Decimus Laelius Balbus 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 ''

delator Delator (plural: ''delatores'', feminine: ''delatrix'') is Latin for a denouncer, one who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed. Secular Roman law In Roman history, it was properly one who gave notice (''deferre'') to ...

'' or informer, active during the

Principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...

. He was

suffect 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 ...

in the ''

nundinium Nundinium was a Latin word derived from the word '' nundinum'', which referred to the cycle of days observed by the Romans. During the Roman Empire, ''nundinium'' came to mean the duration of a single consulship among several in a calendar year. S ...

'' of July-August 46 as the colleague of Marcus Junius Silanus. His father has been identified as

Decimus Laelius Balbus Decimus Laelius Balbus was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Augustus. He was consul in 6 BC with Gaius Antistius Vetus as his colleague. Balbus was the grandson of Decimus Laelius, plebeian tribune in 54 BC, and thus a ''novus ho ...

, consul in 6 BC. Balbus himself first enters history when in AD 37 he accused Acutia, the former wife of Publius Vitellius, of '' maiestas''. Following her conviction, when the Senate voted on his reward, the

plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

Junius Otho interposed with his veto. According to

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 ...

, this gave rise to a feud between Vitellius and Otho which ended in Otho's banishment. That same year, Balbus was accused along with

Albucilla Albucilla (1st-century) was a Roman noblewoman, the wife of Satrius Secundus, and was known for having had many lovers. In the last year of the reign of the emperor Tiberius, 37 AD, she was accused of treason, or impiety, against the emperor ( ...

, "notorious for the number of her lovers", was deprived of his rank as senator and exiled to an island, which was received "with intense satisfaction, as Balbus was noted for his savage eloquence and his eagerness to assail the innocent." Apparently Balbus regained his status as senator for he became consul afterwards, although Steven Rutledge raises the possibility that it is his son who was suffect consul. At some point in his career Balbus was involved in a famous legal case, the ''pro Voluseno Catulo'', concerning

Lucius Volusenus Catulus Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

. While we know from

Quintillian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilian ...

the names of his defenders, who include

Gnaeus Domitius Afer Gnaeus Domitius Afer (died 59) was a Roman orator and advocate, born at Nemausus ( Nîmes) in Gallia Narbonensis. He flourished in the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. He was suffect consul in the '' nundinium'' of September ...

and

Gaius Passienus Crispus Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist *Gaius Acilius *Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus * Gaius Asinius ...

as well as Balbus, we know nothing of the charges, the verdict, or the prosecutors. Although one authority dates the case to before Balbus' banishment, Rutledge believes that since Balbus was restored to his former status "there is no reason not to attribute it to the reign of Gaius or the early part of Claudius' reign." Laelius Balbus is known to have a daughter Laelia, a

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...

who died in the year 64.Tacitus, ''Annales'', XV.22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laelius Balbus, Decimus 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Balbus, Decimus Laelius Ancient Roman delatores