10 Facts About Thrasea Paetus

1.

Thrasea Paetus was the most prominent member of the political faction known today as the Stoic Opposition.

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2.

In 57, Thrasea Paetus supported the cause of the Cilicians accusing their late governor, Cossutianus Capito, of extortion, and the prosecution succeeded apparently largely through his influence.

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3.

The objections to this which Tacitus attributes to 'detractors' show, if accurate, that Thrasea Paetus already had a reputation for opposition to the status quo and for dedication to the ideal of senatorial freedom.

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4.

Senatorial procedure required each individual in turn to give his opinion on the motion, and Thrasea Paetus chose to walk out of the meeting 'since he could not say what he would, and would not say what he could'.

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5.

Thrasea Paetus dissented from the proposal to impose the death sentence and argued that the proper legal penalty for such an offence was exile.

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Tacitus Nero
6.

Thrasea Paetus's view won majority assent, and was eventually passed, despite a clearly unfavourable response from Nero, whom the consuls had consulted when the vote was taken.

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7.

Thrasea Paetus proposed that such abuses should be prevented by the prohibition of such votes of thanks.

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8.

Perhaps, as Tacitus suggests, he wished to panic him into some sort of submission, but Thrasea Paetus's reaction was merely to inquire what the charges against him were and to ask for time to prepare a defence—the implication being probably that there was no legal basis for proceedings against him.

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9.

Thrasea Paetus, having consulted with his friends, decided not to attend; he declined the offer of the young Arulenus Rusticus, one of the tribunes, to use his tribunician veto against the decree of the senate, saying that such an action would merely endanger the life of the tribune without saving his own.

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10.

The surviving text of Tacitus breaks off at the moment when Thrasea Paetus was about to address Demetrius, the Cynic philosopher, with whom he had previously that day held a conversation on the nature of the soul.

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