Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/388

Rh 376 PISO. secrets, and had according!}' caused him to be put to death. The powerful influence of Livia secured the acquittal of Plancina for the present. [Plan- ciNA.] His two sons Cneius and Marcus, the latter of whom had been with him in Syria, were involved in the accusation of their father, but were pardoned by Tiberius, who mitigated the sentence which the senate pronounced after the death of Piso. (Tac. Ann. ii. 43, 55, 57, 69, 74, 75, 80, iii. 10 — 18 ; Senec. de Ira, i. 16 ; Dion Cass. Ivii. 18 ; Suet. Tib. 15, 52, Cal. 2.) 24. L. Calpurnius Piso, probably the eldest son of No. 23. In the judgment which the senate pronounced upon the sons of Cn. Piso [see above, No. 23], it was decreed that the eldest Cneius should change his praenomen (Tac. Ann. iii. 17) ; and it would appear that he assumed the surname of Lucius, since Dion Cassias (lix. 20) speaks of a Lucius (not Cneius) Piso, the son of Cn. Piso and Plancina, who was governor of Africa in the reign of Caligula, This supposition is confirmed by the fact that Tacitus speaks of only two sons, Cneius and Marcus. We may therefore conclude that he is the same as the L. Piso, who was consul in A. D. 27, with M. Licinius Crassus Frugi. (Tac. Ann. iv. 62.) 25. M. Calpurnius Piso, the younger son of No. 23, accompanied his father into Syria, and was accused along with him in A. D. 20. [See above, No. 23.] 26. L. Calpurnius Piso, the son of No. 24, was consul in a. d. 57 with the emperor Nero, and in A. D. 66 had the charge of the public finances entrusted to him, together with two other con- sulars. He was afterwards appointed proconsul of Africa, and was slain there in A. D. 70, because it Avas reported that he was forming a conspiracy against Vespasian, who had just obtained the empire. (Tac. A7in. xiii. 28, 31, xv. 18, Hist. iv. 38, 48—50 ; Plin. Ep. iii. 7.) 27. L. Calpurnius Piso, consul b. c. 1, with Cossus Cornelius Lentulus. (Dion Cass. Index, lib. Iv.) 28. L. Calpurnius Piso, was characterised by the same haughtiness and independence as the rest of his family under the empire. He is first men- tioned in A. D. 16, as complaining of the corruption of the law-courts, and threatening to leave the city and spend the rest of his life in some distant retreat in the country ; and he was a person of so much import- ance that the emperor thought it advisable to en- deavour to soothe his anger and to induce his friends to prevail upon him to remain at Rome. In the same year he gave another instance of the little respect which he entertained for the imperial family. Urgulania, the favourite of the empress- mother, owed Piso a certain sum of money ; and when she refused to obey the summons to appear before the praetor, Piso followed her to the palace of Livia, and insisted upon being paid. Although Tiberius, at the commencement of his reign, had not thought it advisable to resent the conduct of Piso, yet he was not of a temper to forgive it, and only waited for a favourable opportunity to revenge him- self upon his haughty subject. Accordingly, when he considered his power sufficiently esUiblished, Q. Granius appeared in a. d, 24, as the accuser of Piso, charging him with entertaining designs against the emperor's life ; but Piso died just before the trial came on (Tac. An7i. ii. 34, iv. 21). He is probably the same aa the L. Piso, who came for- PISO. ward to defend Cn.Piso [No.23] in A. D.20, when so many shrunk from the unpopular office. (Tac. A7tn. iii. 11.) 29. L. Calpurnius Piso, praetor in Nearer Spain in a. d. 25, Avas murdered in the province while travelling. (Tac. Ann. iv. 45.) 30. C. Calpurnius Piso, the leader of the well-known conspiracy agaiust Nero in a. d. 65. He is first mentioned in a. d. 37, when Caligula was invited to his nuptial banquet on the day of his marriage with Livia Orestilla ; but the emperor took a fancy to the bride, whom he married, and shortly afterwards banished the husband. He was recalled by Claudius, and raised to the con- sulship, but in what year is uncertain, as his name does not occur in the Fasti. When the crimes and follies of Nero had made him both hated and despised by his subjects, a formidable conspiracy was formed against the tyrant, and the conspirators destined Piso as his successor. Piso himself did not form the plot ; but as soon as he had joined it, his great popularity gained him many partizans. He possessed most of the qualities which the Romans prized, high birth, an eloquent address, liberality and aflfability ; and he also displayed a sufficient love of magnificence and luxury to suit the taste of the day, which would not have tolerated austerity of manner or character. The conspiracy was discovered by Milichus, a freedman of Flavius Scevinus, one of the conspirators. Piso thereupon opened his veins, and thus died. (Schol. ad Juv. V. 109 ; Dion Cass. lix. 8 : Tac. Ann. xiv. 65, XV. 48—59 ; Dion Cass. Ixii. 24, &c. ; Suet. Ner. 36.) There is extant a poem in 261 lines, con- taining a panegyric on a certain Calpurnius Piso, whom Wernsdorf supposes with considerable pro- bability to be the same as the leader of the con- spiracy against Nero. The poem is printed in the fourth volume of Wernsdorfs Poetae Latint Minores, where it is attributed to Saleius Bas- sus. [Bassus, p. 473.] Piso left a son, whom Tacitus calls Calpurnius Galerianus, and who would appear from his surname to have been adopted by Piso. The ambition of the father caused the death of the son ; for Mucianus, the praefect of Vespasian, fearing lest Galerianus might follow in his father's steps, put him to death, when he obtained possession of the city in A. D. 70. (Tac. Hist. iv. 11.) 31. L. Calpurnius Piso Licinianus, was the son of M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, who was consul with L. Piso in a. d. 27, and of Scribonia, a grand-daughter of Sex. Pompeius. His brothers were Cn. Pompeius Magnus, who Avas killed by Claudius, M. Licinius Crassus, slain by Nero, and Licinius Crassus Scribonianus, who was offered the empire by Antonius Primus, but refused to accept it. By which of the Pisones Licinianus was adopted, is uncertain. On the accession of the aged Galba to the throne on the death of Nero, he adopted as his son and successor Piso Licinia- nus ; but the latter only enjoyed the distinction four days, for Otho, who had hoped to receive this honour, induced the praetorians to rise against the emperor. Piso fled for refuge into the temple of Vesta, but was dragged out by the soldiers, and despatched at the threshold of the temple, a. d. 69. His head was cut off and carried to Otho, Avho feasted his eyes with the sight, but afterwai'ds surrendered it for a large sum of money to Ve- rania, the wife of Piso, who buried it with his body.