Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura (114 BC – 5 December 63 BC) was one of the chief figures in the Catilinarian conspiracy. He was also the step-father of the future triumvir Mark Antony.
Biography
When accused by Sulla (to whom he had been quaestor in 81 BC) of having squandered the public money, he refused to render any account, but insolently held out the calf of his leg (sura), on which part of the person boys were punished when they made mistakes in playing ball, akin to inviting a slap on the wrist. He was praetor in 74 BC, serving as president of the quaestio de repetundis, before being elected as consul in 71 BC.
In 70, he was one of a number of senators expelled from the senate for immorality. He was elected as one of the praetors for 63, readmitting him to the senate. However, soon after his election to praetor, he joined Catiline's conspiracy. Relying upon a Sibylline oracle that three Cornelii should be rulers of Rome, Lentulus regarded himself as the destined successor of Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Lucius Cornelius Cinna.
On learning that ambassadors from the Allobroges were in Rome bearing a complaint against their oppression by Roman provincial governors, Lentulus made overtures to them with the object of obtaining armed assistance. Pretending to fall in with his views, the ambassadors obtained a written agreement signed by the chief conspirators, and informed Q. Fabius Sanga, their "patron" in Rome, who in turn informed Cicero.
The conspirators were arrested and forced to admit their guilt.
See also
- Lentulus, Roman patrician family.
References
Citations
Modern sources
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
Ancient sources
- Dio Cassius xxxvii. 30, xlvi. 20
- Plutarch, Cicero, 17
- Sallust, Bellum Catilinae
- Cicero, In Catilinam, iii., iv.; Pro Sulla, 25.