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Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (ca. 7 - 67) was a Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 general.

ulo was born in Italy into a senatorial
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
 family. His father (who entered the senate as a formal praetor
Praetor

Praetor was a Title#Titles_for_heads_of_state granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected Magistratus assigned duties that varied depending on the historical period....
 under Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
) had the same name and his mother was named Vistilia
Vistilia

Vistilia was a Roman woman who lived in the 1st century and came from a family that held the praetorship. Her brother was probably Sextus Vistilius, a former praetor, who was a former close friend to late Roman General Nero Claudius Drusus....
, who came from a family who held the praetorship

early career of Corbulo is unknown but he was consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
 in 40 during the reign of Roman Emperor Caligula
Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
, who was his brother-in-law through Caligula's marriage with his maternal elder half sister Milonia Caesonia
Caesonia

Milonia Caesonia was a Roman Empress. She rose from modest origins to become the fourth and last wife of the Roman Emperor Caligula. She was a daughter of a Roman woman called Vistilia, who came from a family who held the praetorship and her father is unknown....
.

r Caligula's assassination, Corbulo's career went into a halt until, in 47, Emperor Claudius
Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
 made him commander of the Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Ancient Rome Roman provinces located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
 armies, with base camp in modern Cologne
Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants....
.

The new assignment was a difficult one and Corbulo had to deal with major rebellions and violence outbreaks coming from Cherusci
Cherusci

The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany, in the area between present-day Osnabr?ck and Hanover), during the 1st century BC and 1st century....
 and Chauci
Chauci

The Chauci were a populous Germanic tribes that inhabited the extreme northwestern shore of Germany between Frisia in the west and the Elbe estuary in the east....
 Germanic tribes.






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Corbulo
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (ca. 7 - 67) was a Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 general.

Life


Descent

Corbulo was born in Italy into a senatorial
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
 family. His father (who entered the senate as a formal praetor
Praetor

Praetor was a Title#Titles_for_heads_of_state granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected Magistratus assigned duties that varied depending on the historical period....
 under Tiberius
Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
) had the same name and his mother was named Vistilia
Vistilia

Vistilia was a Roman woman who lived in the 1st century and came from a family that held the praetorship. Her brother was probably Sextus Vistilius, a former praetor, who was a former close friend to late Roman General Nero Claudius Drusus....
, who came from a family who held the praetorship

Under Caligula

The early career of Corbulo is unknown but he was consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
 in 40 during the reign of Roman Emperor Caligula
Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
, who was his brother-in-law through Caligula's marriage with his maternal elder half sister Milonia Caesonia
Caesonia

Milonia Caesonia was a Roman Empress. She rose from modest origins to become the fourth and last wife of the Roman Emperor Caligula. She was a daughter of a Roman woman called Vistilia, who came from a family who held the praetorship and her father is unknown....
.

In Germania Inferior

After Caligula's assassination, Corbulo's career went into a halt until, in 47, Emperor Claudius
Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
 made him commander of the Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior

Germania Inferior was a Ancient Rome Roman provinces located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
 armies, with base camp in modern Cologne
Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants....
.

The new assignment was a difficult one and Corbulo had to deal with major rebellions and violence outbreaks coming from Cherusci
Cherusci

The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany, in the area between present-day Osnabr?ck and Hanover), during the 1st century BC and 1st century....
 and Chauci
Chauci

The Chauci were a populous Germanic tribes that inhabited the extreme northwestern shore of Germany between Frisia in the west and the Elbe estuary in the east....
 Germanic tribes. During his stay in Germania
Germania

Germania was the Latin language exonym for a geographical area of land on the east bank of the River Rhine , which included regions of Sarmatia as well as an area under Ancient Rome control on the west bank of the Rhine....
, the general ordered the construction of a canal between the rivers Rhine
Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
 and Meuse
Meuse River

File:01-Namur-290305 JPG.jpgThe Meuse , is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea....
 . Parts of this engineering work, known as Fossa Corbulonis or Corbulo's Canal, have been found at archeological digs. Its course is about identical to the Vliet
Vliet

The Vliet is a canal in the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It starts at the Oude Rijn at Leiden and joins the Delfshavense Schie canal at Delft....
, which connects the modern towns of Leiden
Leiden

Media:Nl-Leiden.ogg is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands and has 118,000 inhabitants. It forms a single urban area with Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten, Valkenburg, Rijnsburg and Katwijk, with 254,000 inhabitants....
 (ancient Matilo) and Voorburg
Voorburg

Voorburg is a Netherlands town and former municipality of approximately 39,000 inhabitants in the western part of the province of South Holland, the Netherlands....
 (Forum Hadriani
Forum Hadriani

Forum Hadriani, at the modern town of Voorburg, was the northern-most Ancient Rome city on the European continent and the second oldest city of The Netherlands....
).

