Quintus Pompeius Sosius Falco

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Quintus Pompeius Sosius Falco (flourished 190s) was a Roman senator, who was active during the reign of Commodus. He was consul ordinarius in 193 with Gaius Julius Erucius Clarus Vibianus as his colleague.[1]

Falco was the son of Quintus Pompeius Senecio Sosius Priscus, a patrician and consul in 149. His ancestors include Sextus Julius Frontinus, consul in 73, again in 98, and a third time in 100) and Quintus Sosius Senecio, consul in 99 and again in 107.

Life[]

The emperor Commodus had planned to murder both consuls and usurp their offices, intending a procession as sole consul and primus palus secutorum from the barracks of the gladiators. Knowledge of that plan, according to Dio Cassius, led to Commodus's assassination.[2] The Historia Augusta reports that at the first meeting of the Senate for that year, Falco accused the emperor of participating in the crimes of Commodus; Pertinax, who was over sixty, replied: "Consul, you are a young man, and do not know the necessity of obedience."[3] While the Historia Augusta often includes many fictitious details, William McDermott opines, "This clash has the sound of truth since pride in ancestry was strong within the young man's family."[4]

Immediately following Commodus' death, Sosius Falco was offered the imperial throne by the Praetorian Guard, which he declined. He is known to have attempted a coup against Pertinax; however, Pertinax spared his life.[5] His life after Pertinax's death is unknown; McDermott opines that "Sosius Falco probably retired discreetly to one of the many family estates."[6]

Family[]

The name of Falco's wife has come down to us: Sulpicia Agrippina, the sister of Sulpicius Justus and Pollio Sulpicius, a Senatorial family whose origins lay in Lycia and extensively documented in the inscription of .[7] Sulpicia and Falco are known to have one son, Quintus Pompeius Falco Sosius Priscus, attested as praetor designatus during the reigns of either Caracalla or Elagabalus.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ Paul M. M. Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben, 1989), p. 133
  2. ^ Dio, 72.22.1-2
  3. ^ "Perinax", 5.2-3
  4. ^ McDermott, "Stemmata quid faciunt? The Descendants of Frontinus", Ancient Society, 7 (1976), pp. 231f
  5. ^ Shelagh Jameson, "Two Lycian Families", Anatolian Studies, 16 (1966), p. 128
  6. ^ McDermott, "Stemmata quid faciunt?", p. 232
  7. ^ Jameson, "Two Lycian Families", p. 127
  8. ^ McDermott, "Stemmata quid faciunt?", pp. 230f
Political offices
Preceded by Consul of the Roman Empire
193
with Gaius Julius Erucius Clarus Vibianus 		Succeeded byas suffect consuls
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