VELLEIUS PATERCULUS

born c. 19 BC died AD 30 Roman soldier, political figure, and historian whose work on Rome is a valuable if amateurish source for the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. Velleius Paterculus' father was of equestrian status, and his mother belonged to a distinguished Campanian family. He served as military tribune in Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, and the East, and as prefect of cavalry and legatus he served for eight years (from AD 4) in Germany and in Pannonia under the future emperor Tiberius. He was quaestor in AD 7 and praetor in 15 and was still alive in 30, for he dedicated his work to Marcus Vinicius as consul for that year. Velleius Paterculus wrote a compendium of Roman history from the origins to AD 29. The period from the death of Julius Caesar to that of Augustus is treated most fully, and the achievements of his old commander, Tiberius, are described in eulogistic terms. Velleius' fulsome adulation of Tiberius does, however, provide a valuable counterbalance to Tacitus' and Suetonius' vicious attacks on that emperor. His style is that of the Silver Age, employing antithesis, epigram, and rhetorical embellishment.