DELPHI FORUMS
The Roman Piso Forum
NOTES & REFERENCES FOR:
Caesennius Paetus and family:
======================
C. Caecina Paetus
M. Arria the Elder
|
Caecina Arria the Younger
M. Thrasea Paetus
|
Fannia
M. Helvidius Priscus
Ref. "Domitius Corbulo", Ronald Syme, JRS. Pliny the Younger, Epp. III, 16, 7ff.
Tacitus, Annals, Book XVI, XXXIV, pg. 387, Loeb.
Thrasea Paetus’ wife Arria the Younger was a relative of Persius the Poet. Ref. Suetonius,
"Lives of Illustrious Men", "On Poets - Persius", pg. 497, 499.
Tacitus is careful not to mention that Thrasea Paetus and Arria had a son (Arrius Piso) also.
He says; "To touch Nero with shame for his infamies was an idle dream, and it was much
more to be feared that he (Nero) would exercise his cruelty on Thrasea’s wife, his daughter,
and OTHER objects of his affection." He does not mention son directly, but leaves open the
possibility that one (or more) might exist. Then, to further hide the existence of this son (Arrius)
he says; "Arria, who aspired to follow her husband’s ending and the precedent set by her
mother and namesake, he (Thrasea Paetus) advised (her) to keep her life and not to deprive
the child of their union of HER one support." He could say this because Arrius was in exile!
And that meant that he was not THERE to support his sister - as it also implies that Fannia
did not or would not have a husband at that time (Ref. Tacitus, Annals, Book XVI, XXVI).
There is quite a bit of information about this family in an article titled "People in Pliny", by
Ronald Syme, JRS (Journal of Roman Studies), 1968-69, pg. 144, 146, 148. Such as, (1)
A. Caecina Paetus, suff. 37 CE, of Patavium. (2) P. Clodius Thrasea Paetus (also of
Patavium), who married the daughter of the above A. Caecina Paetus. (3) Arria the Younger
as wife of Thrasea Paetus. (4) C. Fannius (Arrius Piso) as barrister who wrote the biographies
of Nero’s victims. To quote: "Supposed relative of Fannia, the daughter of Patavine (P.
Clodius) Thrasea Paetus by marriage with Arria, the daughter of A. Caecina Paetus (suff. 37),
cf. Groag in PIR-2, F 116." Syme here says; "Why she should be called "Fannia", no clue."
He is right, one would think a daughter of an "Arrian" would carry the name of her own
mother - somewhere. It is there. She is "F." Arria/Annia w/ r’s as n’s.
Ref. for Thrasea Paetus and C. Caecina Paetus; "Domitius Corbulo", by Ronald Syme, JRS,
(post 1969). His source was Pliny the Younger, Epp. III, 16. 7 ff.
As Caesennius Paetus, Arrius Piso married Vespasian’s niece, who was probably his first
wife (Ref. "Some Flavian Connections", Gavin Townend, JRS (Journal of Roman Studies),
1961. Also see Syme, "Tacitus", 595, n5).
Ref. for Caecina Paetus and Arria the Elder; Dio Cassius, 7. 407f.
Polla, the wife of Lucan the Poet is called "Queen" by Martial. Note that "Polla" is the
feminine form of "Pollo/Pollio" (Martial, Book X, LXIV, Loeb). Arria mentioned by
Martial (I. XIII). Pliny the Younger mentions Arria in Epist. III, 16.3. Tacitus speaks of
Arria (Tacitus, Annals, XVI). "Thrasea" is mentioned in Juvenal (Juvenal, V.36, Loeb).
Thrasea Paetus, Arria the Elder, Arria the Younger, and Fannia are all mentioned in the
Annals of Tacitus; Book XVI, XXIV, pg. 373; Book XVI, XXV, pg. 375-377; Book
XVI, XXVIII, pg. 379-381; Book XVI, XXXIV, pg. 387. Read through books: XVI,
XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXIX, XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV (Loeb).
In Appian’s Roman History, there is C. Philo Caesennius (Paetus). "Paetus" is inferred
the same way that "Piso" would be when the name "Frugi" is used (Appian, Roman
History, IV. 27, Loeb). Note that it has been discovered that Arrius Piso wrote as Philo
of Alexandria, and so it is natural to find "Philo" as another alias of his or used to
produce one. Arrius Piso wrote as Philo for several reasons, not the least of which to
historicize characters and make mention of those which he wised to emphasize. Case in
point, (Pontius) Pilate (Ref. Philo, Vol. X, "The Embassy to Gaius (Caligula)", pg. 151,
153, Loeb).
History records that both Arria the Younger and Fannia were alive when Nerva became
emperor in 96 CE. They had been in exile under Domitian.
Arrius Piso as "Caesennius Paetus" was the governor (president/king) of Syria, as the Pisos
were noted for being "governors of Syria" (Ref. Flavius Josephus, Jewish Wars, II, VII. 59;
or Flavius Josephus, Whiston translation, pg. 597).
Montanus:
========
"Likewise "Montanus" (the mountain?) "is spared out of consideration for his father" when
Thrasea Paetus is killed." Ref. "The True Authorship of the New Testament," in "The Proof
that Josephus as Calpurnius Piso," pg. 20, Abelard Reuchlin, 1979, 1986.Note that this is
found in the Annals of Tacitus, XVI, 33, Loeb.
"Montanus" is found in "People in Pliny", Ronald Syme, JRS, 1968-69, pg. 149-150. And
in Tacitus, Histories, III, 35. 2; and in Tacitus, Annals, Book XVI, XXIX, pg. 381, Loeb.
Tacitus, Annals, Book XVI, XXXIII, pg. 387, Loeb.
"Montanus" is mentioned in Juvenal, IV. 107, 131, Loeb.
Arrius Antoninus:
=============
Arrius Antoninus was proconsul under Vespasian in 69 CE (Ref. "The Consulate of the
Elder Trajan", by John Morris, JRS, Vol. 43-45, 1953-1955, pg. 79-80. And Josephus,
BF, 4, 9, 2 (499); Tacitus, Histories, II, I, cf. 1, 10; Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars",
under "Titus", 5.
He is also in the Historia Augusta by this name. He is grandfather of emperor Antoninus
Pius. And we have found that Antoninus Pius and Suetonius were one in the same (Ref.
Antoninus Pius, 1, 4; and "The True Authorship of the New Testament," Abelard Reuchlin.
Also see ""Marcus Aurelius" (A Biography), Appendix 2, "The Antonine Dynasty", B:
ANTONINUS PIUS, pg. 242, Birley, published by Yale University Press, c. 1986.
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