Cossutianus Capito () was a Roman

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 ...

and '' delator'', often acting on behalf of the contemporary Roman emperor during the Principate. Tacitus offers a hostile portrait of Capito in his '' Annales'', describing him as a "man stained with much wickedness", and as having "a heart eager for the worst wickedness".

Career

Tacitus first mentions Capito following the trial and suicide of

Valerius Asiaticus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus (around 5 BCP.J. Sijpesteijn"Another οὐσία of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus in Egypt" ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 79 (1989), p. 19347 AD,Alston, ''Aspects of Roman History AD 14-117'', p. 92 el, ...

in AD 47, when he and Publius Suillius Rufus were subsequently threatened with the ''

Lex Cincia ''Lex Cincia de donis et muneribus'' was a law reportedly passed in 204 BC by the tribune Marcus Cincius Alimentus, so documented in Livy. Few provisions of the law are known. One prohibited someone from giving an orator a gift to plead a cas ...

'' for accepting payments in return for serving as a legal advocate. However, both men managed to extract leniency from emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

, and he amended the law to permit a fee to be paid to an advocate of up to ten thousand

sesterces The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The na ...

. After this incident he became the governor of

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coas ...

; the year of his tenure is not known. But he had returned to Rome by the year 57, for in that year the subjects of Cilicia, represented by the senator Thrasea Paetus, accused him of extortion. Captio lost this lawsuit; his penalties included being stripped of his senatorial rank. Capito had regained his senatorial rank by the year 62, when he reappears in Tacitus' work, with the help of his father-in-law the

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 ...

Ofonius Tigellinus. In that year he accused the praetor

Antistius Sosianus The gens Antistia, sometimes written Antestia on coins, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Sextus Antistius, tribune of the plebs in 422 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mytholog ...

of an act of treason, specifically writing and reciting scurrilous verses about the emperor Nero at a banquet hosted by Marcus Ostorius Scapula. Tacitus notes that this was the first occasion that anyone had been prosecuted for treason under Nero. Although Scapula claimed to have not heard the verses in question, a number of witnesses testified Sosianus had done so.

Quintus Junius Marullus Quintus is a male given name derived from ''Quintus'', a common Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is an English masculine given name and a ...

, the consul-elect, proposed that Sosianus should be deprived of his praetorship and executed; but once again Thrasea Paetus intervened against Capito, and convinced the Senate to pass a milder verdict of banishment to a desolate island. These successes of Thrasea Paetus earned him the displeasure of both the emperor and Capito. Four years later, he assisted Titus Clodius Eprius Marcellus in the prosecution Thrasea Paetus; Nero coerced the Senate to find him guilty, which led to Thrasea Paetus' suicide.Tacitus, ''Annales'', XVI.21-35 His life afterwards is a blank. It is uncertain whether Capito survived the turmoil of the Year of Four Emperors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capito, Cossutianus Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Year of death unknown Place of death unknown Senators of the Roman Empire 1st-century Romans Imperial Roman praetors Roman governors of Cilicia Cossutii Ancient Roman delatores