Lucius Publilius Celsus (executed 118) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

senator as well as a confidant of the emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. He was

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

twice: the first time as suffect consul for the ''

nundinium Nundinium was a Latin word derived from the word '' nundinum'', which referred to the cycle of days observed by the Romans. During the Roman Empire, ''nundinium'' came to mean the duration of a single consulship among several in a calendar year. S ...

'' of May to August 102 as the colleague of Titus Didius Secundus; the second time as ordinary consul for the year 113 with Gaius Clodius Crispinus as his colleague. Dio Cassius records the fact that Celsus was one of three men the emperor Trajan honored during their lives with statues, the other two men being

Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus (died AD 118) was a soldier and Roman statesman who was twice consul: first as consul ordinarius in AD 99, with Quintus Sosius Senecio as his colleague; and again in 109, with Publius Calvisius Tullus Ruso as h ...

and

Quintus Sosius Senecio Quintus Sosius Senecio ( 1st century AD) was a Roman senator who was favored by the emperors Domitian and Trajan. As a result of this relationship, he was twice ordinary consul, an unusual and prestigious honor: first in 99, with Aulus Cornelius P ...

, which attests to his importance. Anthony Birley suggests that he accompanied Trajan on the latter's expedition against the Parthians. Upon the death of Trajan, his power and influence was such that Trajan's successor, Hadrian, felt threatened and had him executed along with Cornelius Palma in 118; the account in the '' Augustan History'' adds two more men to those Hadrian ordered executed,

Lusius Quietus Lusius Quietus ( la, Lusius Quiētus, ; grc-koi, Λούσιος Κυήτος, Loúsios Kyítos, ) was a Roman Berber general and 11th legate of Judaea in 117–120. He was the principal commander against the Jewish rebellion known as the Kitos ...

and

Gaius Avidius Nigrinus Gaius Avidius Nigrinus (died 118 AD) was a Roman senator who lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries. Nigrinus served as suffect consul for the '' nundinium'' of April to June 110 with Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus as his colleague. Ances ...

.''Vita Hadrianus''
7.2
/ref> Although the ''Augustan History'' states that the four men had been united in a conspiracy against Hadrian, John D. Grainger suggests the men may have been executed because they were inconvenient. Despite the evident importance of Celsus in Trajan's court, little more than these facts are known about him.

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

opines that the statue and other known details imply he held a consular military command.Syme, ''Tacitus'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958), p. 648

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Publilius Celsus, Lucius 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans Imperial Roman consuls Year of birth unknown 118 deaths

Celsus Celsus (; grc-x-hellen, Κέλσος, ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work, ''The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: grc-x-hellen, Λόγ� ...

Executed ancient Roman people People executed by the Roman Empire