Marcus Salvius Otho | |
---|---|
Occupation | moneyer |
Era | Augustan |
Known for | grandfather of emperor Otho |
Spouse | Titia (possibly) |
Children | Marcus Salvius Otho Lucius Salvius Otho |
Marcus Salvius Otho was an ancient Roman politician and grandfather of emperor Otho.
Marcus Salvius Otho was a member to the Salvia gens. His father is described by Suetonius as an Eques (knight) of Etruscan descent whose ancestors came from Ferentinum and were descended from the princes of Etruria. His mother is not named and stated as being of lowly origin, [1] and may not even have been freeborn. [2] There have been many attempts at identifying Marcus' father, among them an Otho mentioned to have been a "puny-headed" follower of Julius Caesar in one of Catullus poems was proposed by Ernst Bickel, [3] T. P. Wiseman and Bruce W. Frier have proposed that he may be the Salvius who was tribune of the plebs in 43 BC (and that this man was the son of an Urban praetor in 76 BC) [4] who Elizabeth Rawson also identifies as the Salvius who was the first victim of the proscriptions of the Second Triumvirate. [5] Joachim Losehand argued against a connection with the Gabinian centurion Salvius who assassinated Pompey. [6]
Otho is presumed to have been born around 40 BC. [7] He was raised and educated in the household of empress Livia, [1] probably alongside her sons Tiberius and Drusus after their father died in 33 BC. [7]
Through Livia's influence he entered the senate and reached the praetorship. [8] Unusually for a novus homo Otho was triumvir monetalis [9] in an uncertain year, possibly 11 BC [7] or 7 BC (as his coinage depicts Victoria crowning Augustus, perhaps celebrating Tiberius triumph that year). [10]
Otho married a woman whose identity is not known for certain, but Suetonius describes her as a noblewoman "allied to several great families". The appearance of the name "Titianus" among his descendants has led to speculation that she may have been a Titia. [11] [12] [13] A Titia L. f. is known from inscription to have been the wife of a Salvius. This woman died young in 23 BC. [14] [15] He may have had a first-born homonymous son who became a moneyer, [16] as well as the better known Lucius Salvius Otho, father of emperor Otho, (although there were rumours that Lucius was actually Tiberius' bastard). [9]
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Claudius Nero and his wife, Livia Drusilla. In 38 BC, Tiberius's mother divorced his father and married Augustus. Following the untimely deaths of Augustus's two grandsons and adopted heirs, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Tiberius was designated Augustus's 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.
Livia Drusilla was Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julia gens in AD 14.
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.
The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at ancient Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to obtain the consulship was Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, in 495 BC, and from that time its members frequently held the highest offices of the state, both under the Republic and in imperial times.
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.
The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic.
Vipsania Julia Agrippina nicknamed Julia Minor and called Julia the Younger by modern historians, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was emperor Augustus' first granddaughter, being the first daughter and second child of Julia the Elder and her husband Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Along with her siblings, Julia was raised and educated by her maternal grandfather Augustus and her maternal step-grandmother Livia Drusilla. Just like her siblings, she played an important role in the dynastic plans of Augustus, but much like her mother, she was disgraced due to infidelity later on in her life.
Tiberius Claudius Nero was a Roman politician, senator, and praetor who lived in the 1st century BC.
The gens Scribonia was a plebeian family of ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear in history at the time of the Second Punic War, but the first of the Scribonii to obtain the consulship was Gaius Scribonius Curio in 76 BC.
The gens Pompeia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, first appearing in history during the second century BC, and frequently occupying the highest offices of the Roman state from then until imperial times. The first of the Pompeii to obtain the consulship was Quintus Pompeius in 141 BC, but by far the most illustrious of the gens was Gnaeus Pompeius, surnamed Magnus, a distinguished general under the dictator Sulla, who became a member of the First Triumvirate, together with Caesar and Crassus. After the death of Crassus, the rivalry between Caesar and Pompeius led to the Civil War, one of the defining events of the final years of the Roman Republic.
The Julii Caesares were the most illustrious family of the patrician gens Julia. The family first appears in history during the Second Punic War, when Sextus Julius Caesar was praetor in Sicily. His son, Sextus Julius Caesar, obtained the consulship in 157 BC; but the most famous descendant of this stirps is Gaius Julius Caesar, a general who conquered Gaul and became the undisputed master of Rome following the Civil War. Having been granted dictatorial power by the Roman Senate and instituting a number of political and social reforms, he was assassinated in 44 BC. After overcoming several rivals, Caesar's adopted son and heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, was proclaimed Augustus by the senate, inaugurating what became the Julio-Claudian line of Roman emperors.
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.
The gens Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentius Arsa, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him Terentilius, and from inscriptions this would seem to be a separate gens. No other Terentii appear in history until the time of the Second Punic War. Gaius Terentius Varro, one of the Roman commanders at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, was the first to hold the consulship. Members of this family are found as late as the third century AD.
The gens Atia, sometimes written Attia, was a minor plebeian family at Ancient Rome. The first of this gens to achieve prominence was Lucius Atius, a military tribune in 178 BC. Several of the Atii served in the Civil War between Caesar and Pompeius. The gens Attia of imperial times may be descended from this family, although its members lived nearly a century after the more notable Atii, and are not known to have been related.
The gens Titia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The gens is rarely mentioned in the Republican period, and did not rise out of obscurity till a very late time. None of its members obtained the consulship under the Republic, and the first person of the name who held this office was Marcus Titius in BC 31.
The gens Pomponia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear throughout the history of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebs in 449 BC; the first who obtained the consulship was Manius Pomponius Matho in 233 BC.
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.
The gens Lucceia, occasionally Luceia or Luccia, was a plebeian family at Rome, which flourished during the final century of the Republic and under the early Empire.