Publius Silius 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 reign of the emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

. He was suffect consul in AD 3, replacing Lucius Aelius Lamia; his colleague was Lucius Volusius Saturninus. Silius was the oldest son of

Publius Silius Nerva Publius Silius Nerva was a Roman senator and general, who flourished under the reign of Augustus. He was consul in 20 BC as the colleague of Marcus Appuleius. Biography Nerva was the son of a senator who had achieved the rank of propraetor. A par ...

.Syme, ''Augustan Aristocracy'', p. 52 He was a member of the ''

tresviri monetalis The ''triumvir monetalis'' ( ''tresviri'' or ''triumviri monetales'', also called the , abbreviated IIIVIR A. A. A. F. F.) was a moneyer during the Roman Republic and the Empire, who oversaw the minting of coins. In that role, he would be respons ...

'', the most prestigious of the four boards that form the ''

vigintiviri __NOTOC__The ''vigintisexviri'' ( ''vigintisexvir''; ) were a college ( ''collegium'') of minor magistrates (''magistratus minores'') in the Roman Republic. The college consisted of six boards: * the ''decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' – 1 ...

''; Aelius Lamia was one of the other two members of this board at the same time as Silius. Because assignment to this board was usually allocated to

patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

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 ...

sees this as evidence that Silius was a member of that class. Silius is also known to have been a ''

legatus legionis A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the office ...

'' or military commander of several legions operating in the Roman territories of Macedonia and

Thracia Thracia or Thrace ( ''Thrakē'') is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical and Hellenistic eras, and briefly by the Greek D ...

, immediately before he was consul. Syme notes that after his term as consul, Publius Silius disappears from history.Syme, ''Augustan Aristocracy'', p. 101 n.51

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silius, Publius 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Silii