Lucius Saenius (possibly Lucius Saenius BalbinusRonald Syme
"Missing Senators"
'' Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'', 4 (1955), p. 57) (fl. 1st century BC) was a Roman

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 ...

and

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 30 BC as the colleague of

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 ...

Biography

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...

notes the ''gentilicum'' "Saenius" is "patently Etruscan", and suggests some kind of connection between the senator and the town Saenia Julia (modern

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

). He was probably the son of a senator of the same name who had achieved no high offices. Saenius was considered to be one of the men who owed their career completely to

Octavian 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 ...

and whom Octavian could use as a tool for his own purposes. In 30 BC, Saenius was appointed ''

consul suffectus 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 ...

''. During his time in office he issued the '' Lex Saenia'', which regulated the adlection of

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the gro ...

s to the patriciate by means of a ''lex curiata'' (or law passed by the Curiate Assembly). He also intervened in protecting

Junia Secunda Junia, called Junia Secunda by modern historians to distinguish her from her sisters, was an ancient Roman woman who lived in the 1st century BC. She was the sister of Marcus Brutus, and was married to the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Biogra ...

, who was accused by

Gaius Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( 13 April 68 BC – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. ...

of being involved in the conspiracy led by her son,

Lepidus the Younger Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the Younger or Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor (; died 30 BC) was a son of triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and his wife Junia Secunda, a half-sister of Caesar's assassin and friend Brutus. Lepidus was executed by Octavian, ...

, against Octavian.Syme, Ronald, ''The Augustan Aristocracy'' (1986).

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, p. 35.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saenius, Lucius 1st-century BC Romans Senators of the Roman Republic Imperial Roman consuls Saenii Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown