Marcus Licinius Scribonianus Camerinus was a wealthy

Roman Senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

that lived in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

in the 1st century.

Life

Camerinus was a member of the ''

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (p ...

Licinia Licinia is the name used by ancient Roman women of the '' gens Licinia''. Known individuals Daughter of Gaius Licinius Varus Licinia (flourished 188 BC–180 BC) was the daughter of Gaius Licinius Varus and the sister of Publius Licinius Crassus ...

, an aristocratic

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

family that had a distinguished lineage. He was one of the sons and among the children born to

Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi (flourished 1st century AD) was a Roman nobleman of consular rank who lived during the Roman Empire. Frugi's mother was an unnamed Roman woman, while his father was consul and governor Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi. ...

consul of 64, son of Roman Politician

and Scribonia, by his wife

Sulpicia Praetextata Sulpicia Praetextata () was an ancient Roman noblewoman who lived in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. Family background Praetextata was a member of the gens Sulpicia. She was the daughter of Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Peticus, suffect consul ...

daughter of the suffect consul in 46,

Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Peticus Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Peticus (died 67) was a Roman senator during the reign of Nero. Life Camerinus served as suffect consul in 46 with Marcus Junius Silanus as his colleague, and as proconsul of Africa from 56 to 57. Camerinus was a me ...

. He was born and raised in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The father of Camerinus, Frugi was executed by the Roman emperor

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 un ...

between 66 and 68, because of information brought against him by

Marcus Aquilius Regulus Marcus Aquilius Regulus was a Roman senator, and notorious ''delator'' or informer who was active during the reigns of Nero and Domitian. Regulus is one of the best known examples of this occupation, in the words of Steven Rutledge, due to "the viv ...

.Shelton, ''The Women of Pliny's Letters'', p. 153 After the death of Frugi, his mother took Camerinus with his siblings, to a

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

meeting in 70 early in the reign of Roman emperor

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 ...

, seeking vengeance for his father's death. Regulus with his associated political circle was prosecuted by the Roman Senate.

Namesake Slave

Camerinus had an adventurous runaway slave called Geta who impersonated him who bore his name as Licinius Scribonianus Camerinus. In 69 during the brief reign of Roman 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 ...

, he wanted to upset the emperor and his government. Geta pretended to have been obliged to leave Rome in the time of Roman emperor

and to have since then lived concealed in Histria, because he belonged to the Crassi family which owned large possessions in Histria. Geta successfully managed to assemble around him the local population and even some soldiers who were misled by him or wished for a revolution. However Geta was seized and brought before Vitellius. When Geta's real origin was revealed, Vitellius had him executed as a common slave.Scribonianus Camerinus article at ancient library

References

Sources

*S.H. Rutledge, ''Imperial Inquisitions: Prosecutors and Informants from Tiberius to Domitian'' (Google eBook), Routledge, 2002 *V. Rudich, ''Political Dissidence Under Nero: The Price of Dissimulation'', Routledge, 2013 *J. Shelton, ''The Women of Pliny's Letters'', Routledge, 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Licinius Scribonianus Camerinus, Marcus 1st-century Romans Senators of the Roman Empire Camerinus, Marcus Scribonianus