Gaius Cestius Gallus 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 ...

senator active during the mid-first century AD. He was ordinary consul for the year 35 with Servilius Nonianus as his colleague. Suetonius describes him as "a lecherous old spendthrift" and states that the emperor

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 ...

had expelled him from the Senate for his shameful behavior. 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 ...

reprimanded Gallus for his debauched ways, but a few days later the emperor responded to an invitation to one of his banquets on condition that it followed Gallus' usual routine -- and that the serving girls be naked. Besides the notice of his consulate, Gallus appears twice in the pages of

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 ...

. The first is in his account of AD 21, when Gallus is reported to have made a speech in the Senate complaining that "the vilest wretches" would slander "respectable citizens" then escape punishment for their harm by clutching a statue of the emperor; in his speech, Gallus mentions specifically one Annia Rufilla. (It is unknown if Annia Rufilla had spoken about Cestius Gallus.) His speech provoked a response from the assembled body that forced Drusus the Younger to order Annia Rufilla summoned, convicted, and confined to the common prison. His second appearance is in the account of the year 32, in the aftermath of the fall 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 ...

. Tiberius prompted Gallus to read to the Senate a letter he sent the emperor, in which he accused the ex-

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 vari ...

Quintus Servaeus and the

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

Minucius Thermus of being supporters of the feared but now dead praetorian prefect. In response to Gallus' prosecution, the two then offered up Julius Africanus and Seius Quadratus as other associates of Sejanus to avoid proscription.''Annales'', VI.7 Gallus is known to have had at least one son, Gaius Cestius Gallus, suffect consul in 42.

References

{{S-end 1st-century Roman consuls Imperial Roman consuls Cestii