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Theconspiracy ofGaius Calpurnius Piso in 65 CE was a major turning point in the reign of theRoman emperorNero (reign 54–68). The plot reflected the growing discontent among theruling class of the Roman state with Nero's increasinglydespotic leadership, and as a result is a significant event on the road toward hiseventual suicide and the chaos of theYear of the Four Emperors which followed.[citation needed]
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Gaius Calpurnius Piso, a leading Roman statesman, benefactor of literature, andorator, intended to have Nero assassinated, and replace him as emperor through acclamation by thePraetorian Guard. The conspiracy emerged in AD 65, enlisting the support of several prominentsenators,equestrians, and soldiers.[1] According to the Roman historianTacitus, the ringleaders included a Praetorian tribune namedSubrius Flavus, and a centurion namedSulpicius Asper, who helped Piso devise the plot, among others.[1][2]The conspirators were said to have varying motives. Some wished to replace Nero with a better emperor; others wished to be free of emperors altogether, and to restore a purely republican form of government.[citation needed]
The conspiracy was put in jeopardy by a woman namedEpicharis, who divulged parts of the plan to Volusius Proculus, commanding a fleet inMisenum.[3] Epicharis was involved with the conspiracy and was attempting to move it along faster. When Proculus complained to Epicharis that Nero did not favor him, she informed him of the conspiracy.[4] Proculus informed Nero of the conspiracy and Epicharis was arrested. Though she denied the accusations, the conspiracy collapsed and Epicharis was tortured brutally. While on transport to be tortured a second time, she committed suicide by strangling herself with hergirdle.[5] The conspirators, acting more quickly, rejected a plan to kill Nero atBaiae, but settled on murdering him in Rome at the games.[4] They had a loosely conceived plan in whichFaenius Rufus – joint prefect of the Praetorian Guard withOfonius Tigellinus – would conduct Piso to thePraetorian Camp, where the Guard would acclaim him as emperor.[citation needed]
On the morning that the conspirators' plot was to be carried out – 19 April – afreedman namedMilichus informed on his former master,Flavius Scaevinus, after receiving orders to sharpen a knife and prepare bandages.[6] Tacitus attributes his decision to give his former master up to greed for boundless wealth and power; although he was not fully convinced until his wife reminded him that there were other witnesses to Scaevinus' conspiracy. Milichus' silence, she argued, would be useless and dangerous if he were not the one to report the plot.[7] Milichus reported to Nero's secretary,Epaphroditus, bringing the blade he had been tasked with preparing as evidence.[8] Scaevinus initially was able to avoid suspicion, discrediting the evidence as circumstantial before giving in under the threat of torture and further evidence from Milichus' wife reporting on a long secret meeting between Scaevinus and Antonius Natalis, another conspirator. When Scaevinus was given over to fellow conspirator praetorian prefect Faenius Rufus for punishment, he inculpated him as well; another conspirator, Subrius Flavus, openly expressed his hatred of Nero in court, justifying with reference to Nero's matricide, crimes, and "parad[ing] as a charioteer [and] actor".[9]
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Nero ordered Piso, the philosopherSeneca the Younger, Seneca's nephewMarcus Annaeus Lucanus (|Lucan) and the satiristPetronius to commit suicide. Many others were also killed. InPlutarch's version, one of the conspirators remarked to a condemned prisoner that all would change soon (because Nero would be dead). The prisoner reported the conversation to Nero, who had the conspirator tortured until he confessed the plot.[11] The ancient Roman historian Tacitus writes in hisAnnals that "it was rumoured that Subrius Flavus and the centurions had decided in private conference... that, once Nero had been struck down by the agency of Piso, Piso should be disposed of... and the empire made over to Seneca; who would thus appear to have been chosen for the supreme power by innocent men".[12]
At least 41 individuals were accused of being part of the conspiracy. Of the known 41, there were 19 senators, seven equites, 11 soldiers, and four women.
Piso,[13]Plautius Lateranus,[14]Lucan, Afranius Quintianus,[15] Flavius Scaevinus,[15] Claudius Senecio,[15] Vulcatius Araricus, Julius Augurinus, Munatius Gratus, Marcius Festus, Faenius Rufus,[16] Subrius Flavus,[17] Sulpicius Asper,[18] Maximus Scaurus, Venetus Paulus, Epicharis,[19] Seneca the Younger,[20] Antonia,Marcus Julius Vestinus Atticus.[21]
Novius Priscus, Annius Pollio,Publius Glitius Gallus,Rufrius Crispinus, Verginius Flavus,Musonius Rufus, Cluvidienus Quietus,[22] Julius Agrippa,[22] Blitius Catulinus,[22] Petronius Pricus,[22] Julius Altinus,[22] Caesennius Maximus, Caedicia (wife of Flavius Scaevinus).[22]
Antonius Natalis, Cervarius Proculus, Statius Proximus (but afterwards committed suicide), Gavius Silvanus (also afterwards committed suicide), Acilia Lucana.[22]
The Polish writerHenryk Sienkiewicz, in his bookQuo Vadis. used many of the themes, while the setting took place in the time of the plot. In the last scene of the book, one of the plotters, Petronius, committed suicide after having a lavish party.
The novel byNaomi Mitchison,The Blood of the Martyrs (1939), is set in the months leading up to the failure of the conspiracy.
It is the topic of John Hersey's epistolary novelThe Conspiracy (1972).
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See also:  Coup d'état | |