Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus

Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus (died AD 39) was a Roman senator and general. He was ordinary consul in the year 26 with Gaius Calvisius Sabinus as his colleague. Gaetulicus was involved in a plot against the emperor Caligula, and following its discovery he was executed. Family Gaetulicus was the son of Cossus Cornelius Lentulus, consul in 1 BC; his siblings include Cossus Cornelius Lentulus, consul in 25, and Cornelia, the wife of his consular colleague Calvisius Sabinus. He is attested as having married Apronia, the daughter of Lucius Apronius, by whom he had one daughter and at least three sons: Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, suffect consul in 55, Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, and Decimus Junius Silanus Gaetulicus. Life Ronald Syme describes the family of the Cornelii Lentuli as distinguished by "mediocrity and survival". However, Gaetulicus stands out from them, bringing "the Lentuli into fame and peril" with becoming a partisan of the praetorian prefect Sejanus. This was solidified by the betrothal of Gaetulicus' daughter to one of Sejanus' sons. The support of a Patrician was rewarded by the ambitious Sejanus, first with the consulate in the year 26, and later with the appointment of legatus pro praetore or governor of the imperial province of Germania Superior in the year 29, possibly in succession to his brother, Cossus Cornelius Lentulus. With the fall and death of Sejanus in the year 31, not only was the family of the praetorian prefect killed but many of his supporters were either exiled or also murdered. Gaetulicus was prosecuted by a Senator who had achieved the office of aedile, Abudius Ruso, but the lawsuit boomeranged on Abudius and the delator was banished from Rome. Tacitus notes that Gaetulicus "alone of all connected with Sejanus lived in safety and in high favour." Gaetulicus was very secure in his post in Germania Superior: he was popular with his troops for his kindness and moderate discipline, while his father-in-law Apronius governed the adjacent province of Germania Inferior. Tacitus further mentions a rumor that Gaetulicus and the emperor Tiberius had come to an understanding: the governor had sent him a letter reminding the emperor that he had aligned himself with Sejanus at the emperor's advice, not his own choice, had no part in the affair that led to Sejanus' destruction, and would remain loyal as long as he was left undisturbed in Germania Superior.