Tiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus 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 ...

patrician who twice served as

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 ...

, in 45 and 74 AD. He was the natural son of Lucius Aelius Lamia and the adopted son of Marcus Plautius Silvanus, brother of

Plautia Urgulanilla Plautia Urgulanilla was the first wife of the future Roman Emperor Claudius. They were married circa 9 AD, when he was 18 years old. Suetonius writes that they were divorced in 24 AD on the grounds of her scandalous love affairs and the suspici ...

, first wife of the emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

. It is known he offered up the prayer as

pontifex In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any hi ...

when the first stone of the new Capitol was laid in 70 AD.

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'' ( ...

, ''

Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust) ...

'' iv.53 In some ancient sources he is referred to as Plautius Aelianus, but we learn from an inscription that his full name was Tiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus, and that he held many important military commands. Under

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 ...

he served as the

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 ...

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

from 61 to 66 AD, and ruled the province with a "massive scorched earth policy", and from which he is said to have sent shipments of Moesian wheat to alleviate the food supply of the Roman people, possibly in crisis due to the

Great Fire of Rome The Great Fire of Rome () began on 19 July 64 AD. The fire started in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before the damage could be assessed, the fire reignit ...

in 64 AD. Later, he was sent to

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

, which at the time lacked a provincial governor. However in 69 AD the emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

wished to appoint Aelianus

Urban prefect The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, an ...

of Rome in place of his murdered brother, Sabinus. As we know from his funerary inscription, Aelianus was in fact recalled to the city, where Vespasian proposed he receive a triumph for his service in Moesia, a gesture implicitly indicting the ungenerous nature of Nero's rule. The senate ultimately voted to approve Vespasian's proposal. Around 60 AD, Aelianus had brought across the Danube in Moesia "more than 100,000 Transdanubians along with their wives children chiefs or kings (and settled) to pay tribute". He had a son,

Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus (c. 4581/96) was a Roman senator. Life He was described by Brian W. Jones as "the most eminent of the consular victims" of Domitian.Jones, ''The Emperor Domitian'' (London: Routledge, 1993), p. 184 Juvena ...

, consul 80. ''AE'', 1998, 419

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plautius Silvanus Aelianus, Tiberius Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Moesia Roman governors of Hispania Urban prefects of Rome Ancient Roman patricians 1st-century Romans Silvanus Aelianus, Tiberius Plautius Ancient Roman adoptees