Individual Details
Titus Flavius Sabinus
(8 - 20 Dec 69)
was a Roman politician and soldier. He was the elder son of Titus Flavius Sabinus and Vespasia Polla and brother of the Emperor Vespasian.
Career
Along with his younger brother Vespasian, he was born in Reate, modern Rieti, in Sabinia, Italy, and served in the Roman conquest of Britain as a Legate in a legion in 43 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Claudius. He was Consul Suffectus in 47 AD (some say in 45 AD, or perhaps Ordinarius in 45 AD?), Governor, or better Legatus Augusti pro praetore of Moesia from 50 to 56 AD or from c. 53 to 60 AD, Consul Suffectus in November 52 AD, and from 56 to 69 AD was Praefectus Urbi Romae. Lucius Pedanius Secundus served as Prefect of Rome in year 61 AD however, and so most scholars conclude that Sabinus served two terms as Prefect, one from 56 to 60 AD and another from 62 to 69 AD. The reason for his temporary deposition is unknown. Others say he was temporarily deposed in 69 AD.
Sabinus was an important supporter of his brother: when Vespasian found himself in financial difficulties while governor of Africa, Sabinus lent him the money to continue, and while Vespasian was governor of Iudaea Sabinus was a vital source of information on events in Rome. However in 69 AD, the Year of the Four Emperors, as pro-Vespasian forces advanced to Rome, Sabinus, who had been made Consul Suffectus in May of that year, was besieged on the Capitoline Hill before being put to death by the Emperor Vitellius, and did not live to see his brother take over the Empire. He was buried in Rome in 70 AD and had a state funeral.
He married Arrecina Clementina, born in Pisaurum, Italy, c. 12 AD, daughter of Arrecinus and wife Tertulla and sister of Marcus Arrecinus Clemens, and had one son, also called Titus Flavius Sabinus, and one daughter Flavia, born c. 30 AD, who married Lucius Caesennius Paetus. There is a possibility that Clemens would be related to the paternal side of Vespasian. Vespasian's and Sabinus's paternal grandmother bore the cognomen Tertulla and this cognomen was also bore by both his daughter and his mother.
Biblical mention
There have been conjectures that he might have been the Theophilus mentioned in the Bible to whom both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were written or dedicated.
Career
Along with his younger brother Vespasian, he was born in Reate, modern Rieti, in Sabinia, Italy, and served in the Roman conquest of Britain as a Legate in a legion in 43 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Claudius. He was Consul Suffectus in 47 AD (some say in 45 AD, or perhaps Ordinarius in 45 AD?), Governor, or better Legatus Augusti pro praetore of Moesia from 50 to 56 AD or from c. 53 to 60 AD, Consul Suffectus in November 52 AD, and from 56 to 69 AD was Praefectus Urbi Romae. Lucius Pedanius Secundus served as Prefect of Rome in year 61 AD however, and so most scholars conclude that Sabinus served two terms as Prefect, one from 56 to 60 AD and another from 62 to 69 AD. The reason for his temporary deposition is unknown. Others say he was temporarily deposed in 69 AD.
Sabinus was an important supporter of his brother: when Vespasian found himself in financial difficulties while governor of Africa, Sabinus lent him the money to continue, and while Vespasian was governor of Iudaea Sabinus was a vital source of information on events in Rome. However in 69 AD, the Year of the Four Emperors, as pro-Vespasian forces advanced to Rome, Sabinus, who had been made Consul Suffectus in May of that year, was besieged on the Capitoline Hill before being put to death by the Emperor Vitellius, and did not live to see his brother take over the Empire. He was buried in Rome in 70 AD and had a state funeral.
He married Arrecina Clementina, born in Pisaurum, Italy, c. 12 AD, daughter of Arrecinus and wife Tertulla and sister of Marcus Arrecinus Clemens, and had one son, also called Titus Flavius Sabinus, and one daughter Flavia, born c. 30 AD, who married Lucius Caesennius Paetus. There is a possibility that Clemens would be related to the paternal side of Vespasian. Vespasian's and Sabinus's paternal grandmother bore the cognomen Tertulla and this cognomen was also bore by both his daughter and his mother.
Biblical mention
There have been conjectures that he might have been the Theophilus mentioned in the Bible to whom both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were written or dedicated.
Events
| Birth | 8 | ||||
| Death | 20 Dec 69 |
Families
| Spouse | Arrecina Clementina (12 - ) |
| Child | Titus Flavius Sabinus (40 - ) |
| Father | Titus Flavius Sabinus I (-20 - ) |
| Mother | Vespasia Polla (-15 - 100) |
| Sibling | Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus Emperor of Rome (9 - 79) |