Gaius Silius (consul)

Silius was probably a son of Publius Silius Nerva. In AD 13, Silius was elected consul alongside Lucius Munatius Plancus. At the end of his tenure in office, he was appointed imperial legate of Germania Superior, under the overall command of Germanicus, and was the officer in charge of the four upper Rhine legions which did not mutiny upon the death of the emperor Augustus.Christopher Burnand, Tacitus and the Principate: From Augustus to Domitian (2011), pg. 56Pat Southern, The Roman army: a social and institutional history (2007), pg. 294 Once the mutiny was suppressed, Silius continued to serve loyally under Germanicus, participating in the Roman retaliation campaign (between AD 14 and 16) against a Germanic alliance in the aftermath of the disaster at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. His successes earned him an honorary triumph in AD 15.Smith, p. 823

The following year, Germanicus sent Silius against the Chatti with 30,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, defeating them in the process,Ludwig Heinrich Dyck, The Roman Barbarian Wars: The Era of Roman Conquest (2011), pg. 256 after which Tiberius appointed him as a taxation auditor in Gaul.{{Dubious|date=January 2012}} He continued in his role as governor of Upper Germany until 21,Stephen Dando-Collins, Blood of the Caesars: how the murder of Germanicus led to the fall of Rome, (2008), pg. 96{{Verify credibility|date=August 2020}} during which year he suppressed a revolt in Gaul. A faction of Treveri, led by Julius Florus and allied with the Aeduan Julius Sacrovir, led a rebellion of Gaulish debtors against the Romans.Tacitus, Annales III:40-42. With two legions Silius defeated Sacrovir's rebel forces (numbering 40,000), twelve miles outside of Augustodunum.David F. Burg, A world history of tax rebellions: an encyclopedia of tax rebels, revolts, and riots from antiquity to the present (2004), pg. 25

Upon his return to Rome later that same year, Silius was soon caught in the political machinations at court as part of Germanicus' faction. Through Silius's wife, Sosia Galla, the couple had become friends with Tiberius’ daughter-in-law Agrippina the Elder. Due to their friendship with Agrippina they became innocent victims of Sejanus' schemes.Jasper Burns, Great women of Imperial Rome: mothers and wives of the Caesars (2007), pgs. 51-52 In the Senate, Lucius Visellius Varro (consul in 24) accused Silius of being complicit in Sacrovir's revolt, and of misappropriating money from the provincial government in Gaul. Refusing to submit a plea or to defend himself, Silius declared that had he not personally kept the legions on the Rhine from avenging the murder of Germanicus, Tiberius would have lost his position as Princeps.Stephen Dando-Collins, Blood of the Caesars: how the murder of Germanicus led to the fall of Rome, (2008), pg. 97{{Verify credibility|date=August 2020}} Faced with false witnesses swearing that he had robbed the Gallic provinces, Silius committed suicide in 24, and afterwards Galla was exiled. Galla's property was confiscated by the Senate and a portion was given to her children.Jasper Burns, Great women of Imperial Rome: mothers and wives of the Caesars (2007), pg. 52

Silius had at least one son, also named Gaius Silius.

• List of Roman consuls

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• Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Vol III (1849).

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{{s-bef|before=Germanicus Julius Caesar,
and Gaius Visellius Varro}}

{{s-ttl| title=Consul of the Roman Empire| years=13| regent1=Lucius Munatius Plancus}}

{{s-aft|after=Aulus Caecina Largus|as=Suffect consul}}

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Category:24 deaths

Category:Year of birth unknown

Category:Imperial Roman consuls

Category:Roman governors of Germania Superior

Category:Suicides in Ancient Rome

Category:Silii