consul suffectus in AD 41 as the colleague of Gnaeus Sentius Saturninus. His brother was the poet and statesman Publius Pomponius Secundus, and their half-sister, Milonia Caesonia, was the second wife of the emperor Caligula.
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus was a Roman senator and general. He was ordinary consul in the year 26 with Gaius Calvisius Sabinus as his colleague. Gaetulicus was involved in a plot against the emperor Caligula, and following its discovery he was executed.
Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Tiberius. He was consul in AD 32. Ten years later, he revolted against the emperor Claudius, but was swiftly defeated.
The gens Aelia, occasionally written Ailia, was a plebeian family in Rome, which flourished from the fifth century BC until at least the third century AD, a period of nearly eight hundred years. The archaic spelling Ailia is found on coins, but must not be confused with Allia, which is a distinct gens. The first member of the family to obtain the consulship was Publius Aelius Paetus in 337 BC.
The gens Vitellia was a family of ancient Rome, which rose from obscurity in imperial times, and briefly held the Empire itself in AD 69. The first of this gens to obtain the consulship was Aulus Vitellius, uncle of the emperor Vitellius, in AD 32.
The gens Annia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Livy mentions a Lucius Annius, praetor of the Roman colony of Setia, in 340 BC, and other Annii are mentioned at Rome during this period. Members of this gens held various positions of authority from the time of the Second Punic War, and Titus Annius Luscus attained the consulship in 153 BC. In the second century AD, the Annii gained the Empire itself; Marcus Aurelius was descended from this family.
Gaius Calvisius Sabinus was a Roman Senator, who was consul in AD 26 as the colleague of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus. During the reign of Caligula, he was accused of conspiring against the emperor, and took his own life rather than submit to a trial.
The gens Cestia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome during the later Republic, and in imperial times. The first member of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Cestius Gallus in AD 35. The family's name is commemorated on two monuments, the Pons Cestius and the Pyramid of Cestius which survive into modern times.
Lucius Arruntius was a Roman senator praised by the ancient Roman historian Tacitus. He lived throughout most of the reigns of the two first Roman emperors, Augustus and Tiberius. In 6 AD he was appointed consul, and then governor of Hispania Tarraconensis around 25 AD, which he governed in absentia for over 10 years. Throughout the latter part of his life he was plagued by hostility from the Praetorian Guard prefects, Sejanus and Macro, which culminated in his suicide in 37 AD after being arraigned on a trumped-up charge of irreverence to the then-emperor Tiberius.
LuciusFulcinius Trio was a Roman senator who came from a plebeian family. Trio was an active prosecutor (delator) during the reign of Tiberius who developed a reputation for making accusations. He was governor of Lusitania from about 21 to 31, before returning to Rome to hold the office of consul suffect with Publius Memmius Regulus in 31. His friendship with Sejanus would lead to allegations that ended with his suicide in early 35.
Lucius Annius Vinicianus was a Roman senator during the Principate. He is best known for his involvement in the assassination of Caligula and a rebellion against Claudius.