Marcius Agrippa ( fl. late 2nd/early 3rd century) was originally a slave serving as a

beautician Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''-logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/pedicures, non-permanent hair removal such as ...

. He later became a

freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...

in some unknown way and then (illegally) started to encroach upon the rank of

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 ...

, serving as ''advocatus fisci'' (an important official of the imperial treasury) during the reign of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

. His impersonation of a man of higher rank was discovered shortly afterwards, and the emperor exiled him to an island. He was called back to Rome by the emperor

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...

, probably given a grant of ''

ingenui ''Ingenui'' or ''ingenuitas'' (singular ''ingenuus''), was a legal term of ancient Rome indicating those freemen who were born free, as distinct from freedmen who had once been slaves. In ancient Rome, free men were either ''ingenui'' or ''libert ...

tas'', (i.e., an official declaration that he had the rights and legal status of one who had been born free) and he was elevated to

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 ...

ial rank. He was appointed by the emperor

Macrinus Marcus Opellius Macrinus (; – June 218) was Roman emperor from April 217 to June 218, reigning jointly with his young son Diadumenianus. As a member of the equestrian class, he became the first emperor who did not hail from the senatorial ...

in 217, first to the government of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

and afterwards to that of

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus r ...

. Agrippa is almost certainly the same person as the Marcius Agrippa, Roman admiral (likely of the

Misenum fleet The ''Classis Misenensis'' ("Fleet of Misenum"), later awarded the honorifics ''praetoria'' and ''Pia Vindex'', was the senior fleet of the imperial Roman navy. History The was founded by Caesar Augustus in 27 BCE, when the fleet of Italy, ...

), who is mentioned by the Augustan histories "as privy to the death of Antoninus Caracallus." Spartianus, ''Anton. Car.'' 6

References

Ancient Roman admirals Senators of the Roman Empire Ancient Roman equites Impostors Imperial Roman slaves and freedmen 2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Romans Beauticians Marcii {{AncientRome-bio-stub

See also

References