Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus
Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus | |
---|---|
Born | Visellium |
Spouse(s) | Junia Calvina (possibly) Domitia Agrippina the Younger |
Children | Sallustia Calvina (possibly) |
Parent |
|
Relatives | Nero |
Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus[i] was a prominent figure in the Roman Empire during the first century. He held the consulship twice, and was stepfather of the future emperor Nero.
Background
Suetonius reports that Passienus was born at Visellium, an obscure town whose location has been lost.[1] He was the grandson of Lucius Passienus Rufus, consul in 4 BC. His father, who died in AD 21, was a grandnephew of the historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), who had no children of his own, and therefore adopted his sister's grandson as his heir. The elder Passienus assumed his uncle's names, in accordance with Roman custom, and in turn these names were passed to his son.[2][3]
Early career
Passienus was a regular pleader in the court of the
Despite his rank and wealth, Passienus affected a humble manner in order to remain in favour with the emperors. During the reign of Caligula, he accompanied the emperor on his travels, following on foot as a token of subservience. Caligula is said to have asked him once, in private, if Passienus had ever had intercourse with his own sister, as he himself had done. Realizing that answering either in the affirmative or the negative might be dangerous, Passienus replied, "not yet", thereby avoiding the emperor's displeasure.[1]
Connections with the imperial family
Passienus may have been married to Junia Calvina and had a daughter named Sallustia Calvina with her, this woman married Publius Ostorius Scapula.[5]
Passienus' wife,
Shortly after his accession in 41, the emperor Claudius asked Passienus to divorce his wife, and marry Agrippina, for her husband Domitius Ahenobarbus had recently died.[1] Agrippina was a sister of Caligula, and had married a man with a reputation for needless cruelty, who had nearly been put to death by Tiberius, and been saved only by the emperor's death.[9] She herself had been exiled by Caligula in AD 39, due to her supposed involvement in a plot against the emperor, with her brother-in-law and alleged paramour, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.[10][11]
After her husband's death, Caligula had seized the inheritance that rightfully belonged Agrippina's young son, Lucius. Caligula was assassinated shortly thereafter, and his uncle, Claudius, eager to restore the appearance of respectability to the imperial family, recalled Agrippina from exile, restored her son's inheritance, and hoped to provide her with a worthy husband. Domitia was also the emperor's cousin, but it was more important to rehabilitate Agrippina's image, so Passienus acquiesced to Claudius' wishes, divorcing Domitia and becoming the husband of Agrippina, as well as the stepfather of the future emperor Nero.[12][13]
Downfall and legacy
For the term June 42 through June 43, the
By now, Passienus was the most prosperous of men: twice consul, the grandson of a consul, the heir of Sallust, he had twice married into the imperial family. His fortune was valued at two hundred million sestertii. He was persuaded by Agrippina to name her as his heir; this proved to be his undoing, for he died by his wife's treachery, probably poisoned, about AD 47.[1]
Gaius Passienus Crispus was an intelligent, humble, and witty person, famous for his epigram to the effect "that the world never knew a better slave, nor a worse master", referring to the future emperor Gaius (Caligula) and his grandfather, Tiberius.[18]
See also
Notes
- ^ The order of the final two names varies in inscriptions. Suetonius calls him "Passienus Crispus", while Tacitus calls him "Sallustius Crispus"; Prosopographia Imperii Romani lists him as "Gaius Passienus Crispus".
References
- ^ a b c d e Suetonius, "The Life of Passienus Crispus".
- ^ Tacitus, Annales, iii. 30.
- ^ PIR, vol. III, p. 14.
- ^ Attilio Degrassi, I fasti consolari dell'Impero Romano dal 30 avanti Cristo al 613 dopo Cristo (Rome, 1952), p. 9
- ISBN 9781900934022.
- ^ Tacitus, Annales, vi. 4.
- ^ Gallivan, "The Fasti for the Reign of Claudius", p. 409.
- ^ Settipani, Christian. Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale (2000), vol. 2, Addenda et Corrigenda, p. 74
- ^ Suetonius, "The Life of Nero", 5.
- ^ Cassius Dio, lix. 11, 22.
- ^ Suetonius, "The Life of Gaius", 24.
- ^ Suetonius, "The Life of Nero", 6.
- ^ Cassius Dio, lx. 4.
- ^ Ronald Syme, "Problems about Proconsuls of Asia", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 53 (1983), p. 195
- ^ Syme, Tacitus (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958), p. 72
- ^ Cassius Dio, lx. 23.
- ^ Gallivan, "The Fasti for the Reign of Claudius", p. 408.
- ^ Tacitus, Annales, vi. 20 (J. Jackson, trans.).
Bibliography
- Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales.
- Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars), De Viris Illustribus (Lives of Famous Men), "Vita Passienus Crispus" (The Life of Passienus Crispus).
- Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Cassius Dio), Roman History.
- Paul von Rohden, Elimar Klebs, & Hermann Dessau, Prosopographia Imperii Romani (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire, abbreviated PIR), Berlin (1898).
- Paul A. Gallivan, "The Fasti for the Reign of Claudius", in Classical Quarterly, vol. 28, pp. 407–426 (1978).