Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus (* 38 ; † January 15, 69 in Rome ) was a Roman senator and briefly in 69 co-emperor or heir to the throne, the first designated heir to the throne who was not related to the previous emperor (if one of them except that Tiberius and Nero were each only the step-sons of their predecessors and were adopted by them).
Lucius Calpurnius Piso was born in the year 38. He came from a noble Roman family and is described as having a strong character. His parents were Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi , who was consul in the year 27 , and Scribonia. It later became his undoing that he had to spend most of Nero's reign in exile and therefore could not even hold low political offices. When, after Nero's suicide, Galba was proclaimed emperor on June 8, 68, Piso was able to return to Rome.
When Galba got into a political emergency due to favoritism and because of his "avarice" (on January 1st, 69 the legions on the Rhine refused to take the oath of allegiance to the emperor), he decided that his own children had already died, Piso as his heir to raise. Apparently Galba hoped to be able to stabilize his threatened position by arranging the succession in good time. Piso was adopted by Galba on January 10th and immediately presented to the Praetorians and Senators as his successor ( Caesar ) . From then on, the title Caesar would mark the designated heir to the throne for centuries. But Galba failed to make the usual monetary gifts in this context, which harmed Piso. Piso, who was young, had not yet held an office and had practically no merit that, in Roman eyes , would have established an auctoritas sufficient for an emperor , was overall not in a particularly good position. In his rather critical situation, Galba chose him as presumptive successor due to Piso's high descent. It is unclear whether he actually spoke before the Senate, as Tacitus reports in his histories , of the “selection of the best” and thus already anticipated the ideology of the adoptive empire , which would then dominate official propaganda at the time of Tacitus.
When Otho proclaimed himself emperor on January 15, Galba was murdered in the forum after a victim. Piso, who sought refuge in a Vesta temple, was dragged out and also murdered. Their severed heads were taken to the Praetorian camp at Otho.
When the civil war year 69 came to an end, General Vespasian had taken power as the new emperor. The brother Pisus now fell victim to the Vespasian government and was murdered. With the death of Domitian , Vespasian's second son, the principle of adoption prevailed with Nerva for the time being and gave Rome a good eighty-year phase of extensive stability: Nerva, who found himself in a very similar situation to Galba 68/69 in 96/97 - a weak, old and childless emperor who had to fear a coup - did not adopt a powerless man, as Piso had been, but - presumably by force - the powerful general Trajan , who would later become one of the most successful Roman rulers of all.
literature
- Gwyn Morgan: 69 AD. The Year of Four Emperors . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-0-19-512468-2 , pp. 59 ff.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tacitus: Histories . 1.15-16 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus, Lucius |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Piso Frugi Licinianus, Lucius Calpurnius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | roman senator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 38 |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 15, 69 |
| Place of death | Rome |