Herennius Senecio (d. 93 AD) was among the

Stoic Opposition The Stoic Opposition is the name given to a group of Stoic philosophers who actively opposed the autocratic rule of certain emperors in the 1st-century, particularly Nero and Domitian. Most prominent among them was Thrasea Paetus, an influential ...

to the emperor

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...

, under whose rule he was executed. He was from Baetica in Roman Spain. He was the author of a laudatory biography of the Stoic martyr

Helvidius Priscus Helvidius Priscus, Stoic philosopher and statesman, lived during the reigns of Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian. Biography Helvidius came from town of Cluviae, and his father had been the senior centurion of a legion. From early you ...

. In 93 AD, Herennius and Pliny successfully prosecuted a case against

Baebius Massa Baebius Massa, (Gallia ''c.'' 40-45 – after 93 AD) was a governor of Baetica, Hispania Baetica in 92. He was an equestrian procurator of Africa in 70 and was promoted to the Senate by Vespasian as a reward for his part in the suppression of a rev ...

for improprieties during his administration in Baetica. Baebius's property was confiscated in order to make reparations to the provincials. Baebius retaliated by bringing a charge of treason ('' maiestas'') against Herennius, accusing him of ''impietas'', but dropped the case when Pliny threatened a counter suit. Mettius Carus, however, managed to convict Herennius. Although the details of the case are unclear, several factors rendered Herennius vulnerable. Because he had declined to run for any office after he was

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 ...

, he might be accused of desertion of public duty (''secessio''). He was connected by friendship and possibly blood to the emperor's enemies. In his biography of Helvidius, Herennius was praising an unrelenting critic of Domitian's father. Helvidius's widow Fannia, the daughter of Thrasea Paetus, had given Herennius her late husband's notebooks (''commentarii''); for this she was also prosecuted by Carus and condemned to exile. Another member of this circle who fell victim to Domitian was

Arulenus Rusticus Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus (c. 35 – 93 AD) was a Roman Senator and a friend and follower of Thrasea Paetus, and like him an ardent admirer of Stoic philosophy. Arulenus Rusticus attained a suffect consulship in the '' nundinium'' of Sept ...

.Haaland, ''Josephus and the Philosophers of Rome'', p. 305; Steven H. Rutledge, ''Imperial Inquisitions: Prosecutors and Informants from Tiberius to Domitian'' (Routledge, 2001), pp. 130–132.

References

{{Reflist 93 deaths 1st-century Romans 1st-century writers Executed ancient Roman people People executed by the Roman Empire

Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Mor ...

Roman-era Stoic philosophers