Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus
Encyclopedia
In the 1st century, lived two noblemen uncle and nephew, that shared the name Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus who were two descendants of Roman Emperor Augustus.
  • The elder Silanus, was the third born son to Aemilia Lepida
    Aemilia Lepida (fiancee of Claudius)
    For other women with this name, see Aemilia Lepida.Aemilia Lepida was a noble Roman woman and matron. She was the eldest daughter and first born child of Julia the Younger and consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Her father was of a distinguished and ancient patrician family...

     and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus
    Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus (consul AD 19)
    Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Silanus Torquatus was consul in AD 19 with Lucius Norbanus Balbus.-Biography:Silanus was a descendant of the noble Roman house of the Junii Silani. His grandfather was Marcus Junius Silanus, consul with the emperor Augustus in 25 BC...

    , a member of the Junii Silani
    Silanus
    Silanus is the cognomen of a patrician branch of the gens Junia, a noble family of ancient Rome which came to prominence during the Empire. Important members of this family included three brothers who lived in the reigns of Claudius and Nero. They were descended via their mother, Aemilia Lepida,...

    , a family of Ancient Rome
    Ancient Rome
    Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

    . His maternal grandparents were the princess Julia the Younger
    Julia the Younger
    Julia the Younger or Julilla , Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...

     and consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Through his maternal grandparents he was a descendant of Roman Emperor
    Roman Emperor
    The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

     Augustus
    Augustus
    Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

    , noble woman Scribonia
    Scribonia
    Scribonia was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder. She was the mother-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, and...

    , statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
    Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
    Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...

     and consul Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus (brother of the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
    Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)
    Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , was a Roman patrician who rose to become a member of the Second Triumvirate and Pontifex Maximus. His father, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, had been involved in a rebellion against the Roman Republic.Lepidus was among Julius Caesar's greatest supporters...

    ). He won an honorary triumph
    Roman triumph
    The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...

     and gave a lavish gladiator
    Gladiator
    A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...

    ial display. He was praetor
    Praetor
    Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...

     in 48. The Emperor
    Roman Emperor
    The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

     Claudius
    Claudius
    Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...

     betrothed him to his daughter Claudia Octavia
    Claudia Octavia
    Claudia Octavia was an Empress of Rome. She was a great-niece of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal first cousin of the Emperor Caligula, daughter of the Emperor Claudius, and stepsister and first wife of the Emperor Nero...

    , but this was broken off in 48 when Empress Agrippina the Younger
    Agrippina the Younger
    Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

    , hoping to secure Octavia as bride for her son Nero
    Nero
    Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

    , falsely charged him with open affection toward his sister Junia Calvina
    Junia Calvina
    Junia Calvina was a noble Roman woman. She was the first born daughter and among the children of Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, a member of the Junii Silani, a family of Ancient Rome. Her maternal grandparents were the princess Julia the Younger and consul Lucius Aemilius...

    . Consequently Claudius broke off the engagement and forced Silanus to resign from public office. He committed suicide on New Year's Day
    New Year's Day
    New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...

    , 49, the same day that Claudius and Agrippina married.

  • The younger Silanus (50-66) was the son of the elder's brother, Marcus. His mother is unknown. After his father's murder, he was raised by his paternal aunt Junia Lepida
    Junia Lepida
    Junia Lepida was a Roman noble woman that lived during the Roman Empire in the 1st century. Lepida was the second born daughter and was among the children born of Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, a member of the Junii Silani, a family of Ancient Rome...

     and her husband Gaius Cassius Longinus. A respected young nobleman, he became a rival in his youth to Emperor Nero
    Nero
    Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

    . Expelled from public life by Nero after his accession to the purple, Silanus was banished to a small country town. He was killed in a stand off with his guard.

Sources

  • Suetonius
    Suetonius
    Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

     - The Twelve Caesars - Claudius & Nero
  • Tacitus
    Tacitus
    Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

    - The Annals of Imperial Rome
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