Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus was a

Roman senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

who lived in the reign of

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 unti ...

. He was suffect consul in 52, but later attracted the hatred of

, and upon being condemned to death committed suicide. He was associated with a group of Stoics opposed to the perceived tyranny and autocratic tendencies of certain emperors, known today as the Stoic Opposition.

Life and career

Soranus was a member of the gens Marcia; his father,

Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus was a Roman senator who lived in the reign of Nero. He was suffect consul in 52, but later attracted the hatred of Nero, and upon being condemned to death committed suicide. He was associated with a group of Stoics ...

, had been a suffect consul as well as governor of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. His brother was

Quintus Marcius Barea Sura Quintus Marcius Barea Sura was a Roman Senator of the first century AD. Life Sura was the son of the suffect consul Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus; his brother was the suffect consul Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus. He was the father of Marcia Fu ...

, friend of the future emperor

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 Empi ...

and maternal grandfather of

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. His career prior to becoming consul is not well known. Subsequent to holding the '' fasces'', Soranus was governor of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

around 61/62.

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 ...

, ''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'', xvi.23 During this tenure, the Emperor Nero had ordered his freedman Acrato to take away the works of art of the city of

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...

, but the people revolted; Soranus refused to follow the orders of the Emperor and punish its citizens.

Trial and death

Soranus was accused by Ostorius Sabinus, an equestrian, of being friends with Rubellius Plautus (another object of Nero's hatred), and for inciting the citizens of Asia to revolt.Tacitus, ''Annals'', xvi.30 One of the chief witnesses against him was Egnatius Celer of Berytus, his client and former tutor. Soranus' daughter, Servilia, was also accused of having hired a sorcerer (''

magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin '' magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius t ...

''), and was tried together with her father. Servilia confessed that she had consulted an astrologer, but only to pray in honor of her father and the emperor; Soranus asked that his daughter be spared because she was not involved in the conspiracy or aware of the misdeeds of her husband, Gaius Annius Pollio. In the end, Soranus was condemned to death (in 65 or 66), and committed suicide.

Family

Soranus is known to have one daughter, Marcia Servilia Sorana, better known as "Servilia".Julian Bennett, ''Trajan: Optimus Princeps'' (Routledge, 2003), p. 13

Life and career

Trial and death

Family

References

Further reading