Publius Sallustius Blaesus

Last updated

Publius Sallustius Blaesus was a Roman senator active during the last half of the first century AD. He was suffect consul for the nundinium May to August 89 with Marcus Peducaeus Saenianus as his colleague. [1] Despite his social rank, Blaesus is a shadowy figure about whom scholars have made numerous sumises.

The only fact of Blaesus' life that is certain is that he was a member of the Arval Brethren from at least as early as the year 78 to 91, when a gap in the records begins; when the records of the Arval Brethren resume in the year 101, he is no longer present. This has led some experts to conclude Blaesus died between the years 91 and 101. [2]

Ronald Syme, noting the difficulty of polyonymous names, proposed identifying Blaesus with another consular senator, Sallustius Lucullus, the date of whose consulate is not known. [3] According to Suetonius, Lucullus was executed by the emperor Domitian for allowing a new type of lance to be named after him. [4] Syme further suggests that Sallustius Blaesus had a second gentilicium , "Velleius", allowing him to be identified with one Velleius Blaesus, the subject of a letter Pliny the Younger wrote to his friend Calvisius: Pliny's letter tells how Blaesus, a rich but dying ex-consul, was targeted by a legacy hunter, another senator named Marcus Aquilius Regulus. [5] Both Statius and Martial also refer to a recently deceased Blaesus, the friend of their wealthy patron Atedius Melior. [6] Edward Champlin supports Syme's identification by pointing to an inscription from Ephesus that mentions a "[.] Velleius P.? f. Tro.[...] L. Sertorius [... Ped]anius Fuscus Sa[linat]or Sallus[ti]us Bla[esus .] Julius Agricola [...] Caesonius", [7] leading Champlin to suggest that "a new figure can emerge, the composite of three shadowy consulars who died in the latter years of the reign of Domitian, viz. P. Velleius P.f. Tro. Lucullus Sallustius Blaesus, cos. suff. 89." [8]

However, P. Conole and Brian Jones point out since the records of the Arval Brethren "record his [Blaesus'] presence in Rome during every year of the first half of Domitian's reign for which complete minutes have survived, it is difficult to see how he could have managed to gain sufficient provincial experience in praetorian posts to merit appointment to Britain, an Imperial consular province." [9] So while it is still possible Sallustius Blaesus is identical with the Velleius Blaesus of Pliny's anecdote, his identity with the poorly-documented governor of Britain is less likely.

Related Research Articles

The 90s ran from 90 AD to 99 AD.

Sallustius Lucullus was a governor of Roman Britain during the late 1st century AD, holding office after Gnaeus Julius Agricola, although it is unclear whether he was the immediate successor or if there was another unknown governor in between. Lucullus has been described as "an enigma", as the only definite fact known about him is Suetonius' report that the emperor Domitian had him executed for allowing a new type of lance to be named after him.

Lucius Neratius Marcellus was an imperial Roman military officer and senator who held a number of posts in the Emperor's service. Marcellus was elected consul twice, first under Domitian in 95 AD and again under Hadrian in 129. His life provides several examples of how patronage operated in early Imperial Rome.

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 Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentilius 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.

Gaius Salvius Liberalis Nonius Bassus was a Roman senator and general, who held civil office in Britain and was a member of the Arval Brethren. He was suffect consul in the last nundinium of 85, with Cornelius Orestes as his colleague.

Nerva Roman emperor from AD 96 to 98

Nerva was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the rulers of the Flavian dynasty. Under Nero, he was a member of the imperial entourage and played a vital part in exposing the Pisonian conspiracy of 65. Later, as a loyalist to the Flavians, he attained consulships in 71 and 90 during the reigns of Vespasian and Domitian, respectively.

Gaius Avidius Nigrinus was a Roman senator who lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries. Nigrinus served as suffect consul for the nundinium of April to June 110 with Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus as his colleague.

The gens Arruntia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence during the final years of the Republic.

