Gaius Calvisius Sabinus (consul AD 26)

Gaius Calvisius Sabinus was consul in AD 26 with Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus. During the reign of Caligula, he was accused of conspiring against the emperor, and took his own life rather than submit to a trial.

Family

Calvisius was probably the son of Gaius Calvisius Sabinus, consul in 4 BC, and grandson of Gaius Calvisius Sabinus, consul in 39 BC. His wife, Cornelia, may have been the sister of Cornelius Lentulus, Calvisius' colleague in the consulship.[1]

Career

Calvisius and Cornelius were named consules ordinarii for AD 26, the thirteenth year of the emperor Tiberius. This was the year in which Tiberius left Rome for Campania, never to return. On the Kalends of July, the consuls were replaced by Quintus Marcius Barea and Titus Rustius Nummius Gallus.[1][2]

Tiberius' removal from Rome may have been influenced by his advisor Sejanus. He fell from power and was executed during his own consulship, in AD 31. The following year, Calvisius and three other men of consular rank were accused of maiestas. One of the informers, a tribune of a city cohort by the name of Celsus, gave testimony that exculpated Calvisius and Appius Junius Silanus, consul in AD 28. Tiberius deferred action against the other two, Gaius Annius Pollio and Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus.[3][4][5]

During the reign of Caligula, Calvisius was appointed governor of Pannonia, and given the command of two legions. The emperor, who suspected Calvisius and his wife of plotting against him, recalled the governor in AD 39, and brought charges against both. Cornelia was accused of entering the camp at night dressed as a soldier, interfering with the guard, and committing adultery in the general's headquarters. As their condemnation was certain, they put an end to their own lives before the trial could begin.[1][6][7][8][9]

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  2. ↑ Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales, iv. 46.
  3. ↑ Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales, vi. 9.
  4. ↑ Steven H. Rutledge, Imperial Inquisitions: Prosecutors and Informants from Tiberius to Domitian (Routledge, 2001), pp. 98 and 239 online.
  5. ↑ Robin Seager, Tiberius (Blackwell, 1972, 2005), p. 192 online.
  6. ↑ Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Historiae, i. 48.
  7. ↑ Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History, lix. 18.
  8. ↑ Ronald Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 298, note 120.
  9. ↑ Anthony A. Barrett, Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire (Yale University Press, 1996), p. 60 online.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 

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