Gaius Anicius Cerialis (died 66) 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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

who was active during the

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The principate was ch ...

. He was

suffect consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

in the second half of the year 65 as the colleague of Gaius Pomponius Pius. Beyond his consulate, Cerialis appears three times in history. The first time was during the reign of

Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

when he was accused of ''

majestas The law of majestas, or ''lex maiestatis'', encompasses several ancient Roman laws (''leges maiestatis'') throughout the Republican and Imperial periods dealing with crimes against the Roman people, state, or Emperor. Description In Roman law, th ...

'' against the emperor.

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 of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

provides a confused account. Steven H. Rutledge provides an interpretation that makes sense of Dio: Cerialis and another senator, Sextus Papinius, were tortured, but neither provided any information. The emperor then offered to spare Papinius' life if he were to denounce his fellow conspirators, which he did; Caligula then had both "Cerialis" and the men he named executed. It is likely that by "Cerialis" Dio means Papinius, for Anicius Cerialis is very much alive years later. The year before his election as consul the

Pisonian conspiracy The conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso in 65 CE was a major turning point in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero (reign 54–68). The plot reflected the growing discontent among the ruling class of the Roman state with Nero's increasingly d ...

was uncovered.

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

delivered a speech wherein he shared the news and named the conspirators, and their punishments. The Senate then voted for a thanksgiving, and other acts flattering the emperor.

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. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

recounts other servile acts, which includes an account based on the ''

Acta Senatus , or , were minutes of the discussions and decisions of the Roman Senate. Before the first consulship of Julius Caesar (59 BC), minutes of the proceedings of the Senate were written and occasionally published, but unofficially; Caesar first ordered ...

'' that Cerialis proposed a temple be built as soon as possible at public expense to "the Divine Nero". The last time Cerialis appears in history is also during the reign of

. The year after Cerialis' consulate, in AD 66, Tacitus recounts how a ''

delator Delator (plural: ''delatores'', feminine: ''delatrix'') is Latin for a denouncer, one who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed. Secular Roman law In Roman history, it was properly one who gave notice (''deferre' ...

'', or informer, accused Annaeus Mela under the ''lex maiestas''. Faced with certain destruction, Mela made his will and committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. In his will, he accused

Rufrius Crispinus Rufrius Crispinus was an equestrian who lived during the later Julio-Claudian dynasty. Under the Roman Emperor Claudius, he was the commander of the Praetorian Guard. In 47, he suppressed a rebellion and was promoted by the Senate to the rank o ...

, a former commander of the

Praetorian guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and ga ...

, and Cerialis of ''majestas''. Tacitus states that it was commonly believed Mela named Crispinus because the man had already taken his life; Cerialis was named because Mela wanted him dead. Cerialis soon afterwards committed suicide to avoid prosecution.Tacitus, ''Annales'', XVI.17

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anicius Cerialis, Gaius 1st-century Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome 66 deaths Year of birth unknown Cerialis