Editing Sejanus (section)

=== Denunciation ===
In AD 31, despite his equestrian rank, Sejanus shared the [[Roman consul|consulship]] with Tiberius [[wikt:in absentia|in absentia]],<ref>Suetonius, ''The Lives of Twelve Caesars'', Life of Tiberius [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html#65 65]</ref> and finally became betrothed to [[Livilla]]. Tiberius had not been seen in Rome since AD 26 and senators and equestrians courted Sejanus's favour as if he were Emperor.<ref name="dio-history-lviii-2">Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html#1 LVIII.1]</ref> His birthday was publicly observed and statues were erected in his honour.<ref name="dio-history-lviii-2"/> With most of the political opposition crushed, Sejanus felt his position was unassailable. The ancient historian [[Cassius Dio]] wrote:

<blockquote>Sejanus was so great a person by reason both of his excessive haughtiness and of his vast power, that, to put it briefly, he himself seemed to be the emperor and Tiberius a kind of island potentate, inasmuch as the latter spent his time on the island of Capreae.<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html#5 LVIII.5]</ref></blockquote>

Through years of crafty intrigues and indispensable service to the emperor, Sejanus had worked himself up to become the most powerful man in the Empire.

But suddenly, at the end of AD 31, he was arrested, summarily [[Capital punishment|executed]] and his body unceremoniously cast down the [[Gemonian stairs]]. What caused his downfall is unclear:<ref>Bingham, p. 66.</ref> ancient historians disagree about the nature of his conspiracy, whether it was Tiberius or Sejanus who struck first and in which order subsequent events occurred.<ref name="boddington-sejanus">{{cite journal | last = Boddington | first = Ann | title = Sejanus. Whose Conspiracy? | journal = The American Journal of Philology | volume = 84 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–16 | date = January 1963 | doi = 10.2307/293155 | jstor = 293155}}</ref> Modern historians consider it unlikely that Sejanus plotted to seize power and, if he had planned so at all, rather might have aimed at overthrowing Tiberius to serve as a [[regent]] to [[Tiberius Gemellus]], son of Drusus, or possibly [[Caligula|Gaius Caligula]].<ref name="boddington-sejanus"/> Unfortunately the relevant section pertaining to this period in the ''Annals'' of Tacitus has been lost. According to [[Josephus]], it was [[Antonia Minor|Antonia]], the mother of Livilla, who finally alerted Tiberius to the growing threat Sejanus posed (possibly with information provided by [[Satrius Secundus]]), in a letter she dispatched to Capri in the care of her [[freedman]] [[Pallas (freedman)|Pallas]].<ref>Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'' [[wikisource:The Antiquities of the Jews/Book XVIII#Chapter 6|XVIII.6.6]]</ref> According to Juvenal, a letter was sent from Capri with orders to execute Sejanus without a trial.<ref>Juvenal, Satire X.67–72</ref>

Further details concerning Sejanus's fall are provided by [[Cassius Dio]], writing nearly 200 years later in his ''Roman History''. It appears that, when Tiberius heard to what extent Sejanus had already [[usurper|usurped]] his authority in Rome, he immediately took steps to remove him from power. However, he realised that an outright condemnation could provoke Sejanus to attempt a [[Coup d'état|coup]].<ref name="dio-history-lviii-4"/> Instead, Tiberius addressed a number of contradictory letters to the Senate, some of which praised Sejanus and his friends and some of which denounced them. Tiberius variously announced that he would arrive in Rome the next day or that he was at the point of death.<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html#6 LVIII.6]</ref> He stepped down as consul, forcing Sejanus to do the same<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html#7 LVIII.7]</ref> and conferred an honorary priesthood upon Caligula, rekindling popular support for the house of Germanicus.<ref name="dio-history-lviii-8">Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html#8 LVIII.8]</ref> The ensuing confusion was successful in alienating Sejanus from many of his followers. With the intentions of the emperor no longer clear, it was now deemed a safer course of action in Rome to withdraw from overtly supporting Sejanus until the matter was clearly resolved.<ref name="dio-history-lviii-8"/>

When it became obvious to Tiberius that support for Sejanus was not as strong as the emperor had feared, his next step was to choose [[Naevius Sutorius Macro]], previously prefect of the [[vigiles]] (Roman police and fire department), to replace Sejanus and effect his downfall.<ref>Bingham, p. 63.</ref><ref name="dio-history-lviii-9">Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html#9 LVIII.9]</ref> On October 18, AD 31, Sejanus was summoned to a Senate meeting by a letter from Tiberius, ostensibly to bestow the tribunician powers upon him. At dawn, he entered the Senate; while the letter was being read, Macro assumed control of the Praetorian Guard, and members of the vigiles, led by Publius Graecinius Laco, surrounded the building.<ref name="dio-history-lviii-9"/> The senators at first congratulated Sejanus, but when the letter, which initially digressed into completely unrelated matters, suddenly denounced him and ordered his arrest, he was immediately apprehended and imprisoned in the [[Tullianum]].<ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html#10 LVIII.10]</ref>