Titus Petronius Secundus (died 97 AD) was a

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of the

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 ...

imperial

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

, known as the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and ga ...

, under

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 ...

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

, from 94 until 96. Prior to becoming Praetorian prefect, Petronius had served as

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Roman Egypt Roman Egypt was an imperial province of the Roman Empire from 30 BC to AD 642. The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai. It was bordered by the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica to the west and Judaea, ...

from 92 until 93. While governor of Egypt, Petronius is attested as hearing the

Colossi of Memnon The Colossi of Memnon ( or ''es-Salamat'') are two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which stand at the front of the ruined Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, the largest temple in the Theban Necropolis. They have stood since 1 ...

sing, one of many ancient Romans known to have witnessed this phenomenon. The role of Petronius in the

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

which led to the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of Domitian on September 18, 96 is unclear. Brian Jones notes that although "the support of the praetorian prefects would obviously be one of the primary concerns of any would-be imperial assassin, ancient sources are nowhere near as unanimous as their modern counterparts in claiming" that Petronius was among a number of government officials involved.

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 ...

fails to implicate either Petronius or his colleague

Titus Flavius Norbanus Titus Flavius Norbanus was a Roman equites who was active during the reign of Domitian. He is known for his activities while holding two imperial posts: governor of Raetia, and Praetorian prefect. Norbanus' identity has posed a problem. Until rec ...

in his account of Domitian's death.

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 of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

simply writes that "it was said that" Domitian's wife and both prefects were aware of the plot. It is the much later author Eutropius who accuses Petronius of assisting Parthenius in killing Domitian. Upon the accession of emperor

Nerva Nerva (; born Marcus Cocceius Nerva; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98) was a Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the succeeding rulers of the Flavian dynast ...

, Petronius was dismissed as prefect. "They had been disloyal to one emperor," writes John Grainger, "and so their loyalty to the new one could not be assumed." Support for Domitian however remained strong in the army; they agitated for the deification of the late emperor. Dissatisfaction with the state of affairs ultimately led to a rebellion in which the Praetorian Guard, led by

Casperius Aelianus Casperius Aelianus served as Praetorian Prefect under the emperors Domitian and Nerva. He was loyal to the Roman Emperor Domitian, the last of the Flavian dynasty. After Domitian's murder and the ascension of the Emperor Nerva, Aelianus laid sie ...

, laid siege to the Imperial Palace and forced Nerva to submit and hand over those responsible for Domitian's death. The revolt was successful, and Petronius was murdered by the Praetorians.Grainger, ''Nerva'', p. 95

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secundus, Titus Petronius Flavian dynasty Roman governors of Egypt 1st-century Roman governors of Egypt 1st-century praetorian prefects 97 deaths Ancient Roman murder victims Petronii