Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus (c. 4581/96) 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 ...

Life

He was described by Brian W. Jones as "the most eminent of the consular victims" of

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 ...

.Jones, ''The Emperor Domitian'' (London: Routledge, 1993), p. 184

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 ...

used his family as representative of Domitian's most noble victims; Lamia was consul suffect in 80 with three different colleagues:

Aulus Didius Gallus Fabricius Veiento Aulus Didius Gallus Fabricius Veiento was a Roman senator who played a major role in the courts of several Roman emperors during the first century AD. For his usefulness, Veiento was rewarded with the office of suffect consul three times in a per ...

Quintus Aurelius Pactumeius Fronto Quintus Aurelius Pactumeius Fronto was a Roman senator active during the first century AD. He was suffect consul for the '' nundinium'' September-October 80 as the colleague of Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus. Fronto is the earliest docume ...

, and

Gaius Marius Marcellus Octavius Publius Cluvius Rufus Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius ...

. A number of scholars have concluded that Lamia was most likely a son of

Tiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus Tiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus was a Roman patrician who twice served as consul, in 45 and 74 AD. He was the adopted nephew of Plautia Urgulanilla, first wife of the emperor Claudius. It is known he offered up the prayer as pontifex when ...

Family

It has been conjectured that Lamia may have been married Fabia Barbara, daughter of

Quintus Fabius Barbarus Antonius Macer Quintus is a male given name derived from '' Quintus'', a common Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is an English masculine given name and ...

, since it has been surmised that Lamia had a daughter, referred to as Plautia, who married three times and gave birth to several prominent Romans and several of her descendants used "Fabia" and "Barbarus" as names. He is known to have been married to

Domitia Longina Domitia Longina ( 50–55 – 126–130s AD) was a Roman empress and wife to the Roman emperor Domitian. She was the youngest daughter of the general and consul Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Domitia divorced her first husband, Lucius Aelius Lamia P ...

, a daughter of the general

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (Peltuinum c. AD 7 – 67) was a popular Roman general, brother-in-law of the emperor Caligula and father-in-law of Domitian. The emperor Nero, highly fearful of Corbulo's reputation, ordered him to commit suicide, which ...

and Cassia Longina. Longina may have born him one or two daughters and the consul of 116

Lucius Fundanius Lamia Aelianus Lucius Fundanius Lamia Aelianus was a Roman senator active in the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. Biography Early life Lamia Aelianus was possibly the son of the empress Domitia Longina and Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus or their matern ...

was possibly their son, although it is also possible that Fundanius may have been Longina and Lamia's grandson through a daughter and her husband, a Lucius Fundanius, son of another Lucius Fundanius. The children would have born before 71 when Domitian forced Lamia to divorce her. Domitia was seduced by Domitian while his father

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 ...

was still in

Roman Egypt , conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt , common_name = Egypt , subdivision = Province , nation = the Roman Empire , era = Late antiquity , capital = Alexandria , title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis , image_map = Roman E ...

(70); Domitian afterwards forced Lamia to divorce her so he could have her for himself. Despite this, Lamia retained his sense of humor. Jones suspects it was his sense of humor, in the form of harmless jokes directed at the emperor, that led to his execution. Domitian was unable to handle personal criticism of any sort, and there was ample precedent for the laws of treason to be applied to writings of this kind.Jones, ''Domitian'', p. 185

Life

Family

See also

References

Further reading