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Appius Junius Silanus (died AD 43), whom
Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
calls Gaius Appius Silanus, was
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
in AD 28, with
Publius Silius Nerva as his colleague. He was accused of ''
majestas'', or treason, in AD 32 along with a number of senators, but he and
Gaius Calvisius Sabinus were saved by one of the informers, Celsus, a tribune of a city cohort.
Shortly after the accession of
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...
, in AD 41, when Silanus was governor of
Hispania Tarraconensis
Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern North Region, Portugal, northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now ...
, he was recalled to Rome and married to
Domitia Lepida Minor, mother of the empress
Messalina. He was treated with the greatest of distinction, but having refused the advances of Messalina herself, he was soon put to death by the emperor. Messalina and
Tiberius Claudius Narcissus accused him of plotting to assassinate Claudius, and claimed that they had seen Silanus attempting to murder the emperor in their dreams.
Silanus' relationship to the other Junii Silani is uncertain. According to
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 Roma ...
, he, the Decimus Junius Silanus who had an affair with
Julia the Younger, and
Marcus Junius Silanus who was consul in AD 15, were the sons of
Gaius Junius Silanus, consul in AD 10. He is sometimes confused with
Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, consul in AD 19. Although Syme claims his marriage to Domitia was childless, Judith Ginsburg identifies Silanus as the father of
Marcus Junius Silanus, suffect consul in either 54 or 55.
[Ginsburg, "Nero's Consular Policy", ''American Journal of Ancient History'' 6 (1981), p. 52]
In television
The 1976 television version of ''
I, Claudius'' shows him carrying out an actual assassination attempt on Claudius with a dagger, and coming close to succeeding. He was played by
Lyndon Brook.
See also
*
Junii Silani
*
List of Roman consuls
References
Bibliography
*
Publius Cornelius Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
Tacitus’ two major historical ...
, ''
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 ...
''.
*
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, ''
De Vita Caesarum'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars).
*
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, ''Roman History''.
* ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'',
William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
*
Alison E. Cooley, ''The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy'', Cambridge University Press (2012).
*
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 Roma ...
, ''The Augustan Aristocracy'', Clarendon Press (1989).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Silanus, Appius
Junii Silani
43 deaths
Ancient Roman politicians
Year of birth unknown
1st-century Roman consuls
Executed ancient Roman people
People executed by the Roman Empire
Roman governors of Hispania Tarraconensis