Anicetus was the leader of an unsuccessful anti-

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 lett ...

uprising in

Colchis In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...

in 69 AD. He claimed to be acting on behalf of

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 ...

, and destroyed a

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum * Cohort (floating point), a set of different encodings of the same numerical value * Cohort (military unit) ...

and part of the Roman fleet stationed at Trapezus.Woods, David (2006). "Tacitus, Nero, and the 'Pirate' Anicetus" in ''Latomus'' 65(3), p. 641 The revolt was put down by the Roman reinforcements under Virdius Geminus, a lieutenant of

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Emp ...

.Wheeler, Everett L. 2011. "Roman Fleets in the Black Sea", in ''Acta Classica'' pp.125–126 Overtaken at the mouth of the river Chobus (now the

Enguri River The Enguri ( ka, ენგური, tr, xmf, ინგირი, ingiri, ab, Егры, ''Egry'' russian: Ингури, ''Inguri'') is a river in western Georgia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

, the only ancient source to mention him, Anicetus had been a

freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom ...

of King

Polemon II of Pontus Marcus Antonius Polemon Pythodoros, also known as Polemon II of Pontus and Polemon of Cilicia ( el, Μάρκος Ἀντώνιος Πολέμων Πυθόδωρος; 12 BC/11 BC–74), was a prince of the Bosporan, Pontus, Cilicia, and Cappadoci ...

, and had commanded the royal fleet. In 64 AD, the

Kingdom of Pontus Pontus ( grc-gre, Πόντος ) was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus (region), Pontus and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty (of Persian people, Persian origin), which possibly may have been di ...

had become a Roman province, and Tacitus implies that Anicetus' rebellion was motivated by his desire to free Pontus from Roman rule. However, David Woods argues that Anicetus should in fact be identified with the prefect of the fleet at Misenum who shared the name, and who was involved in

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

's murder of his mother,

Agrippina Agrippina is an ancient Roman cognomen and a feminine given name. People with either the cognomen or the given name include: Cognomen Relatives of the Roman general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa: * Vipsania Agrippina (36 BC–20 AD), first wife of the ...

. Woods argues that his actions were therefore not those of someone fighting for independence from Rome, but of a Roman hoping to secure a position of power by supporting the Vitellian faction in the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

which followed the death of Nero.Woods, David (2006). "Tacitus, Nero, and the 'Pirate' Anicetus" in ''Latomus'' 65(3), p. 648

References

External links

Roman Fleet
Roman-era pirates Laz people 69 deaths Year of birth unknown 1st-century people 60s in the Roman Empire {{AncientRome-bio-stub