Gaius Paccius Africanus 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 ...
and ''
delator
Delator (plural: ''delatores'', feminine: ''delatrix'') is Latin for a denouncer, one who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed.
Secular Roman law
In Roman history, it was properly one who gave notice (''deferre'') to ...
'' or informer, who was active during the reigns 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 un ...
and
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 ...
. He was
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 ...
from July to August 66 as the colleague of
Marcus Annius Afrinus
Marcus Annius Afrinus was a Roman Empire, Roman Roman senate, senator, who held a number of offices in the emperor's service. He was Roman consul, suffect consul in July-August 66 with Gaius Paccius Africanus as his colleague. He is known primarily ...
.
Steven Rutledge, in his study on ''delatores'' of this period, suggests Africanus was born in the middle of
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 ...
' reign, "probably no earlier than 27".
[Rutledge, ''Imperial Inquisitions: Prosecutors and informants from Tiberius to Domitian'' (London: Routledge, 2001), p. 252] An inscription found at
Terracina
Terracina is an Italian city and ''comune'' of the province of Latina, located on the coast southeast of Rome on the Via Appia ( by rail). The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity.
History Ancient times
Terracina appears in anci ...
, possibly his tombstone, lists some local offices he held, which included serving as ''decemvir ad hastam'' (a judicial position), and sponsoring games held in honor of ''Honos et Virtus''.
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 ...
, Africanus had denounced the brothers
Publius Sulpicius Scribonius Proculus
Publius Sulpicius Scribonius Proculus (died AD 67) was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Nero. He was suffect consul in the ''nundinium'' of September to October 56 as the colleague of his brother Publius Sulpicius Scribonius Ru ...
and
Publius Sulpicius Scribonius Rufus
Publius Sulpicius Scribonius Proculus (died AD 67) was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Nero. He was suffect consul in the '' nundinium'' of September to October 56 as the colleague of his brother Publius Sulpicius Scribonius Ru ...
to the emperor Nero; they were
suffect consuls in 56.
[Tacitus, '']Histories
Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to:
* the plural of history
* ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus
* ''The Histories'', by Timaeus
* ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius
* ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
'', IV.41 As
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 ...
tells the tale, at the time both were administering
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agrippin ...
and
Germania Superior
Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesontio' ...
when Nero summoned them to
Achaea
Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...
for some misleading reason, only to be charged under the ''
lex maiestas
The law of majestas, or ''lex maiestatis'', encompasses several ancient Roman laws (''leges maiestatis'') throughout the Republican and Imperial periods dealing with crimes against the Roman people, state, or Emperor.
Description
In Roman law, th ...
'', and, unable to defend themselves, both committed suicide. After the death of Nero, when the chaos of the
Year of the Four Emperors
The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the transition from the ...
had settled, Africanus was prosecuted for his role in the deaths of the brothers Sulpicii Scribonii; unable to either confess or deny the fact, he instead implicated
Quintus Vibius Crispus as also involved in the matter. In the aftermath, he was physically ejected from the
Curia Julia
The Curia Julia ( la, Curia Iulia, links=no, it, Curia Iulia, links=no) is the third named ''curia'', or senate house, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla's reconstructed Curia ...
.
[
Despite his disreputable history, Africanus was able to remain on good enough terms with the emperor Vespasian that he was allowed to participate in the ]sortition
In governance, sortition (also known as selection by lottery, selection by lot, allotment, demarchy, stochocracy, aleatoric democracy, democratic lottery, and lottocracy) is the selection of political officials as a random sample from a larger ...
and be 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 ' ...
ar 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 ...
for the term 77/78.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 ...
, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''Chiron
In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".
Biography
Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology ...
'', 12 (1982), p. 299 He went on to be ''patronus municipii'', most likely of Hippo Regius
Hippo Regius (also known as Hippo or Hippone) is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria. It historically served as an important city for the Phoenicians, Berbers, Romans, and Vandals. Hippo was the capital city of the Vandal King ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
* H.W. Benario, "C. Paccius Africanus", '' Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', 8 (1959), pp. 496ff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paccius Africanus, Gaius
1st-century Romans
Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome
Roman governors of Africa
Paccii