Gaius Fonteius Capito 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, who was 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
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 throu ...
in the year 59 as the colleague of
Gaius Vipstanus Apronianus
Gaius Vipstanus Apronianus (died 91) was a Roman Senator who was '' consul ordinarius'' in AD 59 with Gaius Fonteius Capito as his colleague. Apronianus was afterwards proconsular governor of Africa; he was also a member of the Arval Brethren.
Th ...
.
Capito came from a
plebeian family whose members had reached the rank of
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 ...
since the 2nd century BC, but none had achieved the consulate until the end of the republic in 33 BC, when
Gaius Fonteius Capito acceded to that magistracy. According to
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
, the Fonteii came from
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome ( ...
. Capito was probably the son or grandson of the
eponymous consul of the year 12; his brother
Fonteius Capito was one of the consuls of the year 67.
[Alfred Kappelmacher, "Fonteius (22)", ''Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'', volume VI,2, col. 2848]
See also
*
Fonteia gens
The gens Fonteia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned toward the end of the third century BC; Titus Fonteius was a legate of Publius Cornelius Scipio during the Second Punic War. The first of the Font ...
References
1st-century Romans
Capito, Gaius 812
Imperial Roman consuls
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