Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus

Cossus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus was a Roman senator and general, who was consul in 1 BC with Lucius Calpurnius Piso the Augur as his colleague.^[1]

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

Despite giving the appearance of laziness,^[2] 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.^[3] Whilst there, he fought a successful campaign against the Gaetuli, which earned him the agnomen Gaetulicus.^[4] One of the few individuals trusted by the emperor Tiberius,^[2] he was sent to Pannonia in 14 AD to accompany Tiberius' son Drusus in putting down a mutiny of the legions there.^[4] Later, he was given the post of praefectus urbi in 33 AD,^[2] holding it for a number of years prior to his death.

Gaetulicus had at least two sons, Cossus Cornelius Lentulus and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, consuls in 25 and 26 AD respectively.^[5]

Notes

1. Attilio Degrassi, I fasti consolari dell'Impero Romano dal 30 avanti Cristo al 613 dopo Cristo (Rome, 1952), p. 6
2. Syme, pg. 436
3. Syme, p. 435
4. Smith, p. 430
5. Syme, p. 437

Sources

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

Political offices
Preceded by Quintus Fabricius, and Lucius Caninius Gallus as Suffect consuls	Consul of the Roman Empire 1 BC with Lucius Calpurnius Piso	Succeeded by Aulus Plautius, and Aulus Caecina Severus as Suffect consuls