Appius Junius Silanus, whom Cassius Dio erroneously calls Gaius Appius Silanus, was consul

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 in AD 28, with Publius Silius Nerva

Publius Silius Nerva

Publius Silius Nerva was a Roman politician and general who was consul in 20 BC.-Biography:Nerva was the son of a senator who had achieved the rank of propraetor...

. He was accused of majestas in AD 32, but was saved by Celsus, one of the informers.

Shortly after the accession of Claudius

Claudius

Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...

, in AD 41, when Silanus was governor of Hispania Tarraconensis

Hispania Tarraconensis

Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the Mediterranean coast of Spain along with the central plateau. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia, was the province of Hispania Baetica...

, he was recalled to Rome and married to Domitia Lepida

Domitia Lepida

Domitia Lepida, also known as Domitia Lepida the Younger, Domitia Lepida Minor, or simply Lepida ; was the younger daughter of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Antonia Major. Her elder siblings were Domitia and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, father of the emperor Nero...

, mother of the empress Messalina. He was treated with the greatest of distinction, but having refused the advances of Messalina herself, he was soon put to death by the emperor. Messalina and Narcissus accused him of plotting to assassinate Claudius, and claimed that they had seen Silanus attempting to murder the emperor in their dreams.

Silanus' relationship to the other Junii Silani is uncertain. He is sometimes confused with Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus

Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus (consul AD 19)

Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Silanus Torquatus was consul in AD 19 with Lucius Norbanus Balbus.-Biography:Silanus was a descendant of the noble Roman house of the Junii Silani. His grandfather was Marcus Junius Silanus, consul with the emperor Augustus in 25 BC...

, consul in AD 19. His marriage to Domitia was childless.

Sources

• Publius Cornelius Tacitus
  Tacitus
  Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
  
  , Annales, iv. 68, vi. 9, xi. 29.
• Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
  Suetonius
  Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
  
  , De Vita Caesarum, Claudius, 29, 37.
• Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History, lx. 14.
• Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
  Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
  The Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary.- Characteristic :...
  
  , William Smith
  William Smith (lexicographer)
  Sir William Smith Kt. was a noted English lexicographer.-Early life:Born at Enfield in 1813 of Nonconformist parents, he was originally destined for a theological career, but instead was articled to a solicitor. In his spare time he taught himself classics, and when he entered University College...
  
  , Editor.