Gaius Fufius Geminus (died AD 29) 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 ...

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 lived during the

Principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...

. He was ordinary consul in the year 29 with

Lucius Rubellius Geminus The gens Rubellia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Augustus, and they achieved prominence during the first century, when two of them obtained the consulship: Gaius Rubellius Bland ...

as his colleague. Geminus was the son of Gaius Fufius Geminus.

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

, ''The Augustan Aristocracy'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), p. 430 A portion of his ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...

'' is known from an inscription recovered from

Montefano Montefano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about north of Macerata. Montefano borders the following municipalities: Appignano, Filottrano, Montecassian ...

in Italia, which recognized Geminus as the

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the colony. Geminus began his senatorial career as a

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

for the emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

; after this he was the emperor's designate for the Republican office of

plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

. Around this time, definitely before he acceded to the consulate, Geminus was admitted to the ''

septemviri epulonum The (Latin for "feasters"; sing. ''epulo'') arranged feasts and public banquets at Roman festival, festivals and games ''(ludi)''. They constituted one of the four great collegium (ancient Rome), religious corporations (''quattuor amplissima co ...

'', one of the four most prestigious ancient Roman priesthoods. According to

Lactantius Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Cr ...

, Fufius Geminus was consul along with "Ruberius Geminus" the year that

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

was crucified. According to

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

, Geminus owed his successes in his senatorial career to the empress

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Roman emperor, Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption in ancient Rome, adoption into the J ...

, the mother of Tiberius. Tacitus also describes Geminus as "a man well-fitted to win the affection of a woman", and witty, and "accustomed to ridicule Tiberius with those bitter jests the powerful remember so long." Once Livia died, in the year of his consulate, Geminus was prosecuted for treason. According to

Dio Cassius Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, upon being accused of ''majestas'' Geminus stood in the Senate chamber, and read his will to the assembled body wherein he left his inheritance in equal portions to his children and the emperor. Thereupon he was charged with being a coward, and he responded by returning home before a vote on the charges was taken. When the quaestor arrived to see to his execution, Geminus slit his wrists saying, "Report to the senate that it is thus one dies who is a man." After his death, his wife Mutilia Prisca entered the Senate House where she killed herself with a dagger she had brought in secretly with her.Dio Cassius, LVIII, 4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fufius Geminus, Gaius 1st-century Romans 29 deaths Year of birth unknown Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Epulones of the Roman Empire Ancient Romans who committed suicide Suicides by sharp instrument