Marcus Junius C. f. M. n. Silanus (c. 26 BC – AD 37) Barrett (1989), p. 76 was an

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

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 became

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 AD 15. Barrett (1989), p. 32 His daughter

Junia Claudilla Junia Claudilla (d. AD 34, 36 or 37),#refBarrett, Barrett (1989), p. 32 also known as Junia Claudia, was the first wife of the Roman Emperor Caligula before he came to power. Biography Early life Her father was a distinguished Roman Senate, senat ...

was the first wife of

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

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 ...

Biography

Early life

Marcus' father was Gaius Junius Silanus who was the son of Marcus Junius Silanus, the consul of 25 BC. Syme (1986), p.194–195 Marcus had two brothers Decimus Junius Silanus and Gaius Junius Silanus, and a sister named Junia Torquata. Decimus was banished for having an affair with Vipsania Julia during the reign 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 ...

. Their mother may have been an Atia, daughter of

Marcus Atius Balbus Marcus Atius Balbus (105 – 51 BC) was a 1st-century BC Roman who served as a praetor in 62 BC; he was a cousin of the general Pompey on his mother's side and a brother-in-law of the Dictator Julius Caesar through his marriage to Caesar's sister ...

and Claudia. Balbus was the uncle of emperor

. Syme (1986), p. 194

Political career

Ancient historians considered Marcus Silanus a highly respected man. When

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 ...

came to power, if a

judicial decision A judicial opinion is a form of legal opinion written by a judge or a judicial panel in the course of resolving a legal dispute, providing the decision reached to resolve the dispute, and usually indicating the facts which led to the dispute and ...

made by Silanus was appealed to the emperor, Tiberius invariably rejected the appeal, trusting Silanus' decision, and Tiberius would send the case back to him. He also had the honour of casting the first vote in the Senate. Silanus successfully persuaded Tiberius to recall the banishment of his brother Decimus.

Family

Silanus had at least two daughters,

Junia Silana Junia Silana (died 59 C.E.) was a Roman patrician. She was the sister of Junia Claudilla, the first wife of Caligula, before he became emperor. Silana was a prominent figure in the power struggles that transpired in the reign of three different emp ...

and

. In 33, his daughter Junia Claudilla married

. She died in 36 or early 37 but according to

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...

, Silanus continued to treat Caligula as his own son.

, 65 In November or December of 37, Caligula had him executed for unclear reasons.

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 ...

claims he plotted against Caligula,

, 23.3 while Philo and other sources claim that the emperor was simply annoyed by him.

Citations

References

* Barrett, Anthony A. (1989). ''Caligula: The Corruption of Power''. New Haven: Yale University Press. . * Ferrill, Arther (1991) ''Caligula: Emperor of Rome''. New York: Thames and Hudson. . * Garzetti, Albino (1976) ''From Tiberius to the Antonines: A History of the Roman Empire from AD 12-192''. London: Methuen & Co. LTD. . *

, ''Life of Caligula'' * Syme, Ronald, '' The Augustan Aristocracy'' * Philo, ''On Embassy to Gaius''

External links

''Life of Caligula'' by Suetonius (Loeb Classical Library translation)

''Life of Caligula'' by Suetonius (Alexander Thomson translation)

Caligula Caligula - A collection of ancient texts regarding Caligula and the time period in which Marcus Silanus lived.

The Augustan Aristocracy - Limited Preview in GoogleBooks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Silanus, Marcus Junii Silani Silanus, Marcus Junius 1st-century Romans 20s BC births Year of birth uncertain 37 deaths 1st-century BC Romans Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Senators of the Roman Empire Executed ancient Roman people People executed by the Roman Empire