Herennius Senecio (d. 93 AD) was among the Stoic Opposition to the emperor

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

, under whose rule he was executed. He was from

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic di ...

Roman Spain Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...

. He was the author of a laudatory biography of the Stoic martyr

Helvidius Priscus Helvidius Priscus, Stoic philosopher and statesman, lived during the reigns of Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian. Biography Helvidius came from town of Cluviae, and his father had been the senior centurion of a legion. From early y ...

. In 93 AD, Herennius and

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

successfully prosecuted a case against Baebius Massa for improprieties during his administration in Baetica. Baebius's property was confiscated in order to make reparations to the provincials. Baebius retaliated by bringing a charge of treason ('' maiestas'') against Herennius, accusing him of ''impietas'', but dropped the case when Pliny threatened a counter suit. Mettius Carus, however, managed to convict Herennius. Although the details of the case are unclear, several factors rendered Herennius vulnerable. Because he had declined to run for any office after he was

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 ...

, he might be accused of desertion of public duty (''secessio''). He was connected by friendship and possibly blood to the emperor's enemies. In his biography of Helvidius, Herennius was praising an unrelenting critic of Domitian's father. Helvidius's widow

Fannia Fannia (fl. around 100 AD) was a woman of ancient Rome, notable as the granddaughter of Arria Major. Life Fannia is recorded in the writings of Pliny the Younger as a woman of fortitude and respectability. As with her grandmother, Fannia is des ...

, the daughter of

Thrasea Paetus Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus (died AD 66), Roman senator, who lived in the 1st century AD. Notable for his principled opposition to the emperor Nero and his interest in Stoicism, he was the husband of Arria, who was the daughter of A. Caecina ...

, had given Herennius her late husband's notebooks (''commentarii''); for this she was also prosecuted by Carus and condemned to exile. Another member of this circle who fell victim to Domitian was

Arulenus Rusticus Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus (c. 35 – 93 AD) was a Roman Senator and a friend and follower of Thrasea Paetus, and like him an ardent admirer of Stoic philosophy. Arulenus Rusticus attained a suffect consulship in the '' nundinium'' of Septe ...

.Haaland, ''Josephus and the Philosophers of Rome'', p. 305; Steven H. Rutledge, ''Imperial Inquisitions: Prosecutors and Informants from Tiberius to Domitian'' (Routledge, 2001), pp. 130–132.

References

{{Reflist 93 deaths 1st-century Romans 1st-century writers Executed ancient Roman people People executed by the Roman Empire

Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Morp ...

Roman-era Stoic philosophers