Publius Sallustius Blaesus 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 lett ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

active during the last half of the first century AD. He was suffect consul for the '' nundinium'' May to August 89 with

Marcus Peducaeus Saenianus Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobâr ...

as his colleague. Despite his social rank, Blaesus is a shadowy figure about whom scholars have made numerous sumises. The only fact of Blaesus' life that is certain is that he was a member of the

Arval Brethren In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren ( la, Fratres Arvales, "Brothers of the Fields") or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests. Inscriptions provide evi ...

from at least as early as the year 78 to 91, when a gap in the records begins; when the records of the Arval Brethren resume in the year 101, he is no longer present. This has led some experts to conclude Blaesus died between the years 91 and 101.

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 ...

, noting the difficulty of polyonymous names, proposed identifying Blaesus with another consular senator, Sallustius Lucullus, the date of whose consulate is not known. According to

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τ� ...

, Lucullus was executed by 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 ...

for allowing a new type of lance to be named after him. Syme further suggests that Sallustius Blaesus had a second ''

gentilicium The (or simply ) was a hereditary name borne by the peoples of Roman Italy and later by the citizens of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It was originally the name of one's (family or clan) by patrilineal descent. However, as Rome expande ...

'', "Velleius", allowing him to be identified with one Velleius Blaesus, the subject of a letter

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

wrote to his friend Calvisius: Pliny's letter tells how Blaesus, a rich but dying ex-consul, was targeted by a legacy hunter, another senator named

Marcus Aquilius Regulus Marcus Aquilius Regulus was a Roman senator, and notorious '' delator'' or informer who was active during the reigns of Nero and Domitian. Regulus is one of the best known examples of this occupation, in the words of Steven Rutledge, due to "the vi ...

. Both

Statius Publius Papinius Statius ( Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...

and

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

also refer to a recently deceased Blaesus, the friend of their wealthy patron Atedius Melior.

Edward Champlin Edward Champlin is a Professor of Classics, Cotsen Professor of Humanities, and former Master of Butler College at Princeton University. He teaches Roman history, Roman law, and Latin literature and has written several books regarding these subje ...

supports Syme's identification by pointing to an inscription from

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...

that mentions a " Velleius P.? f. Tro. ..L. Sertorius .. Pednius Fuscus Sa inatr Sallus is Bla sus .Julius Agricola ..Caesonius", leading Champlin to suggest that "a new figure can emerge, the composite of three shadowy consulars who died in the latter years of the reign of Domitian, viz. P. Velleius P.f. Tro. Lucullus Sallustius Blaesus, cos. suff. 89." However, P. Conole and Brian Jones point out since the records of the

"record his laesus'presence in Rome during every year of the first half of Domitian's reign for which complete minutes have survived, it is difficult to see how he could have managed to gain sufficient provincial experience in praetorian posts to merit appointment to Britain, an Imperial consular province."Conole and Jones
"Sallustius Lucullus"
''Latomus'', 42 (1983), p. 629 So while it is still possible Sallustius Blaesus is identical with the Velleius Blaesus of Pliny's anecdote, his identity with the poorly-documented governor of Britain is less likely.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sallustius Blaesus, Publius 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome

Blaesus Quintus Junius Blaesus (died AD 31) was a Roman ''novus homo'' ("new man," that is, the first member of his family to gain entrance to the Roman nobility) who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. He was the maternal uncle of Lucius Ae ...