Marcus Cocceius Nerva (before 5 BC – AD 33) was a member of the entourage of the Roman 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 ...

and a celebrated jurist. He was the son of Marcus Cocceius Nerva and the grandfather of emperor Nerva. In AD 24 Tiberius appointed him to the head of the '' curatores aquarum'', a three-man commission responsible for Rome's water supply.R. H. Rodgers
"Curatores Aquarum"
''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', 86 (1982), p. 172 In 33 he starved himself to death despite the pleas of

. In explanation

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 ...

writes: "Those who knew his thoughts said that as he saw more closely into the miseries of the State, he chose, in anger and alarm, an honourable death, while he was yet safe and unassailed on."Tacitus, The Annals 6.26 From this we may infer that he despaired at the tyrannies of the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...

and committed suicide as a form of protest and may have been worried about his own safety.

In popular culture

He was portrayed in the film '' Caligula'' by Sir John Gielgud.

References

1st-century BC births 33 deaths 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Romans Ancient Romans who committed suicide Nerva, Marcus Suicides by starvation {{AncientRome-bio-stub

In popular culture

See also

References