Marcus Vinicius (c. 5 BC – AD 46) was twice
Roman consul
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 ...
and, as husband of
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 ...
, grandson-in-law (''progener'') of the emperor
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 ...
. He was the son and grandson of two consuls,
Publius Vinicius Publius Vinicius was a Roman senator active during the reigns of Emperors Augustus and Tiberius. He was the son of Marcus Vinicius, consul in 19 BC.
Vinicius was ordinary consul in AD 2 with Publius Alfenus Varus, and was an imperial legate fo ...
(consul 2 AD) and
Marcus Vinicius (consul 19 BC).
Life
Born in
Cales in
Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
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, Vinicius started his
senatorial
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 e ...
career as
quaestor in AD 20. That same year, Vinicius was requested to take part in the defence of
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso for the murder of
Germanicus, but refused. He was present for the trial, as his name appears as one of seven witnesses of the ''
Senatus consultum de Cn. Pisone patre'', the Roman Senate's official act concerning Piso's trial and punishment.
In 30, Vinicius was appointed to the consulship, which he held with
Lucius Cassius Longinus. In the same year,
Velleius Paterculus
Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; c. 19 BC – c. AD 31) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the per ...
published his ''Histories'', which he dedicated to Vinicius.
In 33, Tiberius selected him as the husband for
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. On that occasion, Tacitus describes Vinicius as "mild in character and an elaborate orator".
For the term 39/40, Vinicius was
proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority.
In the Roman Republic, military command, or ...
ar governor of
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
. Prior to this he had been appointed to a committee assigned to estimate the damages caused by a fire on the
Aventine Hill.
Vinicius and his nephew
Lucius Annius Vinicianus were involved in the assassination of the emperor
Caligula and, for a short time, even tried to be his successor to the throne.
After
Claudius became emperor, Vinicius accompanied him during the
Roman conquest of Britain in 43 and was awarded the ''
ornamenta triumphalia''. In 45, he was honoured with the rare distinction of a second consulship as prior consul; his colleague that year was
Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus
Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus was a member of the Titus Statilius Taurus family of Roman Senators which went back to Titus Statilius Taurus, the general of emperor Augustus. Corvinus was consul in 45 AD during the reign of the Emperor Claudiu ...
.
At
Messalina's instigation, Vinicius was killed in 46. He nevertheless received a state funeral.
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 ...
60, 27, 4
Appearance in fiction
* The lead character in the novel ''
Quo Vadis'' by
Henryk Sienkiewicz, also named Marcus Vinicius, is the fictional son of the historical Marcus Vinicius.
References
Secondary sources
*
Syme, Ronald (1939). ''The Roman Revolution.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press.
*Vogel-Weidemann, Ursula (1982). ''Die Statthalter von Africa und Asia in den Jahren 14-68 n. Chr.: Eine Untersuchung zum Verhältnis Princeps und Senat.'' Bonn: Habelt.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinicius Marcus
0s BC births
46 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
1st-century BC Romans
1st-century Romans
Ancient Roman generals
Senators of the Roman Empire
Imperial Roman consuls
Roman governors of Asia
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Vinicius, Marcus (AD 30)