Titus Statilius Taurus
Encyclopedia
Titus Statilius Taurus was the name of a line of Roman senators
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

. The first known and most important of these was a Roman general and two-time consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 prominent during the Triumviral
Second Triumvirate
The Second Triumvirate is the name historians give to the official political alliance of Octavius , Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony, formed on 26 November 43 BC with the enactment of the Lex Titia, the adoption of which marked the end of the Roman Republic...

 and Augustan
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...

 periods. The other men who bore this name were his descendants.

Titus Statilius Taurus (I)

Titus Statilius Taurus (I) was a general and twice consul during the Triumviral and Augustan periods. This Taurus was a novus homo
Novus homo
Homo novus was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul...

("new man" or "self-made man") from the region of Lucania
Lucania
Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium...

.

Initially a partisan of Marcus Antonius, by whom he was chosen as suffect consul in 37 BC, he subsequently was sent by Antonius with a fleet
Roman Navy
The Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions...

 to aid Octavian
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...

 in his war against Sextus Pompeius. After Pompey was driven from Sicily
Sicilia (Roman province)
Sicilia was the first province acquired by the Roman Republic, organized in 241 BC as a proconsular governed territory, in the aftermath of the First Punic War with Carthage. It included Sicily and Malta...

, Taurus crossed the sea to the province of Africa
Africa Province
The Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, and the small Mediterranean coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor...

, which he secured without any difficulty and for which he was awarded a 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...

 in 34 BC.

In 34 BC, he accompanied Octavian on campaign to Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

, and after Octavian's return to Rome, Taurus remained in command of the troops stationed there. When war with Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra broke out, Taurus chose Octavian's side and in the Battle of Actium
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...

, he was in command of Octavian's land force. Antony's land forces surrendered to him rather than fight him. This greatly accelerated the victory of Caesar Octavian. After the death of Antonius, Taurus was sent in 29 BC to Spain
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

 where he defeated the Cantabrians, Vaccaei and Astures. He was then made consul ordinarius in 26 BC alongside Augustus, as Octavian was now known. In 16 BC, when Augustus left Italy for Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

, he left Taurus in Rome as praefectus urbi. Until the second consulship of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

 in 7 BC, Statilius Taurus was the last man to hold multiple consulships. It appears Augustus was experimenting with a "share the honors" program before he consolidated enough power to rule as the unofficial emperor.

Statilius Taurus was responsible for the construction of the Amphitheater of Statilius Taurus
Amphitheater of Statilius Taurus
The Amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus was an amphitheatre in ancient Rome.The amphitheatre was built in 29 BC. Earlier arenas were temporary structures that were disassembled after the event. The amphitheatre was built by Titus Statilius Taurus, who paid for it from his own resources...

 in 29 BC.

Titus Statilius Taurus (I) seems to had three sons and possibly two daughters, though it is uncertain whether all these children were by the same woman. The eldest son, also named Titus Statilius Taurus (II), was a monetalis, but did not reach consular years. A second son, also named Titus Statilius Taurus (III), was consul in 11 AD. A third son was named Sisenna Statilius Taurus, and was consul in 16 AD. In terms of daughters, at least one seems certain, Statilia L. Pisonis, she who married Lucius Calpurnius Piso 'Augur' (consul 1 BC). A second may be the Statilia who died at the age of 99 in the reign of 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...

, although she may have been a sister to this Taurus.

Titus Statilius Taurus (II)

Titus Statilius Taurus (II) was the eldest son of Titus Statilius Taurus (I) possibly by Cornelia Sisenna or an unknown woman.. He was either the full-brother or half-brother of Titus Statilius Taurus (III), Sisenna Statilius Taurus, Statilia L. Pisonis and possibly Statilia.

All that is known of this Taurus is that he was a monetalis and died before reaching consular age.

Titus Statilius Taurus (III)

Titus Statilius Taurus (III) was the second son of Titus Statilius Taurus (I) perhaps by Cornelia Sisenna. He may have been the full-brother or half-brother of Titus Statilius Taurus (III) and possibly Statilia, and was probably the full-brother Sisenna Statilius Taurus and Statilia L. Pisonis.

This Taurus probably married a Valeria, daughter of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus was a Roman general, author and patron of literature and art.-Family:He was the son of politician Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger Although, some dispute his parentage and claim another descendant of Marcus Valerius Corvus to be his father.Messalla Corvinus is...

, and fathered three children by her, two consular sons, Titus Statilius Taurus (IV) and Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus, and a daughter, Statilia Messallina, who was the mother to the Empress Statilia Messalina
Statilia Messalina
Statilia Messalina was a Roman patrician woman, a Roman Empress and third wife to Roman Emperor Nero.The ancient sources say little of her family; however, Suetonius states that she was a great-great-granddaughter of Titus Statilius Taurus, a Roman General who won a triumph and was twice consul...

.

Titus Statilius Taurus (IV)

Titus Statilius Taurus (IV) was the eldest son of Titus Statilius Taurus (III) probably by Valeria, daughter of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus was a Roman general, author and patron of literature and art.-Family:He was the son of politician Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger Although, some dispute his parentage and claim another descendant of Marcus Valerius Corvus to be his father.Messalla Corvinus is...

. He was brother to Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus (consul 45 AD).

This Taurus served as proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...

 of Africa from 51 to 53 AD.

A wealthy man, he was accused by Tarquitius Priscus, a former subordinate during his tenure as Proconsul of Africa, of "a few acts of extortion, but particularly ... [of] magical and superstitious practices" at the direction of Julia Agrippina
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...

, and despite his apparent innocence, he committed suicide as a result of these accusations.
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