Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus | |
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![]() Marble relief of Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus (center right) with Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline Museums in Rome | |
Consul of the Roman Empire | |
In office 173 AD –173 AD Servingwith Gnaeus Claudius Severus | |
Preceded by | Servius Calpurnius Scipio Orfitus and Sextus Quintilius Maximus |
Succeeded by | Lucius Aurelius Gallus and Quintus Volusius Flaccus Cornelianus |
Military Governor of Pannonia Inferior | |
In office 164 AD –168 AD | |
Suffect Consul of the Roman Empire | |
In office 162 AD –162 AD Servingwith Tiberius Claudius Paullinus | |
Preceded by | Junius Rusticus and Lucius Titius Plautius Aquilinus |
Succeeded by | Marcus Insteius Bithynicus and ignotus |
Personal details | |
Born | 125 AD Antioch,Syria,Roman Empire (modern-day Antakya,Hatay,Turkey) |
Died | 193 AD (aged 68) Rome,Roman Empire (modern-day Rome,Italy) |
Spouse | Lucilla (m. 169;d. 182) |
Children | Lucius Aurelius Commodus Pompeianus,Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus Quintianus |
Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus [1] (Greek:Πομπηιανός;c. 125 –193 AD) was a politician and military commander during the 2nd century in the Roman Empire. A general under Emperor Marcus Aurelius,Pompeianus distinguished himself during Rome's wars against the Parthians and the Marcomanni. He was a member of the imperial family due to his marriage to Lucilla,a daughter of Marcus Aurelius,and was a key figure during the emperor's reign. Pompeianus was offered the imperial throne three times,though he refused to claim the title for himself.[ citation needed ]
A native of Antioch in Syria,Pompeianus was from relatively humble origins. His father was a member of the equestrian order. [2] As indicated by his name,his family first gained Roman citizenship during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Pompeianus was a novus homo ("new man") as he was the first member of his family to be appointed as a senator.
Much of Pompeianus' early life has been lost to history. He participated in the Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 under the command of Emperor Lucius Verus,likely as a legionary commander. Sometime prior to the Parthian campaign,he was elevated to the rank of senator. He served with distinction during the war,earning him appointment as suffect consul for the remainder of the year 162 AD. [3]
Following the completion the Parthian campaign, Emperor Marcus Aurelius appointed him military governor of Pannonia Inferior on the empire's northern frontier along the Danube River. [I 1] [4] He likely served from 164 until 168. In late 166 or early 167, a force of 6,000 Lombards invaded Pannonia. Pompeianus defeated the invasion with relative ease, but it marked the beginning of a larger barbarian invasion. [5]
Late in 167, the Marcomanni tribe invaded the empire by crossing in Pannonia. Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus planned a punitive expedition to drive the barbarians back across the Danube River, but due to the effects of the Antonine Plague, the expedition was postponed until early 168. Aided by Pompeianus, the two emperors were able to force the Marcomanni to retreat. Pompeianus' military skills earned him the confidence of Marcus Aurelius and he quickly became one of the Emperor's closest advisors.
As the emperors returned to their winter quarters in Aquileia, Lucius Verus fell ill and died in January 169. Marcus Aurelius arranged for his daughter Lucilla, Verus' widow, to marry Pompeianus. [2] [6] As son-in-law to the emperor, Pompeianus became a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. The emperor even offered to name Pompeianus Caesar and his heir, but Pompeianus declined the title.[ citation needed ] Instead, Pompeianus was promoted and served as the emperor's chief general during the Marcomannic War. Under his guidance, the exiled senator and fellow Parthian war veteran Pertinax was recalled and joined Pompeianus on his military staff.
Pompeianus' successes during the Marcomannic War further distinguished him, with the emperor awarding him a second consulship in 173. [6] [7] [I 2] He took part in a number of military operations in the Danubian region and was still stationed in the region following the death of Marcus Aurelius. [I 3]
Marcus Aurelius died in 180 AD, and his 18-year-old son Commodus, Pompeianus' brother-in-law, was proclaimed Roman emperor. Pompeianus tried to persuade Commodus to remain on the Danubian frontier to complete the conquest of the Marcomanni, but Commodus returned to Rome in the autumn of 180. [8] [9]
The relationship between the young emperor and the experienced officer quickly deteriorated. In 182, Lucilla, Pompeianus' wife and Commodus' sister, organized a failed assassination attempt against the emperor. Though Commodus executed Lucilla and other members of her family, Pompeianus had not participated in the conspiracy and was spared. [10] [11] Following the conspiracy, Pompeianus withdrew from public life, citing old age, and retired to his estates in Italy. He spent most of his time in the country away from Rome, claiming age and an ailment of the eyes as an excuse. [12]
Commodus was assassinated in 192 AD by members of the Praetorian Guard. Pompeianus returned to Rome once the plot against Commodus succeeded, resuming his seat in the Senate. [12]
Pertinax, who was the urban prefect at the time, offered the throne to Pompeianus, but he declined. [13] The Praetorian Guard then proclaimed Pertinax the emperor, but they assassinated him after only 87 days for attempting to impose order upon the long-undisciplined unit. Senator Didius Julianus bribed the Praetorian Guard to proclaim him emperor, but had difficulty garnering support within the ranks of his own troops. In a desperate attempt to save himself, Julianus asked Pompeianus to become co-emperor with him. Pompeianus again declined, on the grounds of his advanced years and eye problems. Julianus was executed on the orders of Septimius Severus after ruling for only 66 days. [14]
Pompeianus appears to have died sometime in 193. His children survived and prospered as members of an important family: they were the grandchildren of Marcus Aurelius. This prestige was dangerous because the new dynasty of the Severans could have seen them as possible competition. Aurelius, son of Pompeianus, was consul in 209, but was later assassinated at the instigation of Caracalla. [15] Later descendants of Pompeianus would become consuls in 231 and 241. [16]
Russell Crowe's character Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 film Gladiator is loosely based on Pompeianus and others, including Narcissus.
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Notes: Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.
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References:
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Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calm, and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.
The 160s decade ran from January 1, 160, to December 31, 169.
The 170s decade ran from January 1, 170, to December 31, 179.
Year 193 (CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius. The denomination 193 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.
Commodus was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 until his assassination in 192. For the first three years of his reign, he was co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius. Commodus's sole rule, starting with the death of Marcus in 180, is commonly thought to mark the end of a golden age of peace and prosperity in the history of the Roman Empire.
Lucius Aurelius Verus was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with Marcus Aurelius marked the first time that the Roman Empire was ruled by more than one emperor simultaneously, an increasingly common occurrence in the later history of the Empire.
Publius Helvius Pertinax was Roman emperor for the first three months of 193. He succeeded Commodus to become the first emperor during the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors.
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Marcus Statius Priscus Licinius Italicus was a Roman senator and general active during the reigns of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. Contemporary sources refer to him as Marcus Statius Priscus or simply Statius Priscus. He was consul for the year 159 as the colleague of Plautius Quintillus; Priscus was one of only two homines novi to attain the ordinary consul in the reigns of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
The Marcomannic Wars were a series of wars lasting from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against principally the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges; there were related conflicts with several other Germanic, Sarmatian, and Gothic peoples along both sides of the whole length of the Roman Empire's northeastern European border, the river Danube.
Marcus Valerius Maximianus was an important Roman general of the period of the Marcomannic Wars during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He was born in the Roman colony of Poetovio, where his father, also called Marcus Valerius Maximianus, was a local censor and priest. He was decorated for services in the Parthian war of Lucius Verus and was appointed by Marcus Aurelius to ensure the armies in Pannonia were supplied by boats on the Danube.
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