Editing Gnaeus Domitius Afer (section)

==Life==
Afer became [[praetor]] in 25 AD, and gained the favor of [[Tiberius]] by accusing [[Claudia Pulchra]], the second cousin of [[Agrippina the Elder|Agrippina]], of [[adultery]] and the use of magic arts against the emperor, in 26 AD.<ref name = "zbzlrz">[[Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annales]]'' iv.52</ref>  From this time he became one of the most celebrated orators in Rome, but sacrificed his character by conducting accusations for the government.  In the following year, 27 AD, he is again mentioned by Tacitus as the accuser of [[Quinctilius Varus]], the son of Claudia Pulchra.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annales'' iv.66</ref>  In consequence of the accusation of Claudia Pulchra, and of some offense which he had given to [[Caligula]], he was accused by the emperor in the senate, but by concealing his own skill in speaking, and pretending to be overpowered by the eloquence of Caligula, Afer not only escaped the danger, but was made [[Roman consul|consul suffectus]] in 39 AD.<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], lix.19, 20</ref>

In his old age Afer lost much of his reputation by continuing to speak in public, when his powers were exhausted.<ref name = "zbzlrz"/><ref>[[Quintilian]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/12E*.html#11 xii.11.3]</ref>  During the reign of [[Nero]] he became ''[[Curator Aquarum|curator aquarum]]'', or superintendent of the city's water supply, but died not long afterwards, in 59 AD,<ref>Tacitus, ''Annales'' xiv.19</ref> having eaten himself to death, according to [[Jerome]] in the [[Chronicon (Eusebius)|Chronicon]] of [[Eusebius of Caesarea|Eusebius]].

[[Quintilian]], when a young man, heard Afer,<ref>comp. [[Pliny the Younger]] ''Epistulae'' ii.14</ref> and frequently speaks of him as the most distinguished orator of his age.  He says that Afer and [[Julius Africanus (orator)|Julius Africanus]] were the best orators he had heard, and that he prefers the former to the latter,<ref>Quintilian, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/10A*.html#1 x.1.118]</ref>  Quintilian refers to a work of his ''On Testimony'',<ref>Quintilian, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/5A*.html#7 v.7.7]</ref> to one entitled ''Dicta'',<ref>Quintilian, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/6C*.html#3 vi.3.42]</ref> and to some of his orations, of which those on behalf of Domitilla, or Cloantilla, and [[Lucius Volusenus Catulus]] seem to have been the most celebrated.<ref>Quintilian, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/8B*.html#5 viii.5.16]; [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/9B*.html#2 ix.2.20], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/9C*.html#3 3.66], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/9D*.html#4 4.31]; [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Quintilian/Institutio_Oratoria/10A*.html#1 x.1.23], etc.</ref>

According to [[Pliny the Younger]], in his will Afer had made [[Gnaeus Domitius Lucanus|Titius Marcellus Curvius Lucanus]] and [[Gnaeus Domitius Tullus|Titius Marcellus Curvius Tullus]] his heirs on the condition that they take on his name. He had prosecuted their father, Sextus Curvius Tullus, stripping him of his wealth and citizenship. Pliny comments that Afer's will had been drawn up 18 years previously, suggesting that Afer and Tullus the elder had once been friends.<ref>Pliny, ''[[Epistulae (Pliny)|Epistulae]]'', viii.18; translated in P.G. Walsh, ''Pliny the Younger: Complete Letters'' (Oxford: University Press, 2006), pp. 205f</ref>