Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus
Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus (c. 45 - 81/96) was a Roman senator, described by Brian W. Jones as "the most eminent of the consular victims" of Domitian.[1] Juvenal used his family as representative of Domitian's most noble victims;[2] Lamia was consul suffect in 80 with three different colleagues: Aulus Didius Gallus Fabricius Veiento, Quintus Aurelius Pactumeius Fronto, and Gaius Marius Marcellus Octavius Publius Cluvius Rufus.[3]
A number of scholars have concluded that Lamia was most likely a son of Tiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus.[4] He married Domitia Longina, the daughter of the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo and Cassia Longina. Their son is thought to have been Lucius Fundanius Lamia Aelianus, born before Domitian forced them to divorce.[1]
Domitia was seduced by Domitian while his father Vespasian was still in Roman Egypt (AD 70); Domitian afterwards forced Lamia to divorce her so he could have her for himself.[5] Despite this, Lamia retained his sense of humor. Jones suspects it was his sense of humor, in the form of harmless jokes directed at the emperor, that led to his execution. Domitian was unable to handle personal criticism of any sort, and there was ample precedent for the laws of treason to be applied to writings of this kind.[6]
References
- ^ a b Jones, The Emperor Domitian (London: Routlege, 1993), p. 184
- ^ Satires, IV.152
- ^ Paul Gallivan, "The Fasti for A. D. 70-96", Classical Quarterly, 31 (1981),pp. 189, 215
- ^ Frederik Juliaan Vervaet provides a list: "A Note on Syme's Chronology of Vistilia's Children", Ancient Society, 30 (2000), p. 103 n. 23
- ^ Dio Cassius, 66.3.4
- ^ Jones, Domitian, p. 185
Further reading
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