Barea Soranus

Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus was a Roman senator who lived in the reign of Nero. He was suffect consul in 52, but later attracted the hatred of Nero, and upon being condemned to death committed suicide. He was associated with a group of Stoics opposed to the perceived tyranny and autocratic tendencies of certain emperors, known today as the Stoic Opposition.

Life and career

Soranus was a member of the gens Marcia; his father, Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus, had been a suffect consul as well as governor of Africa. His brother was Quintus Marcius Barea Sura, friend of the future emperor Vespasian and maternal grandfather of Trajan.

His career prior to becoming consul is not well known. Subsequent to holding the fasces, Soranus was governor of Asia around 61/62.^[1] During this tenure, the Emperor Nero had ordered his freedman Acrato to take away the works of art of the city of Pergamon, but the people revolted; Soranus refused to follow the orders of the Emperor and punish its citizens.^[1]

Trial and death

Soranus was accused by Ostorius Sabinus, an equestrian, of being friends with Rubellius Plautus (another object of Nero's hatred), and for inciting the citizens of Asia to revolt.^[2] One of the chief witnesses against him was Egnatius Celer of Berytus, his client and former tutor. Soranus' daughter, Servilia, was also accused of having hired a sorcerer (magi), and was tried together with her father.^[2] Servilia confessed that she had consulted an astrologer, but only to pray in honor of her father and the emperor;^[3] Soranus asked that his daughter be spared because she was not involved in the conspiracy or aware of the misdeeds of her husband, Gaius Annius Pollio.^[4] In the end, Soranus was condemned to death (in 65 or 66), and committed suicide.^[5]

Family

Soranus is known to have one daughter, Marcia Servilia Sorana, better known as "Servilia".^[6]

Nerva–Antonine family tree

Q. Marcius Barea Soranus

Q. Marcius Barea Sura

Antonia Furnilla

M. Cocceius Nerva

Sergia Plautilla

P. Aelius Hadrianus

Titus
(r. 79–81)

Marcia Furnilla

Marcia

Trajanus Pater

Nerva
(r. 96–98)

Ulpia^[i]

Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus

Flavia^[ii]

Marciana^[iii]

C. Salonius Matidius^[iv]

Trajan
(r. 98–117)

Plotina

P. Acilius Attianus

P. Aelius Afer^[v]

Paulina Major^[vi]

Lucius Mindius (2)

Libo Rupilius Frugi (3)

Salonia Matidia^[vii]

L. Vibius Sabinus (1)^[viii]

Paulina Minor^[vi]

L. Julius Ursus Servianus^[ix]

Matidia Minor^[vii]

Sabina^[iii]

Hadrian^[v]^[x]^[vi] (r. 117–138)

Antinous^[xi]

C. Fuscus Salinator I

Julia Serviana Paulina

M. Annius Verus^[xii]

Rupilia Faustina^[xiii]^[xiv]

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla^[xv]

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

Plautia

unknown^[xvi]

C. Avidius Nigrinus

M. Annius Verus^[xiii]

Calvisia Domitia Lucilla^[xvii]

Fundania^[xviii]

M. Annius Libo^[xiii]

Faustina^[xv]

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)^[xv]

L. Aelius Caesar^[xvi]

Avidia^[xvi]

Cornificia^[xiii]

Marcus Aurelius
(r. 161–180)^[xix]

Faustina Minor^[xix]

C. Avidius Cassius^[xx]^{[clarification needed]}

Aurelia Fadilla^[xv]

Lucius Verus
(r. 161–169)^[xvi] (1)

Ceionia Fabia^[xvi]

Plautius Quintillus^[xxi]

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia^[xvi]

Cornificia Minor^[xxii]

M. Petronius Sura

Commodus
(r. 177–192)^[xix]

Fadilla^[xxii]

M. Annius Verus Caesar^[xix]

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2)

Lucilla^[xix]

M. Plautius Quintillus^[xvi]

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2)

Aurelia Sabina^[xxii]

L. Antistius Burrus (1)

Plautius Quintillus

Plautia Servilla

C. Furius Sabinus Timesitheus

Antonia Gordiana

Junius Licinius Balbus?

Furia Sabina Tranquillina

Gordian III
(r. 238–244)

(1) = 1st spouse
(2) = 2nd spouse
(3) = 3rd spouse
  Reddish-purple indicates emperor of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty
  lighter purple indicates designated imperial heir of said dynasty who never reigned
  grey indicates unsuccessful imperial aspirants
  bluish-purple indicates emperors of other dynasties
dashed lines indicate adoption; dotted lines indicate love affairs/unmarried relationships
Small Caps = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)

Notes:

Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.

^ Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
^ Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
^ ^a ^b Levick (2014), p. 161.
^ Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
^ ^a ^b Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
^ ^a ^b ^c DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
^ ^a ^b Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
^ Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
^ Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
^ Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
^ Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.
^ Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Levick (2014), p. 163.
^ It is uncertain whether Rupilia Faustina was Frugi's daughter by Salonia Matidia or another woman.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Levick (2014), p. 162.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Levick (2014), p. 164.
^ Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
^ Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
^ The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24.
^ Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
^ ^a ^b ^c Levick (2014), p. 117.

References:

DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 2015-04-14.
Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta. ISBN 0-8390-0193-2.
Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-15708-2.
Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

References

^ ^a ^b Tacitus, Annals, xvi.23
^ ^a ^b Tacitus, Annals, xvi.30
^ Tacitus, Annals, xvi.31
^ Tacitus, Annals, xvi.32
^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Soranus, Barea". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 430.
^ Julian Bennett, Trajan: Optimus Princeps (Routledge, 2003), p. 13 ISBN 978-11-3470-914-4

Life and career

Trial and death

Family

Nerva–Antonine family tree

References

Further reading