Editing Sejanus (section)

=== Historiography ===
With the exception of [[Velleius Paterculus]], ancient [[historian]]s have universally condemned Sejanus, although accounts differ regarding the extent to which Sejanus was manipulated by Tiberius or the other way around.<ref name="tacitus-annals-iv-1"/><ref name="boddington-sejanus"/><ref>Seneca the Younger, ''Essays'', [http://www.stoics.com/seneca_essays_book_2.html#%E2%80%98MARCIAM1 To Marcia On Consolation]</ref><ref>Philo, ''On the Embassy to Gaius'' [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/yonge/book40.html#XXIV XXIV]</ref> [[Suetonius|Suetonius Tranquillus]] asserts that Sejanus was merely an instrument of Tiberius, to hasten the downfall of Germanicus and his family and that he was quickly disposed of once he ceased to be useful.<ref>[[Suetonius]], ''[[On the Life of the Caesars|The Lives of Twelve Caesars]]'', Life of Tiberius [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html#55 55]</ref> [[Tacitus]], on the other hand, attributes much of the decline of Tiberius's rule after AD 23 to the corrupting influence of Sejanus, although he is generally also harsh on Tiberius.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 3#7|III.7]], [[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 6#51|VI.51]]</ref>

Among the writers who fell victim to the regime of Sejanus and its aftermath, were the historians [[Aulus Cremutius Cordus]] and [[Velleius Paterculus]] and the poet [[Phaedrus (fabulist)|Phaedrus]]. Cordus was brought to trial in AD 25 by Sejanus, under accusations of treason. He was charged for having eulogized [[Marcus Junius Brutus]] and spoken of [[Gaius Cassius Longinus]] as the last of the true Romans, which was considered an offence under the ''[[Law of majestas|Lex Maiestatis]]''; the Senate ordered the burning of his writings.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 4#34|IV.34–35]]</ref><ref name="seneca-marcia-i-2-4">Seneca the Younger, ''Essays'', To Marcia On Consolation [http://www.stoics.com/seneca_essays_book_2.html#%E2%80%98MARCIAM1 I.2–4]</ref> His fall is elaborated upon by [[Seneca the Younger]], in his letter to Cordus' daughter Marcia ''[[Ad Marciam, de Consolatione|To Marcia, On Consolation]]''. Seneca tells us that her father most likely incurred Sejanus's displeasure for criticising him because he had commissioned a statue of himself.<ref name="seneca-marcia-xxii-4-6"/> We also know from this source that Cordus starved himself to death.<ref name="seneca-marcia-xxii-4-6"/> Marcia was instrumental in saving her father's work so that it could be published again under Caligula.<ref name="seneca-marcia-i-2-4"/>

[[Phaedrus (fabulist)|Phaedrus]] was suspected of having alluded to Sejanus in his ''Fables'' and received some unknown punishment short of death (Cf. Fables I.1, I.2.24, and I.17).<ref>Phaedrus, ''Fables'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0119&query=book%3D%233 Book III, preface]</ref> Velleius Paterculus was an historian and contemporary of Sejanus, whose two-volume ''The Roman History'' details a history of Rome from the fall of [[Troy]] until the death of Livia Augusta in AD 29. In his work he praised Tiberius and Sejanus, even defending the latter's high position in the government, despite not ranking higher than equestrian.<ref>Velleius Paterculus, ''Roman History'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2D*.html#127 II.127–128 II.127–128]</ref> It has been conjectured that he was put to death as a friend of Sejanus.<ref>Cruttwell, C. T. (1878) ''[https://archive.org/details/ahistoryromanli03crutgoog A History of Roman Literature]''. 2nd Ed. London: Charles Griffin & Co. p.345</ref>