Servius Cornelius Scipio Salvidienus Orfitus (died AD 66) 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 ...

, and ''

consul ordinarius 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 ...

'' for the year 51, as the colleague of the emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

. His father Orfitus was one of the seven sons of

Vistilia Vistilia was a Roman matron of the gens Vistilia known by her contemporaries for having seven children by six different husbands; Pliny the Elder was more impressed by the fact most of her pregnancies were remarkably brief. Five of her sons became ...

, a noblewoman who came from a family that had held the

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

ship, although some have erroneously stated Servius himself was the husband of Vistilia. He became 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 ...

'' Cornelia through

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

by an otherwise unknown Servius Cornelius Scipio. His career is set forth in an inscription found at

Lepcis Magna Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names in antiquity, was a prominent city of the Carthaginian Empire and Roman Libya at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda in the Mediterranean. Originally a 7th-centuryBC Phoenician foundation, it was great ...

, dated to AD 61 or 62. According to the inscription, he was first

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

to the emperor

, then ''

praetor urbanus Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

''; both of these are prestigious offices, and he likely owed them to his father's half-brother,

Publius Suillius Rufus Publius may refer to: Roman name * Publius (praenomen) * Ancient Romans with the name: ** Publius Valerius Publicola (died 503 BC), Roman consul, co-founder of the Republic **Publius Clodius Pulcher (c. 93 BC – 52 BC), Republican politician * ...

, who was an intimate associate of Claudius. Following his consulate in 51, Servius was inducted into the ''collegia'' of

Pontifices A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was late ...

and the ''

sodales Augustales The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales (''singular'' Sodalis or Sacerdos Augustalis), or simply Augustales,Tacitus, ''Annales'' 1.54 were an order ('' sodalitas'') of Roman priests originally instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of t ...

'', two socially powerful groups. He 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

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

for the term Summer 62/Summer 63; one Publius Silius Celer is mentioned as his ''legatus'' or assistant. Our next glimpse of Orfitus is in

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

, who records that in AD in 65 that he proposed that the months of May and June be renamed ''Claudius'' and ''Germanicus'', respectively, in honor of 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 ...

, explaining that the deaths of Decimus and

Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus Two noblemen, an uncle and nephew, who shared the name Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus and were descendants of the Roman Emperor Augustus, lived during the 1st century AD. Elder Silanus Silanus (died 49), was the third born son to Aemilia Lepid ...

had rendered the name "Junius" inauspicious. Frederik Juliaan Vervaet has argued that instead of an act of flattery, Nero and his partisans may have interpreted this proposal as a subtle form of criticism. If so, it would explain the actual motivation for

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 ...

accusing Orfitus in the Senate of being a traitor to Nero the following year. Regardless of the motivation, Orfitus was found guilty and executed.

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 ...

, lxii. 27. Orfitus' son,

Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...

, was consul at some point before AD 87, under the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as ...

, but the year has not been determined. A grandson, also named

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 ...

, followed in their footsteps and became consul in AD 110, under the emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

References

Further reading