Lucius Salvius Otho

Last updated
Lucius Salvius Otho
Lucius Otho.jpg
Known forfather of Roman emperor Otho
Spouses
  • unknown
  • Albia Terentia
ChildrenSalvia
Lucius Salvius Otho Titianus
Marcus Salvius Otho
Parents

Lucius Salvius Otho was the father of the Roman emperor Otho. He was born of a distinguished and well-connected family on his mother's side. His close friendship with Tiberius, and physical similarity to him, led to rumours that he was Tiberius's son.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Lucius was the son of a Marcus Salvius Otho, whose father was an Etruscan. Marcus had been raised in empress Livia's home. [1] His mother's identity is unknown, although she is described as having been well connected. The appearance of the name "Titianus" in his family has led to speculation that she may have been from the gens Titia. [2] [3] Potentially a daughter of Marcus Titius and his wife Fabia Paullina, [4] but possibly his sister [5] or niece [6] instead. A Titia L. f. is known from inscription to have been the wife of a Salvius. This woman died young in 23 BC. It is not certain if this woman was Otho's mother or possibly grandmother. [7] [8] Regardless, Lucius was widely assumed to be emperor Tiberius's illegitimate son, due to the excessive affection Tiberius bestowed on him, as well as a strong physical resemblance. [9] This was a double edged sword for his children as it made them related to the Julio-Claudians, but also connected them to Tiberius, who was unpopular with the people of Rome. [1] Ronald Syme thought Lucius might have been born as late as 6 BC, but possibly earlier, [10] if Titia L. f was his mother then he would have to have been born in 23 BC at the latest. Tiberius would have been around 19 at this time. [11] [12]

Career

Lucius was renowned for the severity of his command in the regular offices at Rome, the proconsulate of Africa, and several special military commands. He was made consul suffectus in July 33 AD. [13] In Illyricum, in 42, some soldiers supported a rebellion against Claudius by Illyricum's governor, Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus. Afterwards, they tried to cover the revolt up by killing their officers, who were the revolt's ringleaders. Claudius promoted them for doing so, but Lucius had them executed in his presence in the principia for killing their officers.

He rebuilt his reputation at court by forcing the slaves of an unnamed knight to betray their master's plot to kill the emperor. As a result, the Senate set up his statue in the palace, and Claudius enrolled him among the patricians, praising him in the highest terms and calling him "a man of greater loyalty than I can even pray for in my own children".

Marriage and issue

Lucius is known to have had two sons and at least one daughter.

Suetonius claims that Lucius wife Albia Terentia was the mother of both of his sons, but the age difference between his older son Titianus and the emperor Otho has prompted some historians such as Ronald Syme and Charles Murison to doubt the plausibility of this and speculate that Titianus and Drusus's fiancée may have been the children of an earlier wife. [19]

Notes

  1. But it has been noted that no sister is mentioned in the message Vitellius sent to Titianus threatening his family. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galba</span> 6th Roman emperor from AD 68 to 69

Galba was Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. He was the first emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors and assumed the throne following Emperor Nero's suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julio-Claudian dynasty</span> Roman imperial dynasty consisting of the first five emperors

The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised the first five Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otho</span> 7th Roman emperor in 69 AD

Otho was Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitellius</span> 8th Roman emperor in AD 69

Aulus Vitellius was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Vitellius was the first to add the honorific cognomen Germanicus to his name instead of Caesar upon his accession. Like his direct predecessor, Otho, Vitellius attempted to rally public support to his cause by honoring and imitating Nero who remained widely popular in the empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AD 69</span> Calendar year

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">60s</span> Seventh decade of the first century AD

The 60s decade ran from January 1, AD 60, to December 31, AD 69.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaius Julius Vindex</span> Roman senator and governor (AD c. 25–68)

Gaius Julius Vindex was a Roman governor in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis. He was of a noble Gallic family of Aquitania and was one of the men belonging to a faction of Empress Agrippina, the mother of Nero. Vindex had taken part in a conspiracy against the emperor in 59. However, with the assassination of Agrippina by Nero, this faction was dissolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonia Minor</span> Roman noblewoman (36 BC- AD 37)

Antonia Minor was the younger of two surviving daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. She was a niece of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, mother of the Emperor Claudius, and maternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero. She outlived her husband Drusus, her oldest son, her daughter, and several of her grandchildren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Livia was an illustrious plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the Livii to obtain the consulship was Marcus Livius Denter in 302 BC, and from his time the Livii supplied the Republic with eight consuls, two censors, a dictator, and a master of the horse. Members of the gens were honoured with three triumphs. In the reign of Augustus, Livia Drusilla was Roman empress, and her son was the emperor Tiberius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Year of the Four Emperors</span> Battles for succession to rule the Roman Empire (AD 69)

The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the transition from the Julio-Claudians, the first imperial dynasty, to the Flavian dynasty. The period witnessed several rebellions and claimants, with shifting allegiances and widespread turmoil in Rome and the provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Julia was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Gaius Julius Iulus in 489 BC. The gens is perhaps best known, however, for Gaius Julius Caesar, the dictator and grand uncle of the emperor Augustus, through whom the name was passed to the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty of the first century AD. The nomen Julius became very common in imperial times, as the descendants of persons enrolled as citizens under the early emperors began to make their mark in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livia Medullina</span> Fiancee of Roman emperor Claudius (c. 6 BC - c. AD 10)

FuriaLivia Medullina Camilla was the second fiancee of the future Emperor Claudius.

<i>The Twelve Caesars</i> Biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 Roman emperors by Suetonius

De vita Caesarum, commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The group are: Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian.

Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus (38–69) was a Roman nobleman who lived in the 1st century. His adoption by the Roman emperor Galba on 10 January 69 AD precipitated their joint murder by Otho, who had expected to be adopted instead. Otho then became the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sextilia</span> Mother of emperor Vitellius

Sextilia was the mother of Lucius Vitellius the Younger and Aulus Vitellius.

Lucius Salvius Otho Titianus was the elder brother of the Roman Emperor Otho. As a Roman senator, he was consul in the year 52 as the colleague of Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix, and appointed consul as his brother's colleague for the period from Galba's murder to the end of February. Titianus was given the daily responsibilities of the emperor by Otho when Otho left Rome to halt the advance of Vitellius into Italy. Subsequently, Titianus was appointed generalissimo in charge of the war by Otho and was present at the First Battle of Bedriacum.

Marcus Livius Drusus Libo was an ancient Roman consul of the early Roman Empire. He was the son of Lucius Scribonius Libo and adopted brother of the empress Livia. His natural paternal aunt was Scribonia, the second wife of Augustus, as a consequence of which he was a maternal first cousin of Julia the Elder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Salvia was a minor plebeian Roman family of the late Republic, which came to prominence under the early Empire. The first of the family known to have held public office at Rome was Publius Salvius Aper, praetorian prefect in 2 BC. About this time, the Salvii achieved equestrian rank, and thereafter held various positions in the Roman state for the next two centuries, before falling back into obscurity. Lucius Salvius Otho was raised to patrician rank by the emperor Claudius, but the most illustrious of the Salvii was his son, Marcus, who was proclaimed emperor in AD 69.

Aulus Marius Celsus was a Roman senator who held several offices in the emperor's service during the first century AD, as well as playing a role in the Year of Four Emperors. He was suffect consul of the nundinium of July to August 69 as the colleague of Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus.

Marcus Salvius Otho was an ancient Roman politician and grandfather of emperor Otho.

References

  1. 1 2 Bittarello, Maria Beatrice (October 2009). "The Construction of Etruscan 'Otherness' in Latin Literature". Greece & Rome. Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association. 55 (2): 211–233. doi:10.1017/S0017383509990052. JSTOR   40389197. S2CID   154767448.
  2. Raepsaet-Charlier, Marie-Thérèse (1987). Prosopographie des femmes de l'ordre sénatorial: Ier-IIe siècles. Académie Royale de Belgique. Classe des Lettres. Fonds René Draguet. Vol. 1. Isd. p. 599. ISBN   9789068310863.
  3. Heil, Matthäus; Wachtel, Klaus, eds. (2006). Prosopographia Imperii Romani Saec I, II, III. De Gruyter. pp. 51–53. ISBN   9783110193169.
  4. Antiquitas: Abhandlungen zur alten Geschichte. Vol. 31. R. Habelt Verlag. 1982. p. 443.
  5. Craven, Maxwell (2019). The Imperial Families of Ancient Rome. Stroud, England: Fonthill Media. ISBN   9781781557389.
  6. Gens Titia stemma, Strachan
  7. Adriana, Emiliozzi (1983). "Sull'epitaffio del 67 a. C. nel sepolcro dei Salvii a Ferento". Mélanges de l'école française de Rome (in Italian). 95 (2): 701–717. doi:10.3406/mefr.1983.1388 via Persee.fr.
  8. Ottavianelli, Giovanna (2019). "Sulle tracce di un imperatore di origini ferentiensi: Marcus Salvius Otho" (PDF). Archeotuscia.com (in Italian). pp. 25–29. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  9. Suetonius (1855). The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Bohn's Classical Library. Vol. 77. Translated by Thomson, Alexander; Forester, Thomas. University of California: H.G. Bohn. p. 416.
  10. Syme, Ronald (1989). The Augustan Aristocracy (illustrated and revised ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 169. ISBN   9780198147312.
  11. Goldsworthy, Adrian (2014). Augustus: From Revolutionary to Emperor. Hachette UK. ISBN   9780297864264.
  12. Highet, Gilbert (2015). The Speeches in Vergil's Aeneid. Princeton University Press. p. 95. ISBN   9781400869466.
  13. 1 2 3 Bowman, Alan K.; Champlin, Edward; Lintott, Andrew (1996). The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press. p. 217. ISBN   9780521264303.
  14. Murison, Charles L. (1993). Galba, Otho and Vitellius: Careers and Controversies. Georg Olms Verlag. p. 141. ISBN   9783487097565.
  15. Ancient Society. Vol. 3–5. Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven. 172. p. 185.
  16. Ash, Rhiannon, ed. (2007). Corneli Taciti Historiarum, Band 2. Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics. Cambridge University Press. p. 223. ISBN   9780521814461.
  17. Murison, Charles L. (1993). Galba, Otho and Vitellius: Careers and Controversies. Georg Olms Verlag. p. 141. ISBN   9783487097565. Diese Warnung ist gagen Otho und die gesamte domus der Salvier gerichtet, so dass man sich wundert, warum nicht auch die Schwester mit einhezogen wird.
  18. Dupuy, Trevor Nevitt; Johnson, Curt; Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper encyclopedia of military biography . HarperCollins. p.  563. ISBN   9780062700155.
  19. Murison, Charles L. (1993). Galba, Otho and Vitellius: Careers and Controversies. Georg Olms Verlag. p. 142. ISBN   9783487097565.
Political offices
Preceded by Roman consul
July–December 33
with Gaius Octavius Laenas
Succeeded by