Lucius Calpurnius Piso

Lucius Calpurnius Piso (died AD 70) was a Roman senator active in the first century AD. During the Year of Four Emperors he was governor of Africa and supported Vitellius. After the death of Vitellius he was killed by supporters of Vespasian.

Early life

Piso was the son of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, who had been forced to change his praenomen from Gnaeus to Lucius due to his father's involvement in a conspiracy against Tiberius. The life of the younger Piso is not well known prior to his accession to consul in 57 as the colleague of Emperor Nero.

Tacitus records an incident in the previous year where a conflict arose between the praetor Vibullius and Antistius Sosianus, the plebeian tribune, over whether to keep imprisoned some disorderly audience members; the Senate ruled against Antistius, and Piso went further and proposed that tribunes would no longer be permitted to try cases in their own houses.

Offices He served as curator aquarum for Rome from 60 to 63. In the year 62 the emperor Nero appointed Piso, along with Aulus Ducenius Geminus and Pompeius Paullinus, to a commission to manage the public revenues. Then in AD 69, he was picked by the sortition to be proconsul of Africa.

He was a member of the Arval Brethren; although it is not known when he was co-opted into the collegia, Piso is recorded attending the meetings in the years 57, 58, 59, 60 and 63.

Piso had a wife, Licinia Magna; their daughter Calpurnia married Calpurnius Piso Galerianus, the son of Gaius Calpurnius Piso.

When Festus learned of the events in Carthage, he sent a troop of cavalry to murder Piso. Although none of the men knew Piso, he was identified for them by Baebius Massa, whom Tacitus described as "a man even then fatal to the good, and destined often to reappear among the course of the sufferings which he had ere long to endure." With Piso dead Festus was able to take control of the province and openly declared for Vespasian.