Pallas (freedman)

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Pallas (freedman)

Marcus Antonius Pallas (c. 1

Year 1 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.The preceding year is 1 BC in the widely used Gregorian calendar or in its predecessor, the Julian calendar, neither of which has a "Year zero"....
–63

Year 63 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar....
) was a prominent Greek freedman and secretary during the reigns of the Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
s Claudius

Claudius

Nero

Antonius Felix

Marcus Antonius Felix was the ancient Rome procurator of Iudaea Province 52-60, in succession to Ventidius Cumanus....
, a procurator of 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....
. According to Tacitus

Tacitus

Arcadia

Arcadia, Arkad?a , or Arcady is a region of Greece in the Peloponnesus. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas....
.

Pallas was originally a slave of Antonia Minor

Antonia Minor

Antonia Minor , also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia was a daughter of Ancient Rome politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, sister of roman emperor Augustus, and mother of future emperor Claudius....
, a daughter of Mark Antony

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
and niece of Emperor Augustus. Pallas took her name when freed. Josephus mentions him as the slave sent by Antonia to deliver evidence to the emperor 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....
concerning the murder of his son Julius Caesar Drusus

Julius Caesar Drusus

Nero Claudius Drusus, later Drusus Julius Caesar , was the only child of Roman Emperor Tiberius and his first wife, Vipsania Agrippina. He was born with the name Nero Claudius Drusus, and is also known to historians as Drusus II and Drusus Minor....
by Sejanus

Sejanus

Lucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. An Equestrian by birth, Sejanus rose to power as Praetorian Prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, of which he was commander from 14 AD until his death in 31....
.

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Marcus Antonius Pallas (c. 1

Year 63 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar....
) was a prominent Greek freedman and secretary during the reigns of the Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

Claudius

Nero

Antonius Felix

Marcus Antonius Felix was the ancient Rome procurator of Iudaea Province 52-60, in succession to Ventidius Cumanus....
, a procurator of Iudaea Province

Iudaea Province

Tacitus

Arcadia

Arcadia, Arkad?a , or Arcady is a region of Greece in the Peloponnesus. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas....
.

Pallas was originally a slave of Antonia Minor

Antonia Minor

Mark Antony

Tiberius

Julius Caesar Drusus

Sejanus

Manumission

Manumission is the act of freeing individual Slavery, done at the will of the owner....
Pallas between the years of 31 and 37, when he would have passed the minimum age for freedom. He is listed as owning land in Egypt during that period, possibly as a reward for his servitude. When Antonia died in 37, he became the client of her son, 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....
, as tradition dictated at the death of a former master and patron.

As a freedman, Pallas rose to great heights in the imperial government. From the beginning of Claudius' reign, the senate was openly hostile to him, which forced him to centralize powers. The daily maintenance of the empire was too much for one man, so Claudius divided it up amongst his trusted freedmen. Pallas was made secretary of the treasury. He did this job with such efficiency that Cornelius Scipio proposed before the Senate that he be rewarded. The position apparently enabled Pallas to reward himself as well, as he is later listed as one of the richest men of the time by Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
. The historians do admit that he never embezzled directly from the imperial account, and his wealth may have come from his financial acumen. Some ancient historians claim that he was able to control the emperor through his high-ranking position, but this is probably not the case. When his brother Felix was recalled to Rome to stand trial for maladministration, Pallas could not prevent him from being banished, though he was at the height of his career. Nor could he prevent his fellow freedman-administrator Polybius

Polybius (freedman)

Gaius Iulius Polybius was a freedman of Emperor Claudius who was elevated to the secretariat during his reign. He assisted Claudius in his literary, judicial, and historical pursuits as a researcher before the emperor's accession and this became Polybius' official role in the imperial bureaucracy, with the title 'a studiis'....
from being executed for treason.

In the second half of Claudius' reign, Pallas chose to support Agrippina the Younger

Agrippina the Younger

Julia Agrippina; known as Agrippina Minor , was a great granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great niece and adoptive granddaughter of Emperor Tiberius, sister to Emperor Caligula, wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Emperor Nero....
as a new empress after the fall of Empress Messalina

Messalina

Valeria Messalina, sometimes spelled Messallina, was a Ancient Rome Empress as the third wife of Roman Emperor Claudius. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation for promiscuity, she conspired against her husband and was executed when the plot was discovered....
. Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate 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 that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
notes his intent to reunite the Julian and Claudian families through the marriage, and prevent either a future husband of Agrippina or Agrippina herself from claiming the throne. But the ancient authors also state that the real reason for his choice was that Pallas and Agrippina were lovers. Modern historians suggest that their relationship was strictly business, and they helped each other with mutual goals. Pallas' influence on Agrippina was real and became well-known, but he continued to advise Claudius on matters of state. He was the source of law that stated that a free woman who married a slave would remain free if the master approved.

When Agrippina's son, 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....
, succeeded Claudius, Pallas retained his position in the treasury for a time. It is suggested that he assisted Agrippina in murdering Claudius, since he was sure of his future security. This security did not last long. In 55, Nero dismissed Pallas from service, tired of having to deal with any allies of Agrippina. He further accused Pallas of conspiring to overthrow him and place Faustus Sulla

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix

Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix was one of the lesser known figures of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of ancient Rome. His grandmother was Antonia Major, the niece of Emperor Augustus by her husband Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus ....
, the husband of Claudius' daughter Claudia Antonia

Claudia Antonia

Claudia Antonia was the daughter of the later Roman Emperor Claudius from his second marriage to Aelia Paetina. Until 37, she was raised by her paternal grandmother Antonia Minor ....
, on the throne. Seneca

Seneca the Younger

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Ancient Rome Stoicism philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature....
, who was prominent in Nero's circle, came to Pallas' defense at the trial and got him acquitted. Pallas did not elude Nero's wrath forever, and was killed on Nero's orders in 63 - possibly to gain access to his large fortune, part of which was his by right as Pallas' official patron. Some money must have gone to Pallas' family, as a descendant of his became 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 167.

Sources

Oost, S.V. "The Career of M. Antonius Pallas." American Journal of Philology 79 (1958). 113-139.