Gaius Ateius Capito (about 30 BCE – 22 CE) 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 lette ...

jurist in the time of

emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

and

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

consul suffectus 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 year 5 from July to December as the colleague of

Gaius Vibius Postumus Gaius Vibius Postumus was a Roman senator, who flourished under the reign of Augustus. He was suffect consul for the latter half of AD 5 with Gaius Ateius Capito as his colleague. Ronald Syme identifies him as a ''novus homo'' from Lavinum in Ap ...

Life

Capito was a son of the tribune of the same name, and was educated as a jurist by Aulus Ofilius. He was active as a jurist and a senator. Capito was a strong proponent of 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. ...

which brought him in opposition to

Marcus Antistius Labeo Marcus Antistius Labeo (d. 10 or 11 AD) was a Roman jurist. Marcus Antistius Labeo was the son of Pacuvius Labeo, a jurist who caused himself to be slain after the defeat of his party at Philippi. Since his name was different from his father's, ...

. In the year 11, he became ''

curator aquarum The ''Curator Aquarum'' was a Roman official responsible for managing Rome's water supply and distributing free grain. Curators were appointed by the emperor. The first curator was Agrippa. Another notable ''Curator Aquarum'' was Frontinus, a R ...

'' and was responsible for water supply and regulation throughout the city of

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 ...

.Frontinus, ''de aquis'' II 102 Four years later he and Lucius Arruntius were entrusted by

to work on a plan to confine the river

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where ...

after heavy floods, but the project was not carried out due to heavy resistance from the populace. Capito is attested as witnessing a number of legal documents. One was a ''

senatus consultum A ''senatus consultum'' (Latin: decree of the senate, plural: ''senatus consulta'') is a text emanating from the senate in Ancient Rome. It is used in the modern phrase '' senatus consultum ultimum''. Translated into French as '' sénatus-consult ...

'' that prohibited Senators, eques, and their descendants from actively participating in

gladiatorial A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

matches. In another, he was one of seven witnesses of the '' Senatus consultum de Cn. Pisone patre'', the Roman Senate's official act concerning the trial and punishment of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, dated 10 December 20 CE. His successor in the office of ''curator aquarum'' was Tarius Rufus. He does not appear to have any descendants. G.V. Sumner has speculated, based on the names, that Capito adopted the son of

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Gua ...

, Capito Aelianus.

Works

All of Capito's works are lost and are only known by their titles through quotes by later authors. Works known to have existed include: * ''De pontificio iure'' ("About pontifical law"), at least six books about laws concerning the

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 lat ...

* ''De iure sacrificiorum'' ("About sacrificial law") * ''Coniectanea'' ("Miscellaneous"), at least 9 books about various themes * ''De officio senatorio'' ("About the senatorial office") * One work of unknown title about the auguries * ''Epistulae'' ("Letters")

Influence

Capito had considerable reputation as a jurist and gathered a school of jurists that became known as the Sabinian school after his pupil and successor

Masurius Sabinus Masurius Sabinus, also Massurius, was a Roman jurist who lived in the time of Tiberius (reigned 14–37 AD). Unlike most jurists of the time, he was not of senatorial rank and was admitted to the equestrian order only rather late in life, by virtu ...

.''Der kleine Pauly'', articles "C. Ateius Capito" and "Sabinus Massurius" Capito's works were read and quoted until the sixth century, although more frequently by lexicographers (especially by

Sextus Pompeius Festus Sextus Pompeius Festus, usually known simply as Festus, was a Roman grammarian who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo (Narbonne) in Gaul. Work He made a 20-volume epitome of Verrius Flaccus's voluminous and encyclop ...

and Aulus Gellius) than by jurists.

References

Sources

*''Der kleine Pauly. Lexikon der Antike''. München 1979. *''C. Atei Capitornis Fragmenta'', L. Strzelecki (ed.), Wroclaw, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1960. *

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

, ''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'' *

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...

, ''De aquis urbis Romae'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ateius Capito, Gaius Ancient Roman jurists Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome 1st-century Romans 30s BC births 22 deaths Year of birth uncertain Ateii

Life

Works

Influence

See also

References

Sources