The gens Ceionia or Caeionia was an ancient Roman family of imperial times. The first member of the gens to obtain the consulship was Lucius Ceionius Commodus in AD 78. The rise of this family culminated in the elevation of the emperor Lucius Verus, born Lucius Ceionius Commodus, in AD 161.

The gens Domitia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, consul in 332 BC. His son, Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus Maximus, was consul in 283, and the first plebeian censor. The family produced several distinguished generals, and towards the end of the Republic, the Domitii were looked upon as one of the most illustrious gentes.

Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Peticus was a Roman senator during the reign of Nero.

Marcus Aponius Saturninus was a Senator of Imperial Rome who was the child of wealthy senatorial parents, who owned property in Egypt. He is mentioned in the Acta Arvalia in the year 57 AD; classicist Ronald Syme suggests that he was made a member of the Arval Brethren due to the influence of Annaeus Seneca. Saturninus is mentioned as being present in 66 for sacrifices on the Capitol with the emperor Nero. Tacitus calls him a consul, but the date of his office is uncertain. He may have been consul in 55; Classical scholar Paul Gallivan at the University of Tasmania has argued that Saturninus was suffect consul between 63 and 66, by which time he was recorded as becoming promagister.

Norbana gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Norbana was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned toward the beginning of the first century BC, and from then to the end of the second century AD they filled a number of magistracies and other important posts, first in the late Republic, and subsequently under the emperors.

Tiberius Julius Candidus Marius Celsus was a Roman senator who lived during the Flavian dynasty. Contemporary sources, such as the Fasti Ostienses, the Acta Arvalia and a letter of Pliny the Younger, refer to him as Tiberius Julius Candidus. He was twice consul.

Lucius Venuleius Montanus Apronianus was a Roman senator of the first century. He was suffect consul for the nundinium of January to April AD 92 with Qunintus Volusius Saturninus, replacing the emperor Domitian.

Gaius Catellius Celer was a Roman senator who flourished during the Flavian dynasty. He served as suffect consul for the nundinium September-October 77 with Marcus Arruntius Aquila as his colleague.

The gens Sallustia, occasionally written Salustia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Cicero, and from that time they attained particular distinction as statesmen and writers. The most illustrious of the family was the historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus, who wrote valuable works on the Jugurthine War and the Conspiracy of Catiline, which still exist.

The gens Statia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the early decades of the Republic, but the name does not appear again in history until the time of Cicero. The Statii remained relatively undistinguished until the reign of Trajan, when Lucius Statius Aquila was raised to the consulship.

Statilia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Statilia was a plebeian family of Lucanian origin at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the third century BC, when one of them led the Lucanian assault on the city of Thurii, and another commanded an allied cavalry troop during the Second Punic War; but at Rome the Statilii first come to attention in the time of Cicero, at which point they held equestrian rank. The first of the family to attain the consulship was Titus Statilius Taurus in 37 BC, and his descendants continued to fill the highest offices of the Roman state until the time of Marcus Aurelius.

References

  1. ↑ Paul Gallivan, "The Fasti for A. D. 70-96", Classical Quarterly , 31 (1981), pp. 191, 217
  2. ↑ Edward Champlin, "Hadrian's Heir", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik , 21 (1976), p. 85
  3. ↑ Syme, Tacitus (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958), p. 648
  4. ↑ Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Domitian 10.3
  5. ↑ Pliny, Epistulae , II.20.7f
  6. ↑ Statius, Silvae II.1. 189-207; Martial VIII.38
  7. ↑ AE 1972, 578
  8. ↑ Champlin, "Hadrian's Heir", p. 86
  9. ↑ Conole and Jones, "Sallustius Lucullus", Latomus, 42 (1983), p. 629
Political offices
Preceded byas suffect consuls Suffect consul of the Roman Empire
89
with Marcus Peducaeus Saenianus 		Succeeded byas suffect consuls
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.