Quintus Sanquinius Maximus (died AD 47) was a senator of the early

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, who flourished during the

Principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...

. He is attested as suffect consul in AD 39, replacing the emperor Caligula. However, based on Tactius' enigmatic description of Maximus as "ex-consul" in the year 32,

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 ...

'', vi.4

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 ...

asserts this attested consulate was his second, and that he was suffect consul in the year 28. If Maximus held two consulates, then he would be the first person who was not a member of the imperial house to receive this honour since 26 BC; only two other men not part of the imperial house of the Julio-Claudians --

Lucius Vitellius Lucius Vitellius (before 7 BC – AD 51) was the youngest of four sons of procurator Publius Vitellius and the only one who did not die through politics. He was consul three times, which was unusual during the Roman empire for someone who was ...

, consul in 34, 43 and 47, and Marcus Vinicius, consul in 30 and 45 -- are known to have achieved the consulate more than once between that year and the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known ...

, when multiple consulships became less rare. The first recorded act of Sanquinius Maximus was in 32, when he defended two consuls who held the fasces in the previous year,

Publius Memmius Regulus Publius Memmius Regulus (died AD 61) was a Roman senator active during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. He served as consul ''suffectus'' from October to December AD 31 with Lucius Fulcinius Trio as his colleague, governor of Achaea from AD 35 ...

and

Lucius Fulcinius Trio Lucius Fulcinius Trio (died AD 35) was a Roman senator who came from a plebeian family. Trio was an active prosecutor (''delator'') during the reign of Tiberius who developed a reputation for making accusations. He was governor of Lusitania from ab ...

, against the prosecution of the ''

delator Delator (plural: ''delatores'', feminine: ''delatrix'') is Latin for a denouncer, one who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed. Secular Roman law In Roman history, it was properly one who gave notice (''deferre'') t ...

'' Decimus Haterius Agrippa. Trio, an ally of the powerful praetorian prefect

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Gua ...

, and Regulus had argued constantly during their shared tenure and had threatened to prosecute each other. During the trial, Agrippa asked why the two, who had threatened each other while in office, now were silent. Trio responded that it was more proper to efface the memories of rivalries and quarrels between colleagues. Maximus took advantage of Trio's response and proposed that the Senate defer judgment of this suit to the emperor, thus avoiding further conflict which would increase the emperor's anxieties. "This secured the safety of Regulus and the postponement of Trio's ruin," Tacitus tells us, and adds, "Haterius was hated all the more." In 39, the same year Sanquinius Maximus acceded to the consulate, he was also appointed

urban prefect The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and ...

, an office he held until the year 41. A few years later he was appointed governor of the imperial province of

Germania Inferior Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") was a Roman province from AD 85 until the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the fourth century, on the west bank of the Rhine bordering the North Sea. The capital of the province was Colonia Agripp ...

, where he died in the year 47, towards the end of his tenure.Tacitus, ''Annales'', xi.18

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanquinius Maximus, Quintus 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Germania Inferior 47 deaths Year of birth unknown