Aulus Plautius (c. 44 BC – 1st century AD) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

politician and

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

who was appointed

Suffect consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

during the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

Biography

The son of

Aulus Plautius Aulus Plautius was a Roman politician and general of the mid-1st century. He began the Roman conquest of Britain in 43, and became the first governor of the new province, serving from 43 to 46 CE. Career Little is known of Aulus Plautius's ear ...

who was ''

praetor urbanus Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

'' in 51 BC, Plautius was appointed ''

consul suffectus A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

'' in 1 BC, replacing

Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus was a Ancient Rome, Roman Roman senate, senator and general, who was Roman consul, consul in 1 BC with Lucius Calpurnius Piso the Augur as his colleague. Originally born Cossus Cornelius Lentulus, Gaetulicus was ...

. It has been speculated that he may have been the Aulus Plautius who was sent to

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

possibly around AD 9/10, with the task of interrogating and torturing

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

for some purpose,PIR² P 455 although it is more likely that this refers to his son

who may have been involved with the suppression of a slave revolt in Apulia in AD 24. Aulus Plautius was married to Vitellia, the grandaunt of the future Roman emperor

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...

. They had at least two sons and one daughter:

(suffect consul in 29 and who initiated the conquest of

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

);

Quintus Plautius Quintus Plautius was a Roman senator, who was active during the Principate. Life He was consul ''ordinarius'' for the year 36 as the colleague of Sextus Papinius Allenius. Nothing more is known about his senatorial career. He was the son of Au ...

(ordinary consul in 36), and Plautia, who was the wife of

Publius Petronius Publius Petronius was a Roman senator, who was active during the reigns of Caligula and Claudius. He was suffect consul in the second half of the year 19, replacing Lucius Norbanus Balbus. The sortition also awarded him the proconsulate of Asia; ...

. It is unlikely that this was the Aulus Plautius who was the

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Cilicia et Cyprus around the year 22/20 BC; that one may possibly have been his father.

Sources

* Giuseppe Camodeca: ''Problemi di storia sociale in Alife Romana. Le gentes senatorie degli Aedii e dei Granii e i ceti dirigenti del primo principato.'' In: Luigi Di Cosmo (Hrsg.): ''Il territorio Alifano. Archeologia, arte, storia. Atti del convegno, S. Angelo d’Alife, 26 aprile 1987''. S. Angelo d’Alife 1990. S. 123–143. *

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is Professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. His ...

, Antonio Caballos, Fernando Fernández: ''Das Senatus consultum de Cn. Pisone patre''. Beck, München 1996, , S. 105−106. *

Prosopographia Imperii Romani The ', abbreviated ''PIR'', is a collective historical work to establish the prosopography of high-profile people from the Roman empire. The time period covered extends from the Battle of Actium in 31 BC to the reign of Diocletian. The final volum ...

(PIR²). 1998, P 456.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plautius, Aulus 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Plautii 40s BC births Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown