Gnaeus Caecilius Simplex 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 was active during the middle of the first century AD. The ephemeral emperor

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...

appointed him

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

during the

Year of Four Emperors A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...

with Gaius Quinctius Atticus as his colleague, replacing Martius Macer and Quinctius Atticus. Many believed Simplex had bribed Vitellius to be appointed to this magistracy, and he was accused of this in the Senate; however Vitellius defended Simplex, and "afterwards bestowed on Simplex a consulship that had not been bought with crime or money." His first known office was as

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

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...

, which at the time was a public province; he held this office in the term 67/68. During his consulate in the last two months of the year 69, Simplex is recorded for two acts. The first was being in charge of recording the names of volunteers wanting to join Vitellius' army against the forces of

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 Emp ...

. The second, on the morning of 18 December of the same year, was to refuse to accept Vitellius' dagger when he attempted to give it away as a form of resigning the office of emperor. An inscription from Musti in Tunisia published in 2009 provides additional information about Simplex. One is that Simplex was proconsular 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 ...

, most likely in the late 80s. The second is it provides not only his praenomen ''Gnaeus'', but a second and previously unknown gentilicum, ''Pinarius''. There are two other senators who bear the nomina "Gnaeus Pinarius":

Gnaeus Pinarius Cornelius Clemens Gnaeus Pinarius Cornelius Clemens (fl. 1st century AD) was a Roman military officer and senator who was appointed Suffect consul during the reign of Vespasian. He is primarily known through inscriptions. Biography Possibly originating from Hispania ...

, suffect consul in either 71 or 72, and

Gnaeus Pinarius Aemilius Cicatricula Gnaeus Pinarius Aemilius Cicatricula was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Domitian. He was suffect consul in the ''nundinium'' of November-December 72 as the colleague of Sextus Marcius Priscus. He is known entirely from inscrip ...

, suffect consul in 72. This led Olli Salomies to conclude "the most economical explanation for the existence of the three contemporary Cn. Pinarii would be to postulate an otherwise unknown Cn. Pinarius, probably a man of means but perhaps without an offspring, who could have adopted by testament three promising younger senators."Salomies
"Adoptive and polyonymous nomenclature in the Roman Empire -- Some Addenda"
''Tituli'', 10 (2014), p. 528

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caecilius Simplex 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Sardinia Roman governors of Africa Simplex, Gnaeus Caecilius