Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus (died AD 39) 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 general. He was ordinary consul in the year 26 with Gaius Calvisius Sabinus as his colleague. Gaetulicus was involved in a plot against the emperor

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...

, and following its discovery he was executed.

Family

Gaetulicus was the son of Cossus Cornelius Lentulus, consul in 1 BC; his siblings include Cossus Cornelius Lentulus, consul in 25, and Cornelia, the wife of his consular colleague Calvisius Sabinus.Syme, ''The Augustan Aristocracy'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), p. 298 He is attested as having married Apronia, the daughter of

Lucius Apronius Lucius Apronius was a Roman senator and suffect consul in 8 AD. Achievements He became suffect consul in 8 AD, and was a military commander active during the reign of Tiberius. Apronius shared in the achievements of Gaius Vibius Postumus a ...

, by whom he had one daughter and at least three sons: Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, suffect consul in 55, Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, and Decimus Junius Silanus Gaetulicus.

Life

Ronald Syme describes the family of the Cornelii Lentuli as distinguished by "mediocrity and survival". However, Gaetulicus stands out from them, bringing "the Lentuli into fame and peril" with becoming a partisan of the

praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guar ...

. This was solidified by the betrothal of Gaetulicus' daughter to one of Sejanus' sons. The support of a Patrician was rewarded by the ambitious Sejanus, first with the consulate in the year 26, and later with the appointment of ''

legatus pro praetore A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...

'' or governor of the imperial province of

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' ...

in the year 29, possibly in succession to his brother, Cossus Cornelius Lentulus. With the fall and death of Sejanus in the year 31, not only was the family of the praetorian prefect killed but many of his supporters were either exiled or also murdered. Gaetulicus was prosecuted by a Senator who had achieved the office of aedile, Abudius Ruso, but the lawsuit boomeranged on Abudius and the '' delator'' was banished from Rome.

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 ...

notes that Gaetulicus "alone of all connected with Sejanus lived in safety and in high favour." Gaetulicus was very secure in his post in Germania Superior: he was popular with his troops for his kindness and moderate discipline, while his father-in-law Apronius governed the adjacent province of Germania Inferior. Tacitus further mentions a rumor that Gaetulicus and 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 ...

had come to an understanding: the governor had sent him a letter reminding the emperor that he had aligned himself with Sejanus at the emperor's advice, not his own choice, had no part in the affair that led to Sejanus' destruction, and would remain loyal as long as he was left undisturbed in Germania Superior. Gaetulicus remained governor past the death of Tiberius into the reign of

, when a misstep in the year 39 by the former brought him down. "The whole affair is mysterious, the evidence disconnected and fragmentary," writes Ronald Syme. Syme reviews the primary sources -- which include

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

and

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 ...

-- and provides the essential facts. In September 39, Caligula left Rome and proceeded to

Moguntiacum Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Mainz ...

, the capital of Germania Superior, accompanied by his sisters and

Lepidus Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (; c. 89 BC – late 13 or early 12 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who formed the Second Triumvirate alongside Octavian and Mark Antony during the final years of the Roman Republic. Lepidus had previously bee ...

. Upon reaching Moguntiacum, Gaetulicus was one of many executed, in his case because of his popularity with his soldiers. Lepidus was executed by a tribune, while Agrippina and Livilla were exiled to the

Pontine Islands The Pontine Islands (, also ; it, Isole Ponziane ) are an archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Lazio region, Italy. The islands were collectively named after the largest island in the group, Ponza. The other islands in the archipe ...

. On 27 October word of the ''nefaria consilia'' had reached Rome, when the

Arval Brethren In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren ( la, Fratres Arvales, "Brothers of the Fields") or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests. Inscriptions provide eviden ...

celebrated a thanksgiving for its suppression.

Writings

Gaetulicus also had a literary bent. He wrote a history or set of memoirs that

used as a source for his ''Lives of Twelve Caesars'' and Tacitus his ''Annals.'' He is mentioned by name in Suetonius' ''Life of Caligula'' (Gaius) 8. His cognomen "Gaetulicus" appears on nine poems in the ''

Greek Anthology The ''Greek Anthology'' ( la, Anthologia Graeca) is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the ''Greek Anthology'' comes from two manuscripts, the ''Pa ...

'', and Ronald Syme identifies this Gaetulicus as the author, although Syme admits that "some, it is true, are impelled to cast doubt on his authorship." He is known to have written some erotic verses, for

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

cites him as a precedent for the free use of language. He also claimed that the tomb of

Archilochus Archilochus (; grc-gre, Ἀρχίλοχος ''Arkhilokhos''; c. 680 – c. 645 BC) was a Greek lyric poet of the Archaic period from the island of Paros. He is celebrated for his versatile and innovative use of poetic meters, and is the ea ...

is continually haunted by

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, Gnaeus 39 deaths 1st-century Roman poets Ancient Roman generals Executed ancient Roman people People executed by the Roman Empire Ancient Roman poets Silver Age Latin writers Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Germania Superior Cornelii Lentuli Latin writers known only from secondary sources 1st-century executions Year of birth unknown Generals of Tiberius Generals of Caligula