Paullus Fabius Persicus is believed to have been born in 2 or 1 BCE.[1] His cognomen - like the praenomen (Paullus) he shared with his father - was given to him to advertise his natural paternal descent from Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, who had defeated the last Macedonian monarch, Perseus, in 146 BCE.[1]
Life and career
The first appearance of Persicus is in June of the year 15, when he was co-opted into the Arval Brethren[2] aged c. 15 to replace his then recently deceased father.[1] Around the same time, he was also made a member of the College of Pontiffs and of the Sodales Augustales. He subsequently held the posts of quaestor under Tiberius and praetor, though the details of these posts are unknown.[3] His next dated post is in 34, when he became ordinary consul with Lucius Vitellius, the father of the later Roman EmperorVitellius, as his colleague.[4]
After his consulship, his next post was proconsul of Asia in the reign of Claudius (c. 44).[5] An edict written by Persicus from his time as proconsul of Asia survives, addressed to the Ephesians concerning issues in the worship of the Goddess Artemis.[3]
He seems to have died sometime in the reign of Claudius.[6]
Character
According to Seneca the Younger, Persicus was a particularly vile person,[7] who owed his career more to his ancestry than to his own merit.[8]Ronald Syme adds, "He was also shunned by the virtuous and exemplary Julius Graecinus, the parent of Julius Agricola, unresponsive to the Narbonensian clientela of the Fabii."[6]
Footnotes
^ abcRonald Syme, Augustan Aristocracy (1989), p. 416