Lucius Seius Tubero 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 lett ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, who flourished under the reign of

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 ...

. He was suffect consul for February through July of the year 18, succeeding the emperor Tiberius, and as the colleague first of

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the pa ...

, then of Livineius Regulus. The family connections of Seius Tubero have posed a problem for students of ancient history. For example, he is the only consul of either the Roman Republic or Empire to use "Tubero" as a cognomen who was not of the ''gens'' Aelia. The consensus is that Tubero is one of the two brothers of

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 ...

alluded to by Velleius Paterculus; however, theories defining this fraternal relationship have changed over the years. Bartolomeo Borghesi first proposed that Seius Tubero was the son of

Lucius Seius Strabo Lucius Seius Strabo (46 BC16 AD) was a prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, during the rule of the emperors Augustus and Tiberius. The length of Strabo's tenure as Praetorian prefect is unknown, but he held the ...

. Then it was proposed that Seius Tubero was by birth the nephew of Strabo's wife, whom Strabo later adopted. The latest theory of his fraternal relationship to Sejanus, proposed by

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 ...

, is that Seius Tubero was the son of his wife Junia with her first husband, the jurist Quintus Aelius Tubero, whom Seius Strabo adopted following his marriage to Junia. Seius Tubero's first recorded action is in the year 16, as the commander of cavalry under Germanicus in battle against the Angrivarii. He next appears after his consulship, in the year 24, when he and

Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Augur Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus "Augur" (c. 54 BC – 25 AD) was a politician and general of the early Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus, who became consul in 14 BC as the colleague of Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi. Enormously wealthy, he reputed ...

, described by

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 ...

as leading men of the state and close friends of emperor Tiberius, were accused by Vibius Serenus of inciting rebellion and public unrest. Because Lentulus was so old and Tubero in poor health, both were acquitted, and Serenus fled from Rome for Ravenna, only to be brought back before the Senate, tried, and punished with exile. His life after that incident is a blank. As Tacitus notes that Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus was "alone of all connected with Sejanus" to avoid death or exile after his fall in the year 31,Tactius, ''Annales'', VI.30 it is likely that Seius Tubero died either before Sejanus' fall, or soon after it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seius Tubero, Lucius 1st-century Roman consuls Tubero, Lucius Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome