Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 91)
Encyclopedia
Manius Acilius Glabrio was the name of a Roman
consul
in AD 91, conjointly with Trajan
, who was afterwards emperor. He belonged to one of the noblest families of Rome, and no fewer than nine men sharing his name held the consular office. As he was of great strength and activity, he was commanded by Domitian
to descend into the arena and fight a huge lion
. He slew the animal, and was greeted with so much applause, that he roused the jealousy of the emperor, who first banished, and then put him to death on some false pretext.
According to Suetonius
, the emperor caused several senators and ex-consuls to be executed on the charge of conspiring against the empire -- quasi molitores rerum novarum, "as contrivers of revolution" (Domit., c. x), which in Glabrio's case was adhering to the Christian religion. Xiphilinus, speaking of the executions of AD 95, says that some members of the imperial family and other persons of importance were condemned for atheism, as having embraced the Christian faith. After his death, his body was brought to Rome, and buried on the Via Salaria, in the catacomb of Priscilla.
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
in AD 91, conjointly with Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
, who was afterwards emperor. He belonged to one of the noblest families of Rome, and no fewer than nine men sharing his name held the consular office. As he was of great strength and activity, he was commanded by Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
to descend into the arena and fight a huge lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
. He slew the animal, and was greeted with so much applause, that he roused the jealousy of the emperor, who first banished, and then put him to death on some false pretext.
According to Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
, the emperor caused several senators and ex-consuls to be executed on the charge of conspiring against the empire -- quasi molitores rerum novarum, "as contrivers of revolution" (Domit., c. x), which in Glabrio's case was adhering to the Christian religion. Xiphilinus, speaking of the executions of AD 95, says that some members of the imperial family and other persons of importance were condemned for atheism, as having embraced the Christian faith. After his death, his body was brought to Rome, and buried on the Via Salaria, in the catacomb of Priscilla.