Sabinus (gladiator)

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Sabinus lived in Rome in the 1st century and was appointed by Caligula as a high-ranking officer (decurio Germanorum) of the Germanic bodyguard (Germani corporis custodes) of the emperor. As the commander on duty on January 24, 41, the day on which Caligula was killed in an assassination attempt, he was in command of the imperial bodyguard.

The origin and the original status of the Sabinus are unknown. Before his new use he was a gladiator who is described in the sources as a thraex of sturdy form. In his treatise on the Germanic bodyguard, the ancient historian Heinz Bellen assumes, analogously to the later decurio Germanorum Spiculus , that Sabinus was a peregrinus or that he became a slave ( emancipatio ) who was emancipated before Caligula took office .

The attack on Caligula on the last day of the public games in honor of Augustus in front of the Imperial Palace (ludi Palatini) prompted the snubbed Germanic bodyguard to seal off Augustus' house and the theater temporarily built in front of it in order to search for the assassins. This resulted in extreme excesses of violence on the part of the bodyguard against the civilian population, who among other victims killed three senators who were not involved in the assassination attempt . It was only when officers of the Praetorian Guard intervened and the news that Caligula had died that the Germanic bodyguard stopped.

In the course of the repressive processing of the events of January 24, 41 by the imperial successor Claudius , Sabinus was relieved of his position as the commander in charge of the imperial bodyguard because of the excesses against the people who were not involved in the assassination attempt. He was indirectly sentenced to death ( damnatio ad ludum gladiatorium ) , as Sabinus had to compete in the arena again and again and in his case with no prospect of pardon as a gladiator until his death. On the other hand, the teams of the Germani corporis custodes , who had demonstrated their unconditional loyalty to the emperor, were taken over by Claudius into his service.

The ultimate fate of Sabinus is not known. According to the sources, as one of Messalina's lovers, he is said to have been protected from serious mortal danger by them.

literature

  • Heinz Bellen : The Germanic bodyguard of the Roman emperors of the Julisch-Claudian house (= Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz. Humanities and social science class. Treatises of the humanities and social science class. Born 1981, No. 1). Steiner, Wiesbaden 1981, ISBN 3-515-03491-9 , here pp. 43, 46, 66-69, 84, 92-99.
  • Gerhard Winkler : II Sabinus 2. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, column 1484.

Web links

  • Flavius ​​Josephus : Jewish antiquities , translated and provided with introduction and notes by Heinrich Clementz. With paragraph counting according to Flavii Josephi Opera recognovit Benedictus Niese (Editio minor), Wiesbaden 2004. ISBN 3-937715-62-2 The books 17-19 concern Caligula. Online by archive.org .

Remarks

  1. ^ Suetonius , Caligula 55.2 (English) .
  2. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus , Jüdische Antiquities 19,1,15 (§ 122).
  3. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 19,1,15 (§ 122).
  4. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 19,3,1 (§ 214).
  5. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 19,1,15 (§ 123–126).
  6. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 19,1,18 (§ 145-149).
  7. ↑ Cassius Dio , Römische Geschichte 60,28,2 (English) .
personal data
SURNAME Sabinus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Member of the Germanic imperial bodyguard (Germani corporis custodes)
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century
DATE OF DEATH 1st century
Place of death Rome