Velleius Paterculus (1)
Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus
(Louvre)
Life
Velleius Paterculus' Roman history -in fact a brief compendium and not a full-scale study of the past- is the most important source for the story of his life and family. The Velleii belonged to the Roman equestrian order (the second level of the Roman aristocracy, after the senators), came from Capua in Campania, and had allied itself to the powerful aristocratic clan of the Claudii Nerones.Paterculus' grandfather Gaius Velleius had been prefect of the military engineers (praefectus fabrum) in the army of Marcus Brutus, the man who had killed Julius Caesar in 44 BCE and tried to restore the Roman republic. At Philippi in Macedonia, in 42, this army was defeated by Marc Antony and Octavian, the new leaders of the Caesarian party. Velleius was probably present, and he now sided with his powerful personal friend Tiberius Claudius Nero, a caesarian. During the next year, Nero got involved in the war waged between Octavian and Nero's friend Lucius Antonius (a brother of Marc Antony). Velleius was unable to help his protector, and may have seen his position in the Campania threatened, so he committed suicide.
The Roman history
Literature
Octavian defeated Lucius Antonius, but was clement towards Claudius Nero. Perhaps Octavian had already fallen in love with the Nero's wife Livia. In 38, she remarried, and Octavian adopted her sons Drusus and Tiberius. The latter was to play a very important role in the life of Velleius Paterculus.
Gaius Velleius' son Velleius remained on friendly terms with both the Claudii Drusi and Octavian, who became emperor in 27 and was from then on called Augustus. Velleius became commander of the cavalry (praefectus equitum) and served in the armies of Tiberius, who was active in Germania in 9-8 BCE. It is likely that he also served in other campaigns in the country between Rhine and Elbe (more).
When Velleius Paterculus, the subject of this article, was born in c.20 BCE, the Germanic wars were about to begin, and it is likely that the future historian spent his youth in one of the military settlements along the Rhine. It may have been Xanten (where cavalry barracks have been excavated), or Nijmegen or Cologne, and maybe even Haltern on the Rhine's east bank.
Like his father and grandfather, the young man decided to join the army. The emperor Augustus would have appreciated it, because he wanted to transform the equestrian order into a military caste.
Paterculus earned his spurs during the Thracian wars, which took place in the last years before the beginning of the common era. His commander was Publius Vinicius, the governor of Macedonia and Thrace. The young officer, who had the rank of tribunus angusticlavus, may have met the general's son Marcus, who was about ten years younger. The two men, both from Campania, were certainly friends during the reign of the emperor Tiberius.
In 1 BCE, Paterculus was in the company of Gaius Caesar, a grandson of the emperor Augustus and chosen as his successor. The crown prince, escorted by the famous senators Marcus Lollius and Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, made a tour through the eastern provinces, and later, the historian Paterculus was to give an eye-witness account of what he had seen as a young military officer:
I visited Achaea and Asia and all the eastern provinces, the outlet of the Black Sea and both its coasts, and it is not without feelings of pleasure that I recall the many events, places, peoples, and cities.[Roman history, 2.101.3
tr. F.W. Shipley]
It was my fortunate lot to see this spectacle of the Roman army arrayed on one side, the Parthian on the other [...] - truly a notable and a memorable sight. First the Parthian dined with Gaius upon the Roman bank, and later Gaius supped with the king on the soil of the enemy.[Roman history, 2.101.2-4]
What is certain is that Paterculus succeeded his father as cavalry commander in Germania (praefectus equitum), when Tiberius campaigned between the Lower Rhine and Elbe in the autumn of 4 CE. The army wintered at the sources of the Lippe. In the next year, "all Germania was traversed by our armies, and races, hitherto almost unknown, even by name, were conquered" (Roman history 2.106.1). This was not exaggerated: no Roman army had ever marched along the Elbe, covering all the way from modern Dresden to Hamburg.
In 6, Velleius Paterculus occupied the quaestorship, one of the lesser magistracies in Rome, but still an important step on a career. From now on, he belonged to the Senate.
Now that Germania was conquered, Tiberius was to lead at least eight legions (VIII Augusta from Pannonia, XV Apollinaris and XX Valeria Victrix from Illyricum, XXI Rapax from Raetia, XIII Gemina, XIV Gemina and XVI Gallica from Germania Superior and an unknown unit) against king Maroboduus of the Marcomanni in Bohemia; at the same time, I Germanica, V Alaudae, XVII, XVIII and XIX were to move against Bohemia as well, attacking it along the Elbe. It was to be the most grandiose operation that was ever conducted by a Roman army, and -if successful- would result in the annexation of all the country between the Rhine and Elbe. But a rebellion in Pannonia in Dalmatia obstructed its execution, and the large army was used to suppress it.
The emperor Augustus ordered new levies of auxiliary units(the Cohortes voluntariorum c.R., of which there were at least eighteen), and quaestor Velleius Paterculus brought several of them to Tiberius in Pannonia. He claims that he gave up his right to have a province allotted him, and was instead sent to Tiberius as staff officer (Roman history 2.111.4). This is a bit odd, because Augustus was not in the habit of appointing as governors young senators of mere quaestorian rank.
However this may be, Paterculus preferred a military career and witnessed how Tiberius suppressed the rebellion in Pannonia and Dalmatia. In his account in the Roman history, he mentions many details of this war and commemorates several of his companions. He was also present when Tiberius led some retaliatory campaigns in Germania, where the Cherusci had revolted in 9. They had defeated governor Publius Quinctilius Varus in the battle in the Teutoburg Forest (September 9 CE) and had annihilated the legions XVII, XVIII and XIX. In 11, Tiberius thought that the Germanic tribes had been punished sufficiently, and he celebrated a triumph in 12.
It was my lot and that of my brother to participate in this triumph among the men of distinguished rank and those who were decorated with distinguished honors.[Roman history, 2.121.3]
The problem is that we do not know Paterculus' first name. The Christian author Priscilian, who is not really the best-informed of all ancient sources, says that Velleius' first name was Marcus, not Gaius. Perhaps this is not conclusive, because we know that the grandfather of our Velleius was called Gaius. So we are perhaps allowed to accept the idea that Paterculus commanded, as governor of Africa, the third Augustan legion.
C. VELLEIO
PATERCVLO
LEG AVG
LEG III AVG
XXIXGaius Velleius
Paterculus
commander of the
Third legion Augusta
29 miles(Corpus Inscription Latinarum, 8.10311)
Although this interpretation is very attractive, it is not without problems, because this legion usually was not commanded by a legatus Augusti, but by a provincial governor who had already occupied the consulship. And we have no indications that Paterculus ever was consul (we may assume that he would have mentioned the pinacle of his career in his Roman history). On the other hand, all our problems are solved when we take into account that the region was unquiet. Tiberius may simply have appointed a military man he could rely upon.
Except for this possible command of a legion, we know only one thing about the second half of Paterculus' career: in 30, he published his Roman history, which was dedicated to his fellow-Campanian Marcus Vinicius, the son of Publius Vinicius, Paterculus' first commander.
Nothing is known about the circumstances of his death. However, Paterculus praises Tiberius' praetorian prefect Seianus in a most fulsome manner. In 31, his career came to an abrupt end. Seianus, his family and adherents were executed and assassinated. Was Velleius Paterculus among those who were killed? It is possible. Another possibility is that, as we shall see below, Paterculus' description of the Roman defeat in the Teutoburg Forest, was too critical of Tiberius' personal friend Quinctilius Varus. It can not be excluded that Velleius Paterculus incurred the wrath of Tiberius and died in exile.