Gaius Iulius Callistus
Gaius Iulius Callistus was an influential freedman under the Roman Emperor Claudius .
Callistus was sold and released as a slave in Caligula's household. His daughter Nymphidia was Caligula's lover. Callistus already had great influence under Caligula, but he took part in conspiracies against the emperor, including the successful one of January 41 AD. Under Emperor Claudius, he got a powerful position in which he took on the role of procurator a libellis (for petitions ) took. This enabled him to make numerous contacts and amass great wealth. Pliny the Elder notes that some freedmen were richer than Crassus , who was the richest man at the time of the Roman Republic . As an example, he cites Callistus' dining room with 30 marble columns made of onyx . When Claudius eliminated Messalina , Callistus stayed in the background. The candidate for marriage proposed by Callistus, Lollia Paulina , rejected Claudius. Nevertheless, Callistus was able to maintain his influence alongside Narcissus and Pallas , which was based primarily on direct access to the emperor. The writer Scribonius Largus dedicated his work to him, which Callistus gave to Claudius. Callistus probably died before Claudius died.
literature
- The new Pauly , vol. 6, col. 31.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Flavius Josephus : Jüdische Antiquities XIX.1.10ff
- ↑ Pliny: Natural History 23,134.
- ↑ Pliny: Natural History 36,60.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Callistus, Gaius Iulius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Freedman of the Roman Emperor Claudius |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1st century BC BC or 1st century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1st century |