In the east

Corbulo returned to Rome, where he stayed until 52, when he was named governor of the province of Asia. Following Claudius' death in 54, the new emperor Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
 sent him to the eastern province
Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
s to deal with the Armenia
Kingdom of Armenia

The Kingdom of Armenia was an independent kingdom from 190 BC to AD 387 and a client state of the Roman and Persian empires until 428, stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea seas....
n question. After some delay, he took the offensive in 58, and, reinforced by troops from Germany, attacked Tiridates
Tiridates I of Armenia

Tiridates I was Kingdom of Armenia beginning in AD 53 and the founder of the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia, the Armenian line of the Arsacid Dynasty....
, king of Armenia and brother of Vologases I of Parthia
Vologases I of Parthia

Vologases I of Parthia ruled the Parthia from about 51 to 78. Son of Vonones II of Parthia by a Greeks concubine, he succeeded his father in 51 AD....
. Artaxata and Tigranocerta were captured by his legions (III Gallica
Legio III Gallica

Legio tertia Gallica was a Roman legion levied by Julius Caesar around 49 BC, for his Roman Republican civil wars against the conservative republicans led by Pompey....
, VI Ferrata
Legio VI Ferrata

Legio VI Ferrata , was a Roman Legion formed in 65 BC, and in existence up to at least 215 AD. It served under Julius Caesar in the Gallic Wars , and in the various Roman civil wars of the Roman Republic in the years before and after Caesar's assassination ....
, and X Fretensis
Legio X Fretensis

Legio decima Fretensis of the sea strait") was a Roman legion levied by Augustus in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of Roman Civil War that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic....
), and Tigranes
Tigranes

Tigranes was the name of a number of historical figures, primarily kings of Armenia.The earliest Tigranes is mentioned in the Cyropaedia and in Armenian historical sources....
, who had been brought up in Rome and was the obedient servant of the government, was installed king of Armenia.

In 61 Tigranes invaded Adiabene
Adiabene

Adiabene was an ancient Assyrian people semi-independent monarchy in Mesopotamia, with its capital at Arbil . Its rulers converted to Judaism in the 1st Century....
, an integral portion of the Parthian kingdom
Parthia

Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
, and a conflict between Rome and Parthia seemed unavoidable. Vologases, however, thought it better to come to terms. It was agreed that both the Roman and Parthian troops should evacuate Armenia, that Tigranes should be dethroned, and the position of Tiridates recognized. The Roman government declined to accede to these arrangements, and Lucius Caesennius Paetus
Lucius Caesennius Paetus

Lucius Junius Caesennius Paetus was a Roman aristocrat, member of the Junius , who lived in the second half of the 1st century during the Roman Empire....
, governor of Cappadocia
Cappadocia

Cappadocia, Wikipedia:IPA for English /k?p?'do???/ , was an extensive inland district of Asia Minor . The name continued to be used in western sources and in the Christianity tradition throughout history and is still widely used as an international Tourism in Turkey concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders characterized by...
, was ordered to settle the question by bringing Armenia under direct Roman administration.

The protection of Syria
Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War....
 in the meantime claimed all of Corbulo's attention. Lucius Caesannius Paetus, a weak and incapable commander, who "despised the fame acquired by Corbulo (2), suffered a severe defeat at Rhandeia (62), where he was surrounded and forced to capitulate to the Parthians and evacuated to Armenia. The command of the troops was again entrusted to Corbulo. In 63 CE, with a strong army, he crossed the Euphrates, but Tiridates declined to give battle and arranged a peace. At Rhandea he laid down his diadem at the foot of the emperor's statue, promising not to resume it until he received it from the hand of Nero
Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
 himself in Rome.

Fall and death

After two failed plots by noblemen and senators, including Corbulo's son-in-law Roman Senator Lucius Annius Vinicianus, to overthrow Nero in 65 CE, he became suspicious of Corbulo and his support among the Roman masses. In 67CE disturbances broke out in Iudaea province
Iudaea Province

Iudaea was a Roman province that extended over the former region of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel. It was named after the tetrarchy of Judea of which it was an expansion, the latter name deriving from the Kingdom of Judah of the 6th century BCE....
, but Nero, ordered Vespasian
Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
 to take command of the Roman forces. Nero summoned Corbulo, as well as two brothers who were the governors of Upper and Lower Germany, to Greece. On his arrival at Cenchreae, the port of Corinth, messengers from Nero met Corbulo, and ordered him to commit suicide, which he loyally obeyed by falling on his own sword, saying, "axios
Axios

Axios , is an acclamation that is made by the laity at the Ordination of bishops, priests and deacons in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches churches....
".(2)

Works

Corbulo wrote an account of his Asiatic experiences, which is now lost.

Marriage and issue

Corbulo married Cassia Longina, a Roman woman from a senatorial family. Cassia bore Corbulo two daughters. The elder daughter Domitia Corbula
Domitia Corbula

Domitia Corbula was a Roman noble woman who lived in the first century. She was the eldest daughter to Roman Consul and General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo and Cassia Longina....
 married the senator Lucius Annius Vinicianus and their second daughter Domitia Longina
Domitia Longina

Domitia Longina was an Empress and wife to the Roman Emperor Domitian. She was the youngest daughter of the general and Roman consul Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo....
 became a Roman Empress and married the future Roman Emperor Domitian
Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
.

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