Lucius Seius Strabo (46 BC16 AD) was a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of the

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 lett ...

imperial

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, ...

, known as the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...

, during the rule of the

emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

and

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

. The length of Strabo's tenure as Praetorian prefect is unknown, but he held the position together with various colleagues until 15, after which he was appointed to the governorship of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. With this career Strabo distinguished himself by attaining the two highest offices open to men of the equestrian class in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

. His son was

Lucius Aelius Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian ...

, who succeeded his father as Praetorian prefect in 15, and gained great influence under Emperor Tiberius before dramatically falling from power in 31.

Family

Lucius Seius Strabo was born around 46 BC in Volsinii,

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscans. Thei ...

, to the family of Marcus Seius Strabo and Terentia.Adams, 75 Although the Seii were Romans of the equestrian class, Strabo's father maintained relations with senatorial families through his marriage with Terentia. Her brother was

Aulus Terentius Varro Murena Aulus Terentius Varro Murena (died 24 BC) was a Roman general and politician of the 1st century BC. Biography Murena was the natural born son of Aulus Terentius Varro, and adopted brother to Lucius Licinius Varro Murena. He was well connected ...

, who shared the consulship with Augustus in 23 BC, and her sister, a more well known Terentia, was the wife of Augustus' political ally

Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. During the r ...

.Adams, 76 Strabo himself married into equally illustrious families. His first wife was Aelia, the daughter of Quintus Aelius Tubero, a marriage by which he allied himself with the more prestigious Aelian

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gen ...

. By Aelia, he had one son, Lucius Seius Tubero, who became suffect consul in 18. After her death, he married Cosconia Lentuli Maligunensis Gallita, sister of Servius Cornelius Lentulus Maluginensis (suffect consul in 10), Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio (suffect consul in 2), and half sister of

Quintus Junius Blaesus Quintus Junius Blaesus (died AD 31) was a Roman ''novus homo'' ("new man," that is, the first member of his family to gain entrance to the Roman nobility) who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. He was the maternal uncle of Lucius A ...

(suffect consul in 10). With Cosconia Strabo had one son, Lucius Seius, who was later adopted into the Aelian gens and became known as Lucius Aelius Seianus, or simply Sejanus.

Career

Under Augustus

The equestrian class was one of the two upper

social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inc ...

es of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

and the early

. Officially, they were the second tier of the elite, behind the patrician or senatorial class. This made them relatively harmless and consequently, suitable for important offices of state such as

Praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...

or governor of Egypt; the former post which was in charge of the Emperor's personal bodyguard, the latter which controlled the grain supply of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. A senator who occupied such positions might develop ambitions of making himself emperor, a danger Augustus was well aware of. The Praetorian Guard was formally established under Augustus in 27 BC.Bingham, 30 During Republican times, generals or statesmen had relied on private corps of soldiers before, but the Guard as established by Augustus differed from these early cohorts, not only in structure and number but also in function. As a special division of the

Roman Army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...

, they were essentially loyal to the Emperor and his family only, and accordingly their pay-rate was much higher. Augustus was careful however to uphold the Republican veneer of his regime, and allowed only nine cohorts to be formed, which was one less than in a normal legion.Bingham, 32-33 Only three of those were ever kept on active duty. As the Roman citizens grew more used to the presence of soldiers in the capital however, their numbers were increased from 500 to 1000 soldiers per cohort. Not much is known about the precise activities of the Guard during this period. Their primary function was to safeguard the Emperor and his family, but Augustus seems to have involved the Praetorians as much in tasks of civil administration. Prior to 2 BC the tribunes of the cohorts received their orders directly from Augustus himself. This changed with the appointment of the first Praetorian prefects, only a few of which are known by name. It is generally assumed that, when Lucius Seius Strabo accepted the post, possibly with Publius Varius Ligur, he succeeded Publius Salvius Aper and Quintus Ostorius Scapula. The date or the reasons of Strabo's appointment are unclear. It is likely however that he came to the attention of Augustus through his mother's connection with Maecenas. A passage of

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

suggests the two might have even been friends. Whatever the case, Strabo faithfully served as prefect until the Emperor's death in 14.

Under Tiberius

When Tiberius acceded to the supreme power upon the death of Augustus, one of his first acts was to secure the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard. The ancient historian

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

describes this event in his work '' The Annals'':

Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius, the consuls, were the first to swear allegiance to Tiberius Caesar, and in their presence the oath was taken by Seius Strabo and Caius Turranius, respectively the commander of the praetorian cohorts and the superintendent of the corn supplies. Then the Senate, the soldiers and the people did the same.

The order in which this occurred—the senate after the two prefects—indicates the significance that by now was attached to the office of Praetorian prefect as head of the Emperor's personal guard. Strabo would not remain prefect for much longer however, but for his services to the house of Augustus he was well rewarded by Tiberius. He took up a position in the emperor's '' consilium'', and the same year gained his own son, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, as colleague in his prefecture. Together they commanded the Praetorian Guard from 14 until 15 or 16, after which Strabo was promoted to the highest office a Roman knight could attain, governor of Egypt.Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'
LVII.19
/ref>Pliny the Elder, ''Natural Histories'

/ref> The length of his governorship is unclear, nor what happened to Strabo after this appointment, but it has been suggested that he died while in office. Although Strabo distinguished himself by achieving the highest offices a Roman knight could attain under Augustus and Tiberius, his place in history has been largely overshadowed by the infamy of his son Sejanus. During a prefecture which lasted nearly 17 years, Sejanus introduced reforms to the Praetorians which helped shape the Guard into an integral and powerful branch of the Principate.Bingham, 67-68 The soldiers were gathered to a single garrison and the number of cohorts was increased from 9 to 12. Sejanus himself became a trusted advisor to Tiberius, and during the latter's withdrawal to

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has be ...

in 26 was effectually the ruler of the Roman Empire until 31. That year he suddenly fell from power amidst suspicions of Tiberius that Sejanus was secretly plotting against him. He was executed along with his three children.

Notes

References

* *

External links

, ''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'', I.7, I.24, IV.1, VI.8, English translation {{DEFAULTSORT:Seius Strabo, Lucius Roman governors of Egypt Ancient Roman soldiers 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Romans 46 BC births 16 deaths 1st-century Roman governors of Egypt Praetorian prefects Seii (Romans)