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Curated category

1st-century Romans

  • Tiberius GemellusTiberius Gemellus entered the world on the 10th of October AD 19. This date marked a rare event in Roman history, as he was born alongside his twin brother…
  • LivyTitus Livius was born in Patavium, now known as Padua, during the year 59 BC. This city stood as the second wealthiest location on the Italian peninsula at…
  • JuvenalThe name Decimus Junius Juvenalis appears in a single inscription found at Aquinum, yet the life of this Roman poet remains shrouded in speculation.
  • AugustusOn the 8th of May 44 BC, a teenager named Gaius Octavius accepted a dead man's will and, with it, the most dangerous inheritance in the Roman world.
  • JosephusFlavius Josephus was born in Jerusalem to a father named Matthias, who belonged to the priestly order of Jehoiarib. This order held the distinction of being…
  • Pliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus arrived in the world at Como during 23 or 24 AD. His father was an equestrian named Gaius Plinius Celer and his mother bore the name…
  • PtolemyClaudius Ptolemy lived in the city of Alexandria during the second century AD. His exact birth date and place remain unknown to modern historians.
  • PetroniusGaius Petronius Arbiter lived during the reign of Emperor Nero in ancient Rome. He served as suffect consul in 62 AD, a high political office that placed him…
  • MartialMarcus Valerius Martialis was born in the town of Augusta Bilbilis, now known as Calatayud, during March between 38 and 41 AD.
  • Seneca the YoungerLucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger was born in Colonia Patricia Corduba, now known as Córdoba, within the Roman province of Baetica.
  • PersiusAulus Persius Flaccus arrived in the capital at age twelve. He came from Volterra, a small Etruscan city near Pisa. His family held equestrian rank and good…
  • HadrianPublius Aelius Hadrianus drew his first breath on the 24th of January in the year 76. He emerged into a world centered in Italica, a Roman town founded by…
  • SuetoniusGaius Suetonius Tranquillus likely entered the world around AD 69. Scholars deduce this date from his own description of himself as a young man twenty years…
  • QuintilianMarcus Fabius Quintilianus arrived in the world around 35 AD within the town of Calagurris, now known as Calahorra in La Rioja.
  • Gaius Julius HyginusGaius Julius Hyginus lived between 64 BC and AD 17. He began life as a slave before gaining freedom under the Roman emperor Augustus.
  • Pliny the YoungerGaius Caecilius Cilo was born in Novum Comum around 61 AD. His father Lucius died when the boy was still young. Pliny lived with his mother after that loss.
  • PlutarchPlutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, located about 30 kilometers east of Delphi. His father bore the name Autobulus and…
  • BritannicusTiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus arrived in Rome on the 12th of February AD 41. His father, Emperor Claudius, had been reigning for less than a month…
  • LucanMarcus Annaeus Lucanus arrived in the Roman colony of Corduba on the 3rd of November AD 39. He entered a wealthy family with central Italic origins that…
  • Vibia SabinaVibia Sabina entered the world in 83, daughter to suffect consul Lucius Vibius Sabinus and Matidia. Her father died in 84, leaving her and half-sister…
  • FrontinusSextus Julius Frontinus emerged from a background that left few traces in the historical record. No titulus honorarius or sepulcralis outlines his life…
  • Naevius Sutorius MacroQuintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro was born in 21 BC in a hilltop town at the foot of Monte Velino and died in AD 38 having helped place a new emperor on…