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| Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus | |
|---|---|
| Name | Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus |
| Birth date | c. 3rd century |
| Death date | 69 AD |
| Nationality | Roman |
| Occupation | Politician, Senator, Magistrate |
| Relatives | Licinii, Cornelii, possibly connected to Galba |
Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus was a Roman senator and magistrate active in the mid 1st century AD who served as consul and provincial official during the turbulent period that culminated in the Year of the Four Emperors. His career intersected with notable figures and events of the Julio-Claudian and early Flavian eras, including interactions with members of the Senate of the Roman Empire, provincial governors, and claimants to the imperial title. Saloninus's life and death reflect the factionalism of Roman imperial succession and the political violence of 69 AD.
Saloninus belonged to the aristocratic Roman gentes of the Licinii and the Cornelii, families prominent in Republican and Imperial politics. He was likely educated in the traditions associated with the Roman aristocracy, receiving training pertinent to roles in the Cursus honorum, familiar with institutions such as the Centumviral court and offices like the Quaestor. His familial network would have connected him to patrons and allies among prominent figures including members of the Senate of the Roman Empire, provincial elites in Gallia, and possibly to individuals close to Galba and the later Flavian dynasty. Marital and kinship alliances among the Roman nobility often linked the Licinii and Cornelii to other houses such as the Aemilii, Claudii, and Julii.
Saloninus's public career unfolded amid the provincial and military structures of the empire, involving interaction with commands associated with units like the Legio I Germanica, Legio XIII Gemina, and provincial administrations in regions such as Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior. He moved within circles that included provincial governors, military tribunes, and procurators appointed under emperors like Nero, Galba, and Otho. His offices required negotiation with municipal councils of cities such as Lugdunum, Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, and Treveri, and engagement with financial agents linked to the aerarium and the fiscus. Saloninus would have been aware of legal precedents from jurists associated with the praetorian edict and administrative practices evident in imperial correspondence preserved in contexts such as the Acta Senatus.
Saloninus attained the consulship, a pinnacle of the Cursus honorum, placing him among contemporaries recorded in fasti alongside figures tied to the Prytaneum, the Pontifex Maximus, and magistrates who administered games at venues like the Circus Maximus and Colosseum under later emperors. As consul he collaborated with senators who later played roles in the events of 69 AD, including supporters of Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. His tenure overlapped with administrative responsibilities linked to the imperial provinces and contact with financial officials such as the Praetorian Prefect and procurators overseeing tax collection and supply lines for troops stationed in Germania Superior and Germania Inferior. Saloninus also held municipal priesthoods and honors customary among patrician consuls, interacting with religious institutions like the College of Pontiffs and civic institutions in Rome.
During 69 AD, Saloninus found himself enmeshed in the political crisis that involved claimants Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian, and action by military commanders including the Legion XXII Primigenia and commanders in the Rhine frontier. The volatility of loyalties among legions, governors such as the Legatus Augusti pro praetore, and influential officers like the Praetorian Guard commanders shaped Saloninus's options. Competing claims and mass movements of troops between principal theatres — Italy, Gallia, and the Eastern provinces — brought Saloninus into contact with envoys, senatorial deputies, and municipal delegations from cities like Lugdunum and Cologne. The alignment and defection of units under commanders such as those from Legio IV Macedonica and Legio XIV Gemina were decisive in the struggles that affected Saloninus's position.
Saloninus's death occurred against the backdrop of the violent political realignments of 69 AD, events that also involved violent outcomes for other aristocrats and officers such as Helvidius Priscus and members of houses including the Julians and Claudians. His fate exemplifies the risks faced by Roman senators during crises involving the Praetorian Guard, mutinous legions, and rival claimants to the purple. The aftermath contributed to administrative and military reforms later undertaken under Vespasian and the Flavian dynasty, and historiographical treatment of the period by chroniclers like Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio preserved the memory of aristocratic victims and contested loyalties. Saloninus is cited in discussions of senatorial conduct in sources and is occasionally referenced in prosopographical works addressing the Roman senatorial order and the impact of the Year of the Four Emperors on senatorial families.
Category:1st-century Romans Category:Ancient Roman consuls Category:Year of the Four Emperors