Antonius Primus (legate of the Seventh Legion in AD 69) — Convicted of forgery under Nero, restored to the Senate under Galba and appointed legate of the Seventh Legion. In the summer of AD 69 he took command of the legions of Pannonia and Moesia, which had gone over to Vespasian’s side.
Caecina (consul, AD 69) — Aulus Caecina Alienus led one of Vitellius’s armies across the Alps in AD 69. In the autumn, by then a consul, he occupied the camp at Hostilia and, after the betrayal of the fleet at Ravenna, ordered the soldiers to swear allegiance to Vespasian.
Flavius Sabinus (prefect of Rome; died AD 69) — For years he had a higher position and greater wealth than his younger brother. In April AD 69, as prefect of the city, he administered the oath of allegiance to Vitellius to the soldiers.
Licinius Mucianus (governor of Syria from c. AD 67) — He had four legions in Syria. In AD 69 he reconciled with his neighbor Vespasian and persuaded him to fight for the throne; Tacitus reports his speech.
Tiberius Julius Alexander (prefect of Egypt in AD 69) — Josephus writes that he was the son of the alabarch Alexander, one of the most distinguished Jews of Alexandria, and that he abandoned the religion of his fathers. He was procurator of Judaea, then prefect of Egypt.
Vitellius (lived AD 15–69; emperor AD 69) — Son of Lucius Vitellius, courtier of Caligula and Claudius. He frequented the courts of three emperors, was consul and an honest proconsul of Africa.
Augustus (lived 63 BC–AD 14) — Augustus was adopted in Caesar’s will in 44 BC. In 43 BC, as triumvir with Antony and Lepidus, he agreed to proscription lists on which some three hundred senators were condemned to death (Appian, Civil Wars 4.
Caligula (lived AD 12–41) — Caligula, properly Gaius, was born on August 31, AD 12. His birthplace is disputed: Antium, Tibur and Trier are named.
Nero (lived AD 37–68) — Nero was born at Antium. In AD 50 Claudius adopted him at Agrippina’s urging, and in AD 54 the Guard backed him as emperor.
Cleopatra (lived 69–30 BC) — Cleopatra came from the Macedonian dynasty of the Ptolemies. She inherited the throne in 51 BC from her father, at first jointly with her brother.
Mark Antony (lived 83–30 BC) — Antony was a trusted officer of Caesar’s. After Caesar’s death he became a triumvir (43 BC) and ruler of the East.
Tiberius (lived 42 BC–AD 37) — Tiberius was the favorite general of Augustus, who in 12 BC forced him to divorce Vipsania and marry his own daughter Julia, and in AD 4 adopted him. After Augustus’s death in AD 14 he accepted power after a hesitation that was, according to Tacitus, theatrical.
Claudius (lived 10 BC–AD 54) — Claudius was born at Lugdunum (Lyon). Lame and stammering, regarded by his family as unfit to rule, he became emperor in AD 41 after the murder of Caligula: according to Suetonius a guardsman found him behind a curtain and hailed him as emperor.
Agrippina the Younger (lived AD 15/16–59) — Agrippina was the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. After a conspiracy in AD 39 she was exiled and returned after her brother’s death.
Messalina (lived c. AD 17–48) — Messalina married Claudius around AD 38–39, at a very young age. In AD 41 she bore him a son, Britannicus, and as the mother of the heir she held a strong position.
Livia (lived 59/58 BC–AD 29) — Livia married Octavian in 38 BC. According to Dio she was then six months pregnant with Drusus, and Octavian asked the college of pontiffs whether he was allowed to marry.
Germanicus (lived 15 BC–AD 19) — Germanicus was the son of Drusus the Elder, adopted by Tiberius on Augustus’s orders in AD 4. In AD 14–16 he commanded in Germania.
Agrippina the Elder (lived c. 14 BC–AD 33) — Agrippina did not rule but was a central figure of the “party of Germanicus”: wife of a popular general and mother of three sons and three daughters. Tacitus describes how in AD 15 she calmed the army at the bridge on the Rhine, and he praises her as a model of a woman’s courage.
Sejanus (lived c. 20 BC–AD 31) — Sejanus was praetorian prefect from AD 14/15. He concentrated the Praetorians in a single camp by the walls of Rome, which gave him real strength.
Seneca the Younger (lived c. 4 BC–AD 65) — Seneca was born in Corduba. In AD 49 he returned from exile on Corsica as Nero’s tutor; Tacitus writes that Agrippina counted on his popularity.
Britannicus (lived AD 41–55) — Britannicus was born in the first year of Claudius’s reign. At first he was called Germanicus, and he received the name Britannicus after the conquests in Britain in AD 43–44.
Marcus Junius Brutus — Brutus was one of the leaders of the conspiracy against Caesar. Together with Cassius he headed more than sixty conspirators.
