Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus 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 ...

who lived in the first century AD. He was a descendant of Orfitus, who was adopted by Servius Cornelius Scipio, an otherwise unknown member of the patrician branch of the

Cornelii Scipiones The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any oth ...

. Orfitus was the son of the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

of the year 51,

Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus was the name of several Roman men who lived during the early Roman Empire. They were descendants of Orfitus who was adopted by Servius Cornelius Scipio, an otherwise unknown member of the patrician bra ...

, who had been executed by the 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 ...

for allegedly participating in a plot against the emperor. Despite the history of his family,

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 ...

selected the younger Orfitus to serve as suffect consul. "Given his pedigree," observes Brian W. Jones, "it ought to be remarkable that a son of Nero's Orfitus was elevated to the consulship by Domitian early in his reign." In the same book Jones has noted Orfitus was not the only such surprising case, and speculates that Domitian "wished to compromise them in the eyes of their supporters, perhaps he merely hoped to gain their support." The date of his consulship is unknown;

Attilio Degrassi Attilio Degrassi (Trieste, 21 June 1887 – Rome, 1 June 1969) was an archeologist and pioneering Italian scholar of Latin epigraphy. Degrassi taught at the University of Padova where he trained, among others, the epigraphist Silvio Panciera, c ...

dated his office as "before 87", and that is as close as one can be. According to

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

, he was banished to an island for attempting to overthrow the emperor (''molitor rerum novarum''), then later executed. However,

Philostratus Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus (; grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ; c. 170 – 247/250 AD), called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He was born probab ...

provides a little more information. On the one hand Orfitus was thought to be a suitable candidate for imperial power, while on the other hand Philostratus states he was no more capable of planning treason than

Nerva Nerva (; originally Marcus Cocceius Nerva; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98) was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the succeeding rulers of the Flavian dy ...

. While Jones admits that the comparison with Nerva was "a back-handed compliment in view of that senator's reputation for treachery", he argues that Philostratus meant to be laudatory: "he was not interested in wealth and was indifferent to public affairs." Non-participation in public affairs was a serious matter, and was considered by "suspicious emperors as evidence of treason."Jones, ''Domitian'', pp. 183f While we know nothing about his wife, Orfitus did have a son, who shared the same name,

consul in 110.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus, Servius Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome 1st-century Romans 1st-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Salvidienus Orfitus