Publius Vitellius

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Publius Vitellius († after October 18, 31) was a Roman politician and officer of the 1st century AD.

Vitellius came from the Vitellier family , which probably came from Luceria in Apulia . His father of the same name worked as a caretaker for Augustus and had three other sons in addition to Publius: Aulus held the consulate in 32 with Nero's father , Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus . Quintus reached the bursary under Augustus , but was expelled from the Senate under his successor Tiberius . As governor of Syria, Lucius was the coordinator of Roman policy on the Orient and one of the most influential senators under the emperors Caligula and Claudius . Lucius' son Aulus was Roman Emperor in 69 years of the four emperors .

Publius Vitellius evidently went through the usual senatorial office career . In 12/13 he commanded a military unit in Thrace and during the Germanic campaign in 14-16 he served Germanicus as legionary legate . When he led the legio II Augusta and the legio XIIII Gemina along the North Sea coast in this capacity , he was surprised by a storm surge . Towards the end of the campaign, Germanicus sent him to Gaul to carry out a provincial census .

Vitellius also accompanied Germanicus on his trip to the Orient and was proconsul of Bithynia et Pontus in Asia Minor during this time . When Germanicus died unexpectedly in 19, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso , the governor of Syria, was suspected of having poisoned him. Vitellius was involved in the trial against Piso as a prosecutor and showed particular rhetorical skills. Later, the exact year is not known, he held the praetur .

Vitellius was arrested after the execution of the disgraced Praetorian Prefect Sejan , of which he was a follower, in 31. He was accused of having, as prefect of the aerarium militare , wanted to support an attempted coup by Sejan with the funds it contained. Vitellius was placed under house arrest in the house of one of his brothers, probably that of Aulus, where he died either as a result of a suicide attempt or of an illness.

Acutia , Vitellius' widow, was convicted of lese majesty shortly before the death of Tiberius in 37 .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ The text of Sueton , Vitellius 1, 3 and 2, 2 includes , Nuceria that of Tacitus , histories 3, 86 on the other hand Luceria.
  2. ↑ On Publius Vitellius and his sons Aulus and Quintus Suetonius, Vitellius 2, 2 . At the time of the Quaestorship Vitellius 1, 2 , for exclusion from the Senate also Tacitus, Annalen 2, 48 .
  3. ↑ On Lucius Werner Eck : L. Vitellius [II 3]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 12/2, Metzler, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-476-01487-8 , Col. 261 f .; Steven H. Rutledge: Imperial Inquisitions. Prosecutors and informants from Tiberius to Domitian . Routledge, London 2001, ISBN 0-415-23700-9 , pp. 284-288 .
  4. ^ Description of a military campaign by Vitellius in Thrace near Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto 4,7,27.
  5. ↑ On the storm surge Tacitus, Annalen 1,70 .
  6. ↑ For use in Gaul Tacitus, Annalen 2, 6 .
  7. ↑ On the trial against Piso Tacitus, Annalen 2, 74 ; 3, 10; 3, 13 ; Suetonius, Vitellius 2, 3 .
  8. ↑ On the praetur, briefly Suetonius, Vitellius 2, 3 .
  9. ↑ On Imprisonment and Death, Tacitus, Annals 5, 8 ; Suetonius, Vitellius 2, 3 .
  10. ↑ Acutia Tacitus, Annalen 6, 47 .
personal data
SURNAME Vitellius, Publius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman politician and officer
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after October 18th 31st