Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (49 BC – AD 25) was the son of

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 thro ...

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Aemilia Lepida. His mother was a paternal relative of the

triumvir In the Roman Republic, or were commissions of three men appointed for specific tasks. There were many tasks that commissions could be established to conduct, such as administer justice, mint coins, support religious tasks, or found colonies. M ...

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. His paternal grandmother was Porcia (sister to Cato the Younger).. Ahenobarbus married

Antonia Major Antonia the Elder (born August/September 39 BC) was a niece of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, being the eldest daughter of Octavia the Younger and her second husband, the Triumvir Mark Antony. She married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and be ...

(niece of emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

) and through his son with her he became the grandfather of emperor

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 ...

Life

As a young man Lucius was a renowned and devoted

chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...

eer, perhaps to the point of obsession. He was

betrothed An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

in 36 BC, at the meeting of Octavian and

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

at Tarentum, to Antonia Major, the daughter of the latter by Octavia. He was

aedile Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...

in 22 BC and

in 16 BC. After his consulship, he served as governor of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

from 13/12 BC. He was later probably the successor of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

, where he commanded the Roman army and crossed the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

, during which he set up an altar to Augustus, and penetrated further into the country than any of his predecessors had done.Tacitus, ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'' 4.44 He also built a walkway, called the ''pontes longi'', over the marshes between the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

River and the

Ems River The Ems ( ; ) is a river in northwestern Germany. It runs through the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, and discharges into the Dollart Bay which is part of the Wadden Sea. Its total length is . The state border between th ...

. In AD 15 the Battle at Pontes Longi was fought along this walkway. For these achievements he received the insignia of a triumph. He died in AD 25.

Legacy

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

described him as "arrogant, cruel, notorious and extravagant" and records numerous instances of his disrespect, including to censor

Lucius Munatius Plancus Lucius Munatius Plancus () was a Roman Senate, Roman senator, Roman consul, consul in 42 BC, and Roman censor, censor in 22 BC with Paullus Aemilius Lepidus. He is one of the classic historical examples of men who have managed to surviv ...

, to a

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

, and to a

legate Legate may refer to: People * Bartholomew Legate (1575–1611), English martyr * Julie Anne Legate (born 1972), Canadian linguistics professor * William LeGate (born 1994), American entrepreneur Political and religious offices *Legatus, a hig ...

of Illyricum. In his

praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...

ship and consulship he brought Roman

equites The (; , though sometimes referred to as " knights" in English) constituted the second of the property/social-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an (). Descript ...

and married women on the stage to perform in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

s, which rankled because in Rome acting was considered to be low-class. He exhibited shows of wild beasts in every quarter of the city, and his gladiatorial combats were conducted with such excessive bloodshed that Augustus was obliged to put some restraint upon them.

Family

He had at least three children with Antonia Major: Domitia Lepida the Elder,

Domitia Lepida the Younger Domitia Lepida (c. 5 BC – AD 54) was a Roman aristocrat, related to the imperial family. She was mother of Valeria Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius. Lepida was a beautiful and influential figure. Like her sister, she was also very wealt ...

(mother of the Empress Valeria

Messalina Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation ...

) and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (the biological father of Emperor Nero). The couple may also have had another son named Lucius, and a third daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domitius Ahenobarbus, Lucius 9 Julio-Claudian dynasty Lucius 9 Roman governors of Africa 1st-century BC Roman consuls 1st-century Romans 40s BC births 25 deaths Year of birth uncertain Ancient Roman triumphators

Life

Legacy

Family

See also

References