Tiberius Claudius Narcissus

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Tiberius Claudius Narcissus

Tiberius Claudius Narcissus (fl. 1st century) was one of the freedmen

Freedman

Freedman is the term used to describe a former Slavery who has been Manumission or Emancipation. The first means the freeing of an individual by the owner, often through deed or will, and sometimes by legislative petition....
who formed the core of the imperial court under 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....
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....
. He is described as praepositus ab epistulis (in charge of correspondence).

He reportedly had great influence over the emperor and amassed a great deal of money. He is said to have conspired with Claudius's wife Messalina

Messalina

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Tiberius Claudius Narcissus'

Start a new discussion about 'Tiberius Claudius Narcissus'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Tiberius Claudius Narcissus (fl. 1st century) was one of the freedmen

Freedman

Roman Emperor

Claudius

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....
to manipulate him into having several men executed, although this is unproven. However, the sources admit that Narcissus, as Claudius' own former slave, was extremely loyal to the emperor, and so entrusted with more responsibility than the others. In 43, during the preparations for the Roman conquest of Britain

Roman conquest of Britain

By AD 43, the time of the main Roman invasion of Britain, Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire....
, he headed off a mutiny by addressing the troops. Seeing a former slave

Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
in their commander's position, they cried "Io Saturnalia!" (Saturnalia

Saturnalia

Saturnalia is the festival with which the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn , which was on 17 December. Over the years, it expanded to a whole week, to 23 December....
being a Roman festival when slaves and masters exchanged places for the day) and the mutiny ended. It was through his influence that the future emperor 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....
was appointed legate

Legatus

A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of Roman senate rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes....
of the Legio II Augusta 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....
.

When Messalina married Gaius Silius

Gaius Silius

Gaius Silius was the name of two consuls of the Roman Empire, during the 1st century. The elder was a consul in the reign of Emperor Augustus and the younger a consul in the reign of Emperor Claudius....
in 48, it was Narcissus who betrayed her to Claudius, and seeing the emperor hesitate, he gave the order for her execution himself. Narcissus may have feared that Claudius' son, Britannicus

Britannicus

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus was the son of the Roman Empire Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. He became the heir-designate of the empire at his birth, less than a month into his father's reign....
would hold a grudge against him for this role. When the time came for the emperor to select a new wife, Narcissus suggested Aelia Paetina

Aelia Paetina

Aelia Paetina or Paetina was a Roman woman who lived in the 1st century. Her biological father was consul of 4, Sextus Aelius Catus while her mother is unknown....
, Claudius' ex-wife - whom he would have known. Anthony Barrett suggests that Narcissus' intention was to allow Claudius reason to pick Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix

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 his and Aelia's 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 ....
, as his successor rather than a hostile Britannicus. It would also have given Claudius an adult heir, which he was looking for to shore up his position. When Claudius chose 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....
in order to consolidate the Julio-Claudian family, and picked Nero to fill the role of temporary older heir, Narcissus allied with Britannicus' circle in order to secure his future.

Claudius still trusted Narcissus, and had him named 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....
. He was charged with overseeing the building of a canal to drain Lacus Fucinus

Fucine Lake

The Fucine Lake was a large lake in central Italy. It was drained in 1875....
, but Claudius's new wife Agrippina

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....
accused him of embezzling funds from the project, possibly as punishment for his support of Britannicus. According to Tacitus, Narcissus hoped to bring down Agrippina by revealing her affair with the freedman Pallas

Pallas (freedman)

Marcus Antonius Pallas was a prominent Greek freedman and secretary during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Claudius and Nero. His younger brother was Marcus Antonius Felix, a procurator of Iudaea Province....
, which would also have destroyed her son. He supposedly told Britannicus of his plans in front of others, and was brazen in his intentions, promising to right all wrongs against him. It has been suggested that this last detail is an example of Tacitus altering facts to make Claudius a passive character in his reign. Suetonius and Dio report that, after reconciling with Brittanicus, Claudius -- not Narcissus -- openly planned to bring Agrippina down. In any case, Agrippina was suspicious of Narcissus and had him sent away to Campania

Campania

Campania is a Regions of Italy of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy, its total area of 13,595 km? makes it the most densely populated region in the country....
, ostensibly to take advantage of the warm baths there to relieve his gout

Gout

Gout is a crystal deposition disease hallmarked by elevated levels of uric acid in the Circulatory system. In this condition, crystals of monosodium urate or uric acid are deposited on the articular cartilage of joints, tendons and surrounding tissues....
. This was probably intended to remove him as an obstacle to the assassination of Claudius and the accession of Nero. Agrippina ordered Narcissus' execution within weeks of Claudius' death in October, 54. Shortly after the announcement Narcissus returned to Rome. Before his imprisonment and execution, he burned all Claudius' letters to prevent Nero from using their contents for nefarious means.

Narcissus is a character in the Apocolocyntosis of Seneca the Younger

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....
, written soon after his death. He greets Claudius in Hades and runs ahead of him through the gates of the underworld. He is scared by Cerberus

Cerberus

Cerberus is the name given to the entity which, in Greek mythology and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed dog which guards the gates of Hades, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping....
, a dog-beast so unlike the little white dog Narcissus is mentioned as owning in life. An inscription names his wife as Claudia Dicaeosyna

Claudia Dicaeosyna

Claudia Dicaeosyna was a Greek Freedwoman who lived in the 1st century. She was a freedwoman to the Roman Emperor Claudius. Her husband was the wealthy, powerful and influential Greek Freedman Tiberius Claudius Narcissus....
.