Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus (consul 1 BC)

Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus was a Roman politician and general who was consul in 1 BC.

Biography

Originally born Cossus Cornelius Lentulus, Gaetulicus was a member of the patrician Lentulus branch of the Cornelii clan.

Despite giving the appearance of laziness,^[1] he was given a number of important commands. After serving as consul in 1 BC alongside Lucius Calpurnius Piso, he was elected proconsul of Africa in 6 AD^[2] Whilst there, he fought a successful campaign against the Gaetuli, which earned him the agnomen Gaetulicus.^[3] One of the few individuals trusted by the emperor Tiberius,^[1] he was sent to Pannonia in 14 AD to accompany Tiberius’s son Drusus in putting down a mutiny of the legions there.^[3] Later, he was given the post of praefectus urbi in 33 AD,^[1] holding it for a number of years prior to his death.

Gaetulicus had at least one son, Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus.^[4]

Sources

• Syme, Ronald, The Roman Revolution, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1939.
• Smith, William, A New Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1860)

Notes