:''See also

Titus Flavius Sabinus (disambiguation) Titus Flavius Sabinus was the name of several notable Ancient Rome, Ancient Romans, including: * Titus Flavius Sabinus (father of Vespasian), Titus Flavius Sabinus, father of the emperor Vespasian. * Titus Flavius Sabinus (consul AD 47), Titus Flav ...

for other men of this name.'' Titus Flavius Sabinus 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 was active in the first century AD. He was twice consul ''suffectus'', first in the '' nundinium'' of April through June of 69 with his brother

Gnaeus Arulenus Caelius Sabinus Gnaeus Arulenus Caelius Sabinus was a Roman senator, who was active during the Year of Four Emperors. He was suffect consul in the '' nundinium'' of April through June of 69 AD as the colleague of his brother Titus Flavius Sabinus. Gavin Townend ...

, and again in May and June of 72 as the colleague of Gaius Licinius Mucianus. Gavin Townend has identified Sabinus as a nephew of the emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Emp ...

, and the son of Titus Flavius Sabinus,

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 ...

in 47, a thesis that has come to be accepted by other scholars. Townend further argued that Sabinus was the father of Titus Flavius Sabinus consul in 82, and Titus Flavius Clemens consul in 95.

Life

Little is known of Sabinus' activities before his consulate. According to

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 ...

, Sabinus and his brother were appointed consuls for the second ''nundinium'' of the year 69, the

Year of the Four Emperors The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the transition from the ...

, an arrangement that

Otho Marcus Otho (; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was the seventh Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. A member of a noble Etr ...

did not change. However Townend, citing the evidence of an Egyptian papyrus, argued that both Sabini were intended by Nero to have been the ''consules ordinarii'' for that year, but Galba had moved them from that prestigious position in the calendar to the ''nundinium'' immediately following. That same year, Sabinus served as a general for Otho, assuming command of a group of gladiators who had been pressed into service on Otho's side and placed under the command of Martius Macer, but had been defeated by a detachment of soldiers supporting

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...

. Tacitus writes that "the soldiers were delighted by this change of generals, while the generals were led by these continual outbreaks to regard with disgust so hateful a service." Following the defeat and suicide of Otho, Sabinus submitted to Vitellius. As the brothers Sabini had already begun their ''nundinium'' as suffect consuls when the decisive

First Battle of Bedriacum The Battle of Bedriacum refers to two battles fought during the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 69) near the village of Bedriacum (now Calvatone), about from the town of Cremona in northern Italy. The fighting in fact took place between Bedriacum ...

was fought, Vitellius allowed the brothers to complete their term of office. Townend also suggests that Sabinus was appointed governor of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now west ...

between his two consulates.Townend, "Some Flavian Connections", pp. 60f "Sabinus must have had some claims to be considered a ''vir militaris''," Townend argues in a footnote, "if only as ''legatus legionis'', to be given an active commission by Otho (''Hist''. II, 36), when so many distinguished soldiers were available on the staff." Other scholars of the period have not been quick to accept this possibility.

Flavian family tree

References

Sources

, ''

Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...

'' *

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τ� ...

, ''Lives of the Twelve Caesars'' *

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, ''Roman History'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Flavius Sabinus, Titus Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome

People of the Year of the Four Emperors A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of propert ...

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

Sabinus, Titus People from Lazio 1st-century Romans