Gaius Rubellius Blandus 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 lett ...

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. ...

. Blandus was the grandson of

Rubellius Blandus Rubellius Blandus was a Roman, native of Tibur (Tivoli, Italy). He was the first Equestrian of Ancient Rome to teach rhetoric and thus made it more respectable (Sen., Controv. 2, 5). He was the teacher of Papirius Fabianus, who was in turn the ...

of Tibur, a member of the

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

class, who was the first Roman to teach

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

. He was suffect consul from August to December AD 18 with

Marcus Vipstanus Gallus Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobâ ...

as his colleague. In AD 33, he married

Julia Livia Julia Livia (7 – 43 AD), was the daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla, and granddaughter of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. She was also a first cousin of the emperor Caligula, and niece of the emperor Claudius. Biography Early life Jul ...

, granddaughter of the Roman 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 ...

Career

As the first member of his family to be admitted to the Senate, Blandus is considered a ''

homo novus ''Novus homo'' or ''homo novus'' (Latin for 'new man'; ''novi homines'' or ''homines novi'') was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul. When ...

''. 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 ''c ...

'' is documented in several inscriptions found in North Africa. Blandus began his career with the singular honor of being

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 ...

in service to the emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

; two more of the traditional Republican magistracies followed,

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 o ...

and

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

. Two years after he served as suffect consul, he was involved with the prosecution of

Aemilia Lepida Aemilia Lepida is the name of several ancient Roman women belonging to the ''gens Aemilia''. The name was given to daughters of men belonging to the Lepidus branch of the Aemilius family. The first Aemilia Lepida to be mentioned by Roman historian ...

, putting forward a motion in the senate to outlaw her which carried. The primary sources disagree when Blandus was admitted to the prestigious

College of Pontiffs The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see ''collegium'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other '' ...

, whether it was before or after his consulate; one inscription lists it before, while two list it afterwards. Hoffman notes Blandus "probably received the priesthood late because of his low birth." Despite his background, Blandus achieved what came to be the pinnacle of a successful senatorial career,

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 ...

in 35/36. Upon returning to Rome, Blandus was selected as one of four members of a commission to assess damage a fire had caused in Rome earlier that year.

Marriages and family

Blandus appears to have had a daughter named Rubellia Bassa from an earlier marriage. In the year 33 he married

, one of the princesses of the Imperial house. Despite the fact that Blandus had been suffect consul in 18, the match was considered a social disaster; Tacitus includes the event in a list of "the many sorrows which saddened Rome", which otherwise consisted of deaths of different prominent people.

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 ...

identifies the historian's reaction as "the tone and sentiments of a man enslaved to the standards of class and rank." Julia was the daughter of Livilla and

Drusus Julius Caesar Drusus Julius Caesar (14 BC – 14 September AD 23), was the son of Emperor Tiberius, and heir to the Roman Empire following the death of his adoptive brother Germanicus in AD 19. He was born at Rome to a prominent branch of the ''gens Claud ...

, and the granddaughter of Emperor

. The marriage produced at least one child, a boy, Rubellius Plautus, who was considered as a rival to Emperor

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 ...

. Two further children are uncertain: a single inscription refers to a Rubellius Drusus, who died before his third birthday, while

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the '' Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...

implies the existence of another son, also named Gaius Rubellius Blandus.Satire, VIII.39

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubellius Blandus, Gaius 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Imperial Roman praetors Roman quaestors Tribunes of the plebs Roman governors of Africa Julio-Claudian dynasty Rubellii Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown

Career

Marriages and family

See also

References