Julius Licinus was a Gallic freedman, who worked as a

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...

for the Roman emperor

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 ...

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only durin ...

. He became rather infamous for the amount of wealth he extracted from Gaul and for his methods in doing so.Anthony A. Barrett: ''Herod, Augustus, and the Special Relationship: The Significance of the Procuratorship.'' In: David Jacobson, Nikos Kokkinos: ''Herod and Augustus: Papers Presented at the IJS Conference, 21st-23rd June 2005''. Brill, 2008, , pp
294–295
/ref>Paula James: ''Understand Roman Civilization: Teach Yourself''. Hachette, 2012, , p
167
/ref> Licinus was captured and enslaved by Julius Caesar during the

Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homel ...

. Later Caesar freed him and under Augustus he was assigned the position of a procurator for all of Gaul or parts of it. The exact dates for his appointment are not known, but by the time Augustus visited Gaul in 16/15 BC Licinus had been in office for a number of years and already garnered a somewhat dubious reputation.

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 ...

described him as having done more damage to Gaul than the

Germanic tribes The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

. Complaints about Licinus' unethical behaviour to Augustus led to him being recalled to Rome in 15 BC. According to Cassius Dio Augustus was so embarrassed by Licinus' actions, that he decided to dismiss the complaints as untrue. Licinus himself argued before Augustus, that his large wealth extortion had deprived the Gauls of the resources for an potential uprising and that he merely saved and managed all that wealth for Rome. Aside from his removal as procurator Licinus got away unscathed and retired in Rome.

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is Professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. His ...

''Teilhabe an der Macht: Kaiserliche Freigelassene in der Gesellschaft des Imperium Romanum''
Speech for the 14. Ausonius Award, 2011, Trier University, pp. 30–31 (German) Licinus cleverly used his appointment and his knowledge of Roman culture to extract large amounts of wealth from the Gauls. For instance in an anecdote described by Cassius Dio Licinus convinced the Gauls that the Roman year had 14 rather than 12 months and hence required 14 "monthly" tributes per year. Within Roman society Licinus became a symbol for the archetypal millionaire.

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

and

Persius Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satires, he shows a Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he considered to be the stylistic abuses of his po ...

compared him to

Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, ...

, one of the richest Romans during the late republic.

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the '' Satires''. The details of Juvenal's lif ...

linked him to

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pal ...

, the extremely rich freedman of emperor Claudius.

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 an ...

described Licinus's tomb in Rome as lofty marble structure and an anonymous contemporary poem mentioned his marble tomb as well. However Licinus didn't just become synonymous for great riches but also an example of a Roman administrator fleecing pronvincials and later retiring with his ill-gotten wealth.

Historical sources

* Cassius Dio

References

{{Augustus Emperor's slaves and freedmen 1st-century BC Gallo-Roman people Julii Barbarian people of the Gallic Wars

Further reading

Historical sources

References