Lucius Arruntius

Lucius Arruntius (consul 6) (bef. 27 BC – 37 AD)

Lucius Arruntius (before 27 BC – 37 AD) was a Roman senator praised by the ancient Roman historian Tacitus. He lived throughout most of the reigns of the two first Roman emperors, Augustus and Tiberius. In 6 AD he was appointed consul, and then governor of Hispania Tarraconensis around 25 AD, which he governed in absentia for over 10 years. Throughout the latter part of his life he was plagued by hostility from the Praetorian Guard prefects, Sejanus and Macro, which culminated in his suicide in 37 AD after being arraigned on a trumped-up charge of irreverence to the then-emperor Tiberius.

• Lucius Arruntius, It, wikipedia

Roman consul in 6 AD with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

Early life and family

Lucius Arruntius descended from an ancient and noble family and was the son of Lucius Arruntius, a Roman admiral noteworthy for his participation during the Battle of Actium, where he was in command of Augustus' central fleet. Little else is known of the life of Lucius Arruntius before his consulship in 6 AD.

Arruntius had an adopted son, Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus who was appointed governor of Dalmatia in about 40 AD and attempted to revolt against Claudius in 41 AD.

This suggests that Arruntius may have nurtured revolutionary ideas in his son. He also had an adopted grandson called Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus who was apparently more proud of his descent from Pompey The Great than that of Arruntius.

Character

Arruntius was one of the most highly respected members of the senate of his day, much admired for his learning and integrity. He is further described as "a man of stainless virtues", "rich", "daring", and having "brilliant accomplishments, and corresponding popularity".Arruntius was a man who was not disposed to sycophancy. In his last conversations with Tiberius, the Roman emperor Augustus described Arruntius as "not unworthy of (ruling) the Empire and would have boldness enough to seize it should the opportunity arise".

The accession of Tiberius (14 AD)

Life as a senator in the reign of Tiberius

Conflict with Sejanus

Death

In Book 6 of The Annals Tacitus informs us that in 37 AD Arruntius and his paramour Albucilla were arraigned on charges of irreverence towards the emperor and adultery at the instigation of Macro. Arruntius, now in old age, committed suicide by opening his veins, tired of enduring a life of peril and scorn due to the tyranny of Sejanus and Macro. Arruntius was aware at this stage that Tiberius was ill and unlikely to recover; however, he foresaw only worse conditions to come under the reign of Tiberius' successor Caligula. He declared, "I cannot in my old age become the slave of a new master like him." Years later, Gaius Silius would say of him in the Senate that he had come to eminence by his "incorrupta vita" (blameless life).

Arruntius in fiction

References