Lucius Calpurnius Piso | |
---|---|
Consul of the Roman Republic | |
In office January 57 –June 57 Servingwith Nero | |
Preceded by | Lucius Duvius Avitus and Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus |
Succeeded by | Nero and L. Caesius Martialis |
Personal details | |
Born | Unknown |
Died | AD 70 Carthage |
Spouse | Licinia Magna |
Children | Calpurnia |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Roman Empire |
Lucius Calpurnius Piso (died AD 70) was a Roman senator active in the first century AD. During the Year of Four Emperors he was governor of Africa and supported Vitellius. After the death of Vitellius he was killed by supporters of Vespasian.
Piso was the son of Lucius Calpurnius Piso,who had been forced to change his praenomen from Gnaeus to Lucius due to his father's involvement in a conspiracy against Tiberius. [1] The life of the younger Piso is not well known prior to his accession to consul in 57 as the colleague of Emperor Nero. [2]
Tacitus records an incident in the previous year where a conflict arose between the praetor Vibullius and Antistius Sosianus,the plebeian tribune,over whether to keep imprisoned some disorderly audience members;the Senate ruled against Antistius,and Piso went further and proposed that tribunes would no longer be permitted to try cases in their own houses. [3]
He served as curator aquarum for Rome from 60 to 63. [4] In the year 62 the emperor Nero appointed Piso,along with Aulus Ducenius Geminus and Pompeius Paullinus,to a commission to manage the public revenues. [5] Then in AD 69,he was picked by the sortition to be proconsul of Africa. [6]
He was a member of the Arval Brethren;although it is not known when he was co-opted into the collegia ,Piso is recorded attending the meetings in the years 57,58,59,60 and 63. [7]
Piso had a wife,Licinia Magna; [8] their daughter Calpurnia married Calpurnius Galerianus,the son of Gaius Calpurnius Piso. [9]
While governing Roman Africa,the civil war known as the Year of Four Emperors erupted. Both the province and Piso supported Vitellius,who had been proconsul there not long before. The commander of the legion stationed in North Africa,Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Quirinalis Valerius Festus,however,was in secret communication with Vespasian. Following the death of Vitellius,Claudius Sagitta,a prefect of horse,reached Africa. Sagitta told Piso that an order had been issued to put the proconsul to death,that his son-in-law had been executed,and Piso's only hope of safety was to either flee to those supporters of Vitellius who remained in Gaul and Spain,or to defend himself in Carthage;Piso was not moved by this news. Shortly afterwards a messenger,Gaius Licinius Mucianus,arrived as an envoy from Mucianus,a partisan of Vespasian based in Rome,to parlay with Piso. Piso refused to leave his palace,which incensed the local population,who began to riot in the marketplace,demanding that Piso present himself. Piso avoided showing himself to the crowd,but managed to have the messenger brought to him,and on questioning him found that Mucianus had dispatched him to kill him. The proconsul ordered the messenger executed and refused to discharge any duties outside the palace,as an attempt to guard against a repeat of the riot. [9]
When Festus learned of the events in Carthage,he sent a troop of cavalry to murder Piso. Although none of the men knew Piso,he was identified for them by Baebius Massa,whom Tacitus described as "a man even then fatal to the good,and destined often to reappear among the course of the sufferings which he had ere long to endure." With Piso dead Festus was able to take control of the province and openly declared for Vespasian. [10]
AD 69 (LXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire,it was known as the Year of the consulship of Galba and Vinius. The denomination AD 69 for this year has been used since the early medieval period,when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The 60s decade ran from January 1,AD 60,to December 31,AD 69.
The gens Petronia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. This gens claimed an ancient lineage,as a Petronius Sabinus is mentioned in the time of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus,the last of the Roman kings,but few Petronii are mentioned in the time of the Republic. They are frequently encountered under the Empire,holding numerous consulships,and eventually obtaining the Empire itself during the brief reign of Petronius Maximus in AD 455.
Gaius Calpurnius Piso was a Roman senator in the first century. He was the focal figure in the Pisonian conspiracy of AD 65,the most famous and wide-ranging plot against the throne of Emperor Nero.
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Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus was a prominent Roman senator of the early Empire. His tenure as pontifex led him sometimes to be called Lucius Calpurnius Piso Pontifex,to differentiate him from his contemporary,Lucius Calpurnius Piso the Augur,consul in 1 BC. He was a confidant of the emperors Augustus and Tiberius.
Gaius Licinius Mucianus was a Roman general,statesman and writer. He is considered to have played a role behind the scenes in the elevation of Vespasian to the throne.
The gens Calpurnia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome,which first appears in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Calpurnius Piso in 180 BC,but from this time their consulships were very frequent,and the family of the Pisones became one of the most illustrious in the Roman state. Two important pieces of Republican legislation,the lex Calpurnia of 149 BC and lex Acilia Calpurnia of 67 BC were passed by members of the gens.
Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi was a Roman nobleman of consular rank who lived during the Roman Empire. Frugi's mother was an unnamed Roman woman,while his father was consul and governor Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi. Frugi's adoptive paternal grandfather was consul and general Marcus Licinius Crassus the Younger. Crassus was the grandson of triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus and the last known direct descendant of his grandfather. He had a daughter called Licinia who married the consul Lucius Calpurnius Piso;their son,Gaius Calpurnius Piso,was a conspirator against the Emperor Nero.
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The gens Antonia was a Roman family of great antiquity,with both patrician and plebeian branches. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Titus Antonius Merenda,one of the second group of Decemviri called,in 450 BC,to help draft what became the Law of the Twelve Tables. The most prominent member of the gens was Marcus Antonius.
The gens Caetronia,occasionally written Cetronia,was a family at ancient Rome that flourished during the late Republic and early decades of the Empire. The nomen Caetronius is Etruscan in origin.
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Gaius Manlius Valens was a Roman senator of the late first century AD. He was selected as consul ordinarius in his ninetieth year,serving with Gaius Antistius Vetus in AD 96.
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The gens Rubellia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Augustus,and they achieved prominence during the first century,when two of them obtained the consulship:Gaius Rubellius Blandus in AD 18,and Lucius Rubellius Geminus in AD 29.
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