Marcus Plautius Silvanus was a Roman politician and general who 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 2 BC

2 BC

Year 2 BC was a common year starting on Thursday or Friday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...

.

Biography

Silvanus was the son of Urgulania

Urgulania

Urgulania , was a prominent noblewoman during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, and a friend of the empress Livia. She was the mother of Marcus Plautius Silvanus , who had distinguished himself with Tiberius in the Balkans...

, a close friend of the empress Livia

Livia

Livia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...

, and it was Livia's intercession that allowed Silvanus to climb the cursus honorum

Cursus honorum

The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts. Each office had a minimum...

, leading to the consulate in 2 BC alongside Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

. He was then made proconsul

Proconsul

A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...

 of Asia in 4-5 AD, followed by a posting as imperial legate

Legatus

A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...

 in Galatia

Galatia (Roman province)

Galatia was the name of a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia . It was established by the first emperor, Augustus , in 25 BC, covering most of formerly independent Celtic Galatia, with its capital at Ancyra....

 in 6 AD, where he was involved in supressing the Isaurians

Isauria

Isauria , in ancient geography, is a rugged isolated district in the interior of South Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya province of Turkey, or the core of the Taurus Mountains. In...

.

Whilst there, news broke of the Great Illyrian Revolt

Great Illyrian revolt

The Great Illyrian Revolt, was a major conflict between an alliance of indigenous communities from Illyricum and Roman forces that lasted for four years beginning in AD 6 and ending in AD 9.-The war:...

. In 7 AD Silvanus was summoned by Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

 who was in charge of the military situation in Illyricum

Illyricum (Roman province)

The Roman province of Illyricum or Illyris Romana or Illyris Barbara or Illyria Barbara replaced most of the region of Illyria. It stretched from the Drilon river in modern north Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north. Salona functioned as its capital...

, ordering him to bring his troops to help supress the revolt. He joined up with Caecina Severus

Aulus Caecina Severus (suffect consul 1 BC)

Aulus Caecina Severus was a Roman politician and general who was suffect consul in 1 BC.-Biography:Descended from a distinguished Volaterran family, Severus made his name as a military man and was awarded the post of suffect consul in 1 BC....

, the imperial legate of Moesia

Moesia

Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...

 and and fought a major battle against the rebels at Sirmium

Sirmium

Sirmium was a city in ancient Roman Pannonia. Firstly mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by the Illyrians and Celts, it was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC and subsequently became the capital of the Roman province of Lower Pannonia. In 294 AD, Sirmium was...

. The Roman forces were victorius, but suffered very heavy losses. Silvanus remaied at the head of his forces until 9 AD, during which time he served in Pannonia

Pannonia

Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....

. Dalmatia

Dalmatia

Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

, as well as Illyricum.

Although serving under Tiberius for the duration of the revolt, Tiberius had some doubts concering Silvanus, especially his close connection with Tiberius' mother Livia.