Fonteius Capito

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(Gaius?) Fonteius Capito (* unknown; † autumn 68 in Lower Germany ) was a Roman senator .

Life

In the year 67 AD, under Nero , Capito held the office of consul together with Lucius Iulius Rufus . After the end of the consulate, he became the commander ( legatus Augusti pro praetore) of the Lower Germanic army and at the same time governor of the army district that later became the province of Germania inferior (Lower Germania ).

Capito gained importance when he executed the Bata leader Claudius Paulus for alleged rebellion and had his brother Gaius Iulius Civilis chained and deported to Rome. Capito was considered corrupt, but was popular with his soldiers.

After Nero's death, Fonteius Capito was murdered in autumn 68 by the legionary legates Fabius Valens and Cornelius Aquinus and the commander of the Germanic fleet , Iulius Burdo , because of alleged plans for a coup d'état ; the new emperor Galba approved the act. The assassination itself was carried out by Centurio Crispinus, who was executed for it the following year at the insistence of the soldiers.

The successor to Capitos as governor in Lower Germany was the later Emperor Aulus Vitellius at the beginning of December 68 . Until then, the post remained vacant.

literature

  • Werner Eck : The governors of the Germanic provinces from 1. – 3. Century . Cologne 1985, pp. 129-131.
  • Emil Ritterling : Fasti of Roman Germany under the principate . Vienna 1932, p. 53f.

Remarks

  1. ↑ The prenomen has not been handed down. That it was Gaius (as with several members of the family) , as David Shotter, Nero Caesar Augustus: Emperor of Rome , Pearson Longman, Harlow 2008, ISBN 978-1-4058-2457-6 , pp. 69 and 156, states , apparently based on guesswork.
  2. ^ Tacitus , Historien 4, 13 .
  3. ↑ a b Tacitus, Historien 1, 7 .
  4. ↑ a b Tacitus, Historien 1, 52 .
  5. ↑ a b c Tacitus, Historien 1, 58 .
  6. ↑ Tacitus ( Historien 1, 7) doubts whether Capito actually aspired to the imperial dignity; The anecdote in Cassius Dio 54.2, according to which Capito had assumed the imperial power of appeal , could point to greater ambition .
  7. ^ Tacitus, Historien 3, 62 .
  8. ^ Tacitus, Historien 1, 9 .
personal data
SURNAME Fonteius Capito
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Capito, Fonteius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION roman senator
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 68
Place of death Lower Germany