Quintus Poppaeus Secundus

Quintus Poppaeus Q. f. Q. n. Secundus was consul suffectus in AD 9, and one of the authors of the lex Papia Poppaea.

Background Secundus was descended from a respectable, if undistinguished plebeian family. His father and grandfather were also named Quintus, and from their shared filiation we know that Secundus was the brother of Gaius Poppaeus Sabinus, consul ordinarius in the same year that Secundus was suffectus. It is unclear which was the elder; typically an elder son would be named after his father, but the cognomen Secundus suggests that he was the younger brother.

Consulship Secundus was appointed consul suffectus ex Kalendis Juliis together with Marcus Papius Mutilus, succeeding Gaius Poppaeus Sabinus and Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus. They held the consulship for six months, departing at the end of the year. During their term of office, Papius and Poppaeus authored the law that bore their names. Cassius Dio notes with irony that both Papius and Poppaeus were unmarried and childless.