Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (c. AD 7–67) was a popular Roman general. He was Caligula’s brother-in-law and Domitian’s father-in-law. Nero later forced him to commit suicide, and he went to his death bravely, shouting Axios, meaning “I am worthy.”

Corbulo was born on the Italian peninsula into a distinguished senator’s family. His father, also named Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, had been a praetor under Tiberius, and his mother Vistilia came from a family with a tradition of holding high office. Little is known about his early career, but he rose to become suffect consul in AD 39 during Caligula’s reign.

After Caligula’s assassination, Corbulo’s career stalled until AD 47, when Claudius made him commander of the armies in Germania Inferior, based at Colonia. He faced major uprisings by the Cherusci and Chauci. While in Germania, he ordered the building of a canal between the Rhine and Meuse, known as Fossa Corbulonis. Parts of it have been found by archaeologists, and it ran near the modern Vliet canal between Leiden and Voorburg. Corbulo used both army and navy to push the Chauci from Roman lands and trained his troops to be highly effective. He is said to have punished two legionaries who dropped their swords while fortifying a camp, reportedly saying, “You defeat the enemy with a pickaxe.”

Corbulo returned to Rome and stayed there until AD 52, when Claudius made him governor of Asia. After Claudius died, Nero sent him to the east to deal with Armenia. In AD 58 he attacked Tiridates, captured important Armenian cities like Artaxata and Tigranocerta, and helped place Tigranes as king of Armenia. In AD 61 Tiridates invaded Adiabene, and a war with Parthia seemed likely. Parthian king Vologases I preferred peace, and Armenia’s fate was to be evacuated, with Tiridates to be dethroned and then reinstalled only by Nero in Rome.

The Roman government later appointed Paetus to resolve Armenia directly, but he was defeated at Rhandeia in AD 62. Corbulo was sent back with a strong army, crossed the Euphrates in AD 63, and forced Tiridates to accept peace. Tiridates even laid down his diadem at the foot of Nero’s statue at Rhandea, promising to yield it only to Nero in Rome.

Back in Rome, two plots against Nero failed, and Nero grew suspicious of Corbulo. In AD 67, as trouble grew in Judea, Nero summoned Corbulo to Greece. At Cenchreae, he was ordered to kill himself; he did so, exclaiming Axios, meaning “I have deserved it.”

Corbulo had married Cassia Longina, whose father was Cassius Longinus. They had two daughters: one married senator Annius Vinicianus, and the other, Domitia Longina, later married Emperor Domitian.