Lucius Annius Vinicianus (died AD 42) 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 lette ...
senator 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.
...
. He is best known for his involvement in the assassination of
Caligula and a rebellion against
Claudius.
Family
Vinicianus was probably the son of
Gaius Annius Pollio,
[Tacitus, ''Annals'', vi, 9.] suffect consul 4 September of an unknown year, most likely AD 21 or 22, and Vinicia, making him a nephew of
Marcus Vinicius.
[ Barrett (1989), p. 108] This Marcus Vinicius was married to
Julia Livilla
Julia Livilla ( – ) was the youngest child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and the youngest sister of the Emperor Caligula.
Life
Julia Livilla was the youngest great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive grandd ...
, the youngest daughter of
Germanicus. Vinicianus was also the father of the
Annius Vinicianus who married a daughter of
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 ...
. He was also the father of another Annius Pollio.
Career
Early in his career, AD 32, Vinicianus and his father were charged with treason during the aftermath of the downfall of
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 Gua ...
. However
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 ...
intervened for them and they were not condemned.
[ Vinicianus cultivated a friendship with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the husband of Caligula's favourite sister Julia Drusilla, who had been designated as Caligula's heir. This friendship was fruitful for Vinicianus' career as in 38 Vinicianus became one of the Arval Brethren.][ Vinicianus served as ]consul suffectus
A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...
in either 39 or 40.
Assassination of Caligula
In 41 . Vinicianus was considered as a possible successor to Caligula and he opposed Decimus Valerius Asiaticus
Decimus Valerius Asiaticus (around 5 BCP.J. Sijpesteijn"Another οὐσία of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus in Egypt" ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 79 (1989), p. 19347 AD,Alston, ''Aspects of Roman History AD 14-117'', p. 92 el, ...
when he attempted to succeed instead. The discussion on the succession ended when it was announced to the Senate that the praetorian guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...
had declared Caligula's uncle Claudius the new emperor.[
]
Revolt against Claudius
In 42 Vinicianus supported Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus
Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Tiberius. He was consul in AD 32. Ten years later, he revolted against the emperor Claudius, but was swiftly defeated.''PIR'', vol. I, p. 145.
Family
Bo ...
in his revolt against Claudius. Claudius considered abdicating in favor of Scribonianus, but was dissuaded after consulting leading men. After the revolt failed both Vinicianus and Scribonianus killed themselves.
Aftermath
Vinicianus would not be the last of his family to conspire against the Caesars. Both his sons would be involved in conspiracies against 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 unti ...
; Annius Pollio would be implicated in the Pisonian conspiracy
The conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso in AD 65 was a in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero (reign 54–68). The plot reflected the growing discontent among the ruling class of the Roman state with Nero's increasingly despotic leadership, a ...
in AD 65[Tacitus, "Annals of the Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero", pp.451] and the younger Lucius Annius Vinicianus would be involved in a plot to overthrow 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 unti ...
and make his father-in-law emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
.
References
Bibliography
* Barrett, Anthony A. (1989). ''Caligula: The Corruption of Power''. New Haven: Yale University Press. .
* Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Cassius Dio
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 ...
), ''Roman History''.
* Publius Cornelius Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
, ''Annales
Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts.
List of works with titles contai ...
'', '' Historiae''.
* Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''De Vita Caesarum
''De vita Caesarum'' (Latin; "About the Life of the Caesars"), commonly known as ''The Twelve Caesars'', is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The g ...
'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Annius Vinicianus, Lucius
42 deaths
1st-century Roman consuls
Ancient Roman politicians who died by suicide
Suicides in Ancient Rome
Vinicianus, Lucius
Forced suicides
Year of birth unknown