The defense of gaius salvius liberalis
Gaius Salvius Liberalis Nonius Bassus (fl. 80s CE) was a Roman senator and general, who held civil office in Britain and was a member of the Arval Brethren.
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Life
Gaius Salvius Liberalis is known to have come from Urbs Salvia in Picenum. According to Ronald Syme, he may have been first cousin to the consul Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius Bassus. He was co-opted into the Arval Brethren 1 March 78, replacing the deceased Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus. However, he was absent from the Arval ceremonies, returning by 30 October 81; Syme dates his tenure as juridicius Augustorum in Britain to 78-81, while H. Peterson argues that Salvius was commander of the Legio V Macedonica from May 78 to 24 June 79 or slightly later, becoming juridicius between those dates.
Afterwards Salvius Liberalis was proconsul of Macedonia. Syme argues, based on his absence again from the rituals of the Arval Brethren, he was proconsul in 84/85; on the other hand P.M.M. Leunissen suggests instead a slightly earlier tenure, 82/83. Despite the uncertainty of these dates, when he was suffect consul is definite: Werner Eck and Andreas Pangerl have published a military diploma that attests he was suffect consul in the last nudinium of 85, immediately after he left Macedonia. Syme argues that in the aftermath of the trial of Gaius Caecilius Classicus, Salvius Liberalis was sent into exile.
At some later date, probably after the assassination of Domitian, Salvius Liberalis returned to Rome where he served as a lawyer. In 100 was advocate for the defense of a proconsul of Africa prosecuted by Agricola.
A gravestone found near Rome dedicated to his wife, Vitellia Rufilla, by his son, Gaius Salvius Vitellanius, provides details of his family.
In fiction
Gaius Salvius Liberalis appears in books II-V of the Cambridge Latin Course as a conniving and evil man and the main antagonist, who helps the emperor coordinate the downfall of many people. He is involved in a conspiracy against Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus and unravels the affair between Paris and the emperor's wife, Domitia. Eventually, he is tried for his crimes and exiled for five years.