Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus (died AD 34) was a Roman rhetorician, poet and

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 ...

. Tacitus writes that Scaurus was "a man of distinguished rank and ability as an advocate, but of infamous life." He was

suffect consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

from July to the end of the year AD 21, with

Gnaeus Tremellius The gens Tremellia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned towards the end of the Second Punic War, but the highest rank ever attained by any of the Tremellii under the Republic was that of praetor. A ...

as his colleague. Scaurus was a member of the patrician Aemilia gens. His father was Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. The younger Scaurus was married twice. His first wife was

Aemilia Lepida Aemilia Lepida is the name of several ancient Roman women belonging to the ''gens Aemilia''. The name was given to daughters of men belonging to the Lepidus branch of the Aemilius family. The first Aemilia Lepida to be mentioned by Roman historian ...

, who bore him a daughter; Lepida was accused of adultery and attempting to poison Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, found guilty, and exiled. After Lepida had died, or Scaurus divorced her, he married Sextia.

Life

The first mention of Scaurus in historical literature comes in AD 14, at the time of Tiberius' accession to the throne. Both Scaurus and Quintus Haterius gave speeches of congratulation, which the new emperor suspected of being insincere. While Tiberius responded to Haterius' comments with invective, he passed over what Scaurus said in silence. Scaurus appears periodically in Tacitus' '' Annales'' afterwards. In the year 21, when

Corbulo Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (Peltuinum c. AD 7 – 67) was a popular Roman general, brother-in-law of the emperor Caligula and father-in-law of Domitian. The emperor Nero, highly fearful of Corbulo's reputation, ordered him to commit suicide, which ...

complained on the Senate floor that a young noble, Lucius Sulla, had not shown him respect at a gladiatorial show despite being an ex- praetor, much older and more respected by the older senators, Scaurus,

Lucius Arruntius Lucius Arruntius was a Roman admiral. He saw action during the War with Sextus Pompeius, and the war of Mark Antony and Octavian (later named Augustus). He is most notable for his participation during the Battle of Actium, where he was in command ...

, and other kinsmen of the young Sulla defended him. Arguments followed and were only ended when Drusus intervened and brought the body back to order. Both Sulla and Scaurus apologized to Corbulo. The following year Scaurus appears in the Senate joining in the prosecution of Gaius Junius Silanus for extortion while proconsular governor of Asia, sacrilege and violating the Law of majestas towards Tiberius. This prosecution resulted with Silanus exiled to the island of Cynthus. Scaurus' final episode in the Senate began in the year 32, when Servilius and

Cornelius Tuscus Cornelius may refer to: People * Cornelius (name), Roman family name and a masculine given name * Pope Cornelius, pope from AD 251 to 253 * St. Cornelius (disambiguation), multiple saints * Cornelius (musician), stage name of Keigo Oyamada * Metro ...

accused him and a number of other senators of treason. While some were saved by the intervention of one of the tribunes of the urban cohorts, Tiberius postponed Scaurus' case intending to handle it himself; Tacitus notes the emperor "affixed some ominous marks to the name of Scaurus." When Tiberius considered Scaurus' case two years later, his enemy the

praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...

Naevius Sutorius Macro added the charge that certain verses in a tragedy Scaurus had written could be interpreted to disrespect Tiberius. At the suggestion of his wife Sextia, Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus took his own life; she followed suit shortly after.Tacitus, ''Annales'' VI.29

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aemilius Scaurus, Mamercus 34 deaths 1st-century Romans 1st-century writers Scaurus, Mamercus Ancient Roman rhetoricians Ancient Romans who committed suicide Senators of the Roman Empire Senators of the Roman Republic Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Year of birth unknown