Gaius Cassius Longinus — Cassius was, together with Brutus, a leader of the conspiracy against Caesar. More than sixty conspirators followed them.
Aurelia Cotta (c. 120–54 BC) — Aurelia Cotta (c. 120–54 BC): Caesar’s mother, head of the household after her husband’s death.
Gaius Marius (157–86 BC) — Gaius Marius (157–86 BC): seven-time consul, husband of Caesar’s aunt, idol of the people.
Cato the Younger (95–46 BC) — Marcus Porcius Cato the Younger (95–46 BC): incorruptible guardian of the republic, Caesar’s greatest enemy in the Senate.
Julia (c. 76–54 BC) — Julia (c. 76–54 BC): daughter of Caesar and Cornelia, wife of Pompey.
Locusta (d. AD 69) — Locusta (died AD 69): a poisoner from Gaul in the service of the court.
Anicetus (1st century AD) — Anicetus (1st century AD): a freedman, Nero’s former tutor, commander of the fleet at Misenum.
Claudia Octavia (b. c. AD 42, d. AD 62) — Octavia was the daughter of Claudius and Messalina. In AD 53 she married Nero, who could not stand her (Tacitus, Annals 13.
Macro (Praetorian prefect, d. c. AD 38) — Macro, properly Quintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro, commanded the Praetorian Guard after the fall of Sejanus. He read Tiberius’s will in the Senate and helped Gaius take sole power (Dio 59.
Vercingetorix (d. after 46 BC) — In 52 BC Vercingetorix of the Arverni tribe became the leader of all the Gauls against Caesar. Plutarch writes his name as Vergentorix and says that his father was killed by his countrymen because they suspected him of aiming at tyranny.
Calpurnia (wife of Caesar from 59 BC) — Calpurnia, daughter of Lucius Piso, became Caesar’s wife in 59 BC. According to Plutarch, on the night before the assassination she dreamed she was holding her murdered husband in her arms, and in the morning she begged him to stay home.
Julia Drusilla (d. AD 38) — Julia Drusilla was one of Caligula’s three sisters, daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. Suetonius says she married Lucius Cassius Longinus, Dio that she married Marcus Lepidus.
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir from 43 BC) — Lepidus was the third triumvir beside Antony and Octavian. According to Plutarch, while the list of the condemned was being drawn up he was allowed to have his brother Paulus killed, though some say he handed him over to Antony and Octavian, who demanded his death (Antony 19).
Tigellinus (d. AD 69) — Tigellinus became praetorian prefect after Burrus’s death in AD 62. Tacitus describes him as a man without shame who knew everything about the emperor’s secret tastes (Annals 14.
Caesarion (b. c. 47 BC) — Plutarch writes that soon after Caesar left Egypt, Cleopatra bore a son, whom the Alexandrians called Caesarion. Suetonius adds that Antony claimed in the Senate that Caesar had acknowledged the boy as his son, and that Caesar’s friend Oppius wrote a book to prove this untrue.
Marcus Salvius Otho (AD 32–69) — Otho was one of Nero’s closest companions. He seduced Poppaea, then the wife of Rufrius Crispinus, and persuaded her to leave her husband (Plutarch, Galba 19; Tacitus, Annals 13.
Milonia Caesonia (wife of Caligula, d. AD 41) — Caesonia was neither young nor beautiful and already had three daughters from another union, but according to Suetonius Caligula loved her more than his other wives (Caligula 25). Dio writes that he married her when she was pregnant (59.
Octavia the Younger (wife of Antony in 40–32 BC) — Octavia was Octavian’s sister, by a different mother, and had a reputation as a woman worthy of respect (Plutarch, Antony 31). In 40 BC she married Antony to seal the accord of the two rivals.
Cassius Chaerea (tribune of the Guard, d. AD 41) — Cassius Chaerea was a tribune of a Praetorian cohort, no longer young. According to Suetonius the emperor mocked him, giving him “Priapus” or “Venus” as the watchword of the day and holding out his hand to be kissed in an obscene gesture (Caligula 56).
Gaius Calpurnius Piso (d. AD 65) — Piso came from a distinguished family and enjoyed a good reputation, as Tacitus writes, for virtue or for its appearance (Annals 15. 48).
Ptolemy XIII (d. 47 BC) — Ptolemy XIII took the throne together with his sister Cleopatra, but his advisers, Pothinus, Achillas and Theodotus, pushed her out of power. When Pompey sought refuge with him, they had him killed, hoping for Caesar’s gratitude.
Decimus Brutus (d. 43 BC) — Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus fought at Caesar’s side in Gaul, and Caesar entrusted him with the government of a province. He named him in his will as an heir in the second degree.
Gaius Julius Vindex (d. AD 68) — Vindex governed part of Gaul as propraetor. Suetonius writes that the Gauls began the revolt under his command (Nero 40).
Tiberius Gemellus (grandson of Tiberius, d. c. AD 37) — Tiberius Gemellus, son of Drusus and grandson of Tiberius, was a child when the emperor died. Tiberius’s will made him co-heir with Gaius, but the consuls annulled it on the pretext that the old man had not been of sound mind (Dio 59.
Fulvia (wife of Antony, d. 40 BC) — Fulvia was Antony’s wife. According to Plutarch, together with Lucius, Antony’s brother, she first quarreled with Octavian and then started a war against him, which she lost (Antony 30).
Servius Sulpicius Galba (3 BC–AD 69) — Galba came from the old family of the Sulpicii and was the great-grandson of Catulus (Suetonius, Galba 2–3). Under Caligula he commanded the legions on the Rhine, under Claudius he governed Africa, and from around AD 60 Hispania Tarraconensis.
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (d. 23 BC) — Marcellus was the son of Octavia, Augustus’s sister. Tacitus writes that Augustus raised him as a young man to the dignity of priest and curule aedile (Annals 1.
Agrippa Postumus (grandson of Augustus, d. AD 14) — Agrippa Postumus was the third son of Agrippa and Julia. Augustus adopted him in AD 4 together with Tiberius, but soon broke with him because, as Suetonius writes, he had base tastes and a violent character, and sent him away to Surrentum (Augustus 65).
Publius Quinctilius Varus (d. AD 9) — Varus governed Germania in AD 9. Dio writes that he scattered the legions among auxiliary garrisons and did not believe warnings about Arminius and Segimer, who dined with him at the same table (56.
Arminius (d. AD 21) — Dio calls him Armenius and describes him as a regular at Varus’s table who, together with Segimer, led the conspiracy and the war (56. 19).
Narcissus (freedman, d. AD 54) — Narcissus was a freedman and Claudius’s secretary. Suetonius writes that the Senate granted him and Pallas the insignia of a quaestor and a praetor and enormous gifts (Claudius 28).
Pallas (d. AD 62) — Pallas managed the emperor’s treasury. Suetonius writes that the Senate granted him and Narcissus great gifts and the insignia of office (Claudius 28).
Gaius Silius (d. AD 48) — Tacitus describes Gaius Silius as consul-designate and the handsomest young man in Rome. He is said to have urged Messalina to act openly and to have promised to marry her and adopt Britannicus (Annals 11.
Drusus the Younger (d. AD 23) — Drusus the Younger, son of Tiberius, was consul together with his father (Dio 57. 20), and after the death of Germanicus Tiberius began to promote him as his successor (Fagan).
Livilla (d. AD 31) — Livilla was Germanicus’s sister and the wife of Drusus, Tiberius’s son. According to Tacitus, who calls her Livia, Sejanus seduced her and drew her into plans of marriage and power (Annals 4.
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (d. AD 20) — Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso became governor of Syria in AD 17, chosen by Tiberius (Tacitus, Annals 2. 43).
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) — Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) was consul in 63 BC, when he uncovered Catiline’s conspiracy. Rome’s greatest orator, author of letters that let us see behind the scenes of the age.
Pompeia (wife of Caesar c. 67–62 BC) — Pompeia was the daughter of Quintus Pompeius and the granddaughter of Sulla. Caesar married her after Cornelia’s death.
Nymphidius Sabinus (d. AD 68) — Nymphidius was praetorian prefect together with Tigellinus. When Nero’s fall was certain, he persuaded the Praetorians to abandon the emperor and proclaim Galba.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus (AD 38–69) — Piso was the son of Marcus Crassus and Scribonia, a descendant of Pompey and Crassus. Two of his brothers were killed by Claudius and Nero, and he himself spent years in exile (Tacitus, Histories 1.
Titus Vinius (c. AD 12–69) — Vinius served as a commander under Galba in Hispania and became his closest adviser. Together with the praetorian prefect Cornelius Laco and the freedman Icelus he formed a trio that Rome nicknamed the emperor’s tutors (Suetonius, Galba 14).
Lucius Verginius Rufus (1st century AD) — In AD 68 Verginius’s legions routed Vindex’s army at Vesontio. The soldiers called him “Caesar” and “Augustus,” but he had these words erased from the standard and left the choice of emperor to the Senate and People (Cassius Dio 63.
Berenice (lived c. AD 28–after AD 79) — Daughter of King Agrippa I. In AD 66 she stood barefoot before the procurator Florus, begging him to spare Jerusalem (Josephus).
Domitian (reigned AD 81–96) — For eleven years he stood in the shadow of his father and brother. After Titus’s death in AD 81 he took power and ruled for fifteen years — the longest since Tiberius.
Domitia Longina (empress AD 81–96) — Domitian took her from her first husband, the senator Aelius Lamia, around AD 70 — first as a mistress, then as a wife. After taking power he proclaimed her Augusta.
Pliny the Younger (lived c. AD 61–113) — In AD 79 he stayed at Misenum with his mother when his uncle sailed toward the cloud. At night he read Livy; in the morning he led his mother out of the town through the crowd and the darkness.
Gnaeus Julius Agricola (lived AD 40–93) — As governor of Britain he led the legions farther north than any Roman before him and won a great battle at Mons Graupius, whose location we do not know today.
Pliny the Elder (lived c. AD 23–79) — Gaius Plinius Secundus wrote the “Natural History” in 37 books and dedicated it to Titus. In AD 79 he commanded the fleet at Misenum.
Flavia Domitilla (exiled in AD 95) — She was the wife of the consul Flavius Clemens, the emperor’s cousin, and the mother of two boys whom Domitian designated as successors. In AD 95 both spouses were accused of “atheism” — Dio writes that many who had adopted Jewish customs were condemned on this charge.
Titus (lived AD 39–81; emperor 79–81) — He was raised at Claudius’s court together with Britannicus. During his father’s reign he was his colleague in power and praetorian prefect; Suetonius writes that he ran the Guard harshly and had Caecina killed.
Flavius Clemens (consul, AD 95) — Suetonius calls him a man of “contemptible inertia. ” Domitian publicly designated his two small sons as successors and gave them the names Vespasian and Domitian.
Stephanus (died AD 96) — Accused of embezzlement, he offered himself to the conspirators. Suetonius writes that for several days he wore his left arm in woolen bandages, as if it were injured, and hid a dagger in them.
Parthenius (Domitian’s chamberlain) — Domitian’s chamberlain, the courtier in charge of the emperor’s bedchamber. Dio names him first among the conspirators and writes that the emperor favoured him so much that he allowed him to wear a sword.
Decebalus (king of the Dacians from c. AD 86/87) — Dio writes that he knew war as few did: he knew when to strike and when to withdraw, and could exploit both victory and defeat. He took power after the Romans’ defeat in Moesia (AD 85; the year he took the throne is disputed).
Nerva (reigned AD 96–98) — Dio writes that the conspirators against Domitian sounded out many men about the throne, but each refused, fearing a trap. Marcus Cocceius Nerva agreed: a man of the noblest family, mild, and in danger himself, since astrologers had foretold that he would rule.
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (died AD 67) — Dio describes him as a general of the old style: strong, shrewd and honest toward friends and enemies. He fought the Parthians for Armenia.
Epaphroditus (executed in AD 95) — Epaphroditus was a freedman and secretary of Nero. Suetonius writes that in AD 68 he helped the emperor take his own life.
Agrippa I (king of Judaea AD 41–44) — Grandson of Herod the Great and a friend of Caligula and Claudius. Under Tiberius he was put in chains after his own freedman reported overhearing him wish Caligula a speedy accession.
Antonia the Younger (36 BC–AD 37) — Daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia the Younger, Augustus’s sister. Wife of Drusus the Elder, Tiberius’s brother; after his death, as Josephus writes, she never remarried, although Augustus himself urged her to.
Eleazar ben Yair (died AD 73 or 74) — Leader of the Sicarii, the radical faction of the revolt that treated even Jews willing to come to terms with Rome as enemies. Josephus writes that he was a descendant of Judas the Galilean, who had once urged his people not to pay taxes to Rome.
Flavia Domitilla (Vespasian’s wife) (died before AD 69) — Suetonius writes that she was at first the mistress of a Roman equestrian from Sabratha in Africa, and that her father, a modest quaestor’s clerk, won a court ruling that she was freeborn and a citizen. She bore Vespasian Titus, Domitian and a daughter, Domitilla.
Helvidius Priscus (died c. AD 75) — Son-in-law of Thrasea Paetus, known from Nero’s time. As praetor in AD 70 he performed the sacrifice at the foundations of the Capitol as it was being rebuilt.
Josephus (born AD 37/38, died c. AD 100) — In AD 67 he defended Jotapata for 47 days. After its fall he surrendered and, by his own account, foretold that Vespasian and Titus would rule.
Caenis (Antonia Caenis) (died c. AD 75) — She served as secretary to Antonia the Younger. Dio writes that Antonia dictated to her a secret letter to Tiberius about Sejanus, and that Caenis replied that she carried everything in her memory and it could not be erased.
Simon bar Giora (died AD 71) — During the siege he held the outer ring of Jerusalem’s walls. After the city was taken he was captured and led in the triumph of Vespasian and Titus.
Vespasian (reigned AD 69–79) — Son of a tax collector from the land of the Sabines. Under Claudius he fought in Britain, under Nero he commanded the war in Judaea.