Accusation and death
In 66, Anteius was detained in Rome by Nero after having been denounced, along with Publius Ostorius Scapula, by Antistius Sosianus. [4] Because an accusation -- delatio -- would mean the accuser might receive some portion of the property of the accused, this could be quite lucrative in imperial Rome. The grounds for this accusation were that Sosianus said he had discovered that Anteius had set up a yearly pension for the exiled Greek astrologer Pammenes -- at this time, use of astrology could result in a charge of magic and treason against the emperor. [5] As proof, Sosianus produced a letter from Pammenes to Anteius, as well as Pammenes's notes on Anteius's and Nero's future careers, ostensibly requested by Anteius. [6]
The accused quickly became the condemned, without much in the way of a formal trial, if any. Fear of Nero, and of getting swept up in the accusation, was so great that none of Anteius's friends even stepped forward to witness his last will and testament. Finally, the praetorian prefect Tigellinus, did it, warning Anteius not to "procrastinate" with preparations for his death. [5] Tigellinus was himself a noted profiteer from such accusations, and it's likely he himself profited by witnessing the will. [7]
Anteius was already disliked by Nero on account of his intimacy with Nero's hated mother Agrippina, and was forced by Nero to kill himself in 67. [8] Anteius first took poison, which did not work, and after which he cut open his own veins. [5]
This Anteius's cognomen "Rufus" is not recorded in the account of Tacitus, but is ascribed to him by the scholar Edmund Groag based on inscriptions in his Prosopographia Imperii Romani . [1]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William (1870). "P. Anteius". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . Vol. 1. p. 183.