Livineius Regulus 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 reign of

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 suffect consul for February through July of the year 18, succeeding Germanicus as the colleague of

Lucius Seius Tubero Lucius Seius Tubero was a Roman senator, who flourished under the reign of Tiberius. He was suffect consul for February through July of the year 18, succeeding the emperor Tiberius, and as the colleague first of Germanicus, then of Livineius Regu ...

Background

With family origins in Campania, Regulus is described by

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

as "the first consul and the last of an inconspicuous family." Syme suggests he may be the "Reg(ulus)" attested as ''

praetor peregrinus 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 variou ...

'' in 2 BC, noting that "nothing would indicate a youthful consul." In another paper Syme notes that Regulus was '' tresviri monetalis'' no later than 9 BC, and adds, "Therefore about fifty when consul." Regulus appears once in the surviving 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 ...

' ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'', as one of three men who, in the year 20, defended Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso on charges related to the death from poison of Germanicus, after three other senators ( Lucius Arruntius, Marcus Vinicius, and Asinius Gallus) declined for various reasons. The other two who defended Piso were Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Lucius Calpurnius Piso. Despite their efforts, and the support of the emperor Tiberius, the case went against Piso and he committed suicide before the Senate could hold a vote on the verdict. Tactius mentions another Livineius Regulus, whose expulsion from the Senate he had recounted in one of the lost sections of his ''Annales''. This Livineius Regulus had staged a gladiator show at Pompeii in the year 59, where the townspeople of Pompeii attacked a number of inhabitants of the neighboring town of

Nuceria Nocera Inferiore ( nap, Nucèrä Inferiórë or simply , , locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in Campania in southern Italy. It lies west of Nocera Superiore, at the foot of Monte Albino, some 20 km east-so ...

. Emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...

referred the matter to the Senate, who first tried to hand it off to the consuls, but in the end punished Pompeii with a 10-year ban on similar public gatherings, and having all of their guild associations dissolved. Further, this Regulus was punished with exile, apparently from Italy.''Annales'', XIV.17 While it is doubtful that they are the same person, how Livineius Regulus the consul is related to Livineius Regulus the ex-Senator is uncertain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Livineius Regulus 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome 1st-century BC births 1st-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain