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. After Tiberius left for Capri in AD 26, he became the main link with the emperor. In AD 25 he asked for Livilla’s hand, but Tiberius refused.

After AD 26 he destroyed the family of Germanicus. Scholars dispute whether he aimed at a regency over Tiberius’s grandsons or at the throne. Velleius Paterculus, writing just before his fall, praises him as the emperor’s incomparable helper.

On October 18, AD 31, the Senate heard a letter from Capri that first praised Sejanus and then accused him of treason. The Guard under Macro arrested him, and soon he and his followers were put to death.