FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS WAS REALLY ARRIUS PISO - Part VI

NOTES & REFERENCES FOR:

Caesennius Paetus and family:

C. Caecina Paetus

M. Arria the Elder



Caecina Arria the Younger

M. Thrasea Paetus



Fannia

M. Helvidius Priscus



Ref. "Domitius Corbulo", Ronald Syme, JRS. Pliny the Younger, Epp. III, 16, 7ff. Tacitus, Annals, Book XVI, XXXIV, pg. 387, Loeb.

Thrasea Paetus’ wife Arria the Younger was a relative of Persius the Poet. Ref. Suetonius,
"Lives of Illustrious Men", "On Poets - Persius", pg. 497, 499.

Tacitus is careful not to mention that Thrasea Paetus and Arria had a son (Arrius Piso) also.
He says; "To touch Nero with shame for his infamies was an idle dream, and it was much more to be feared that he (Nero) would exercise his cruelty on Thrasea’s wife, his daughter, and OTHER objects of his affection." He does not mention son directly, but leaves open the possibility that one (or more) might exist. Then, to further hide the existence of this son (Arrius) he says; "Arria, who aspired to follow her husband’s ending and the precedent set by her mother and namesake, he (Thrasea Paetus) advised (her) to keep her life and not to deprive the child of their union of HER one support." He could say this because Arrius was in exile!

And that meant that he was not THERE to support his sister - as it also implies that Fannia
did not or would not have a husband at that time (Ref. Tacitus, Annals, Book XVI, XXVI).

There is quite a bit of information about this family in an article titled "People in Pliny", by
Ronald Syme, JRS (Journal of Roman Studies), 1968-69, pg. 144, 146, 148. Such as, (1) A. Caecina Paetus, suff. 37 CE, of Patavium. (2) P. Clodius Thrasea Paetus (also of Patavium), who married the daughter of the above A. Caecina Paetus. (3) Arria the Younger as wife of Thrasea Paetus. (4) C. Fannius (Arrius Piso) as barrister who wrote the biographies of Nero’s victims. To quote: "Supposed relative of Fannia, the daughter of Patavine (P. Clodius) Thrasea Paetus by marriage with Arria, the daughter of A. Caecina Paetus (suff. 37), cf. Groag in PIR-2, F 116." Syme here says; "Why she should be called "Fannia", no clue."

He is right, one would think a daughter of an "Arrian" would carry the name of her own mother - somewhere. It is there. She is "F." Arria/Annia w/ r’s as n’s.

Ref. for Thrasea Paetus and C. Caecina Paetus; "Domitius Corbulo", by Ronald Syme, JRS, (post 1969). His source was Pliny the Younger, Epp. III, 16. 7 ff.

As Caesennius Paetus, Arrius Piso married Vespasian’s niece, who was probably his first wife (Ref. "Some Flavian Connections", Gavin Townend, JRS (Journal of Roman Studies), 1961. Also see Syme, "Tacitus", 595, n5).

Ref. for Caecina Paetus and Arria the Elder; Dio Cassius, 7. 407f.

Polla, the wife of Lucan the Poet is called "Queen" by Martial. Note that "Polla" is the feminine form of "Pollo/Pollio" (Martial, Book X, LXIV, Loeb). Arria mentioned by Martial (I. XIII). Pliny the Younger mentions Arria in Epist. III, 16.3. Tacitus speaks of Arria (Tacitus, Annals, XVI). "Thrasea" is mentioned in Juvenal (Juvenal, V.36, Loeb).

Thrasea Paetus, Arria the Elder, Arria the Younger, and Fannia are all mentioned in the Annals of Tacitus; Book XVI, XXIV, pg. 373; Book XVI, XXV, pg. 375-377; Book XVI, XXVIII, pg. 379-381; Book XVI, XXXIV, pg. 387. Read through books: XVI, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXIX, XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV (Loeb).

In Appian’s Roman History, there is C. Philo Caesennius (Paetus). "Paetus" is inferred the same way that "Piso" would be when the name "Frugi" is used (Appian, Roman History, IV. 27, Loeb). Note that it has been discovered that Arrius Piso wrote as Philo of Alexandria, and so it is natural to find "Philo" as another alias of his or used to produce one. Arrius Piso wrote as Philo for several reasons, not the least of which to historicize characters and make mention of those which he wised to emphasize. Case in point, (Pontius) Pilate (Ref. Philo, Vol. X, "The Embassy to Gaius (Caligula)", pg. 151, 153, Loeb).

History records that both Arria the Younger and Fannia were alive when Nerva became
emperor in 96 CE. They had been in exile under Domitian.

Arrius Piso as "Caesennius Paetus" was the governor (president/king) of Syria, as the Pisos were noted for being "governors of Syria" (Ref. Flavius Josephus, Jewish Wars, II, VII. 59; or Flavius Josephus, Whiston translation, pg. 597).

Montanus:

"Likewise "Montanus" (the mountain?) "is spared out of consideration for his father" when Thrasea Paetus is killed." Ref. "The True Authorship of the New Testament," in "The Proof that Josephus as Calpurnius Piso," pg. 20, Abelard Reuchlin, 1979, 1986. Note that this is found in the Annals of Tacitus, XVI, 33, Loeb.

"Montanus" is found in "People in Pliny", Ronald Syme, JRS, 1968-69, pg. 149-150. And in Tacitus, Histories, III, 35. 2; and in Tacitus, Annals, Book XVI, XXIX, pg. 381, Loeb. Tacitus, Annals, Book XVI, XXXIII, pg. 387, Loeb.

"Montanus" is mentioned in Juvenal, IV. 107, 131, Loeb.

Arrius Antoninus:

Arrius Antoninus was proconsul under Vespasian in 69 CE (Ref. "The Consulate of the Elder Trajan", by John Morris, JRS, Vol. 43-45, 1953-1955, pg. 79-80. And Josephus, BF, 4, 9, 2 (499); Tacitus, Histories, II, I, cf. 1, 10; Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars", under "Titus", 5.
He is also in the Historia Augusta by this name. He is grandfather of emperor Antoninus Pius. And we have found that Antoninus Pius and Suetonius were one in the same (Ref. Antoninus Pius, 1, 4; and "The True Authorship of the New Testament," Abelard Reuchlin.

Also see ""Marcus Aurelius" (A Biography), Appendix 2, "The Antonine Dynasty", B: ANTONINUS PIUS, pg. 242, Birley, published by Yale University Press, c. 1986.