// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Petronius Turpilianus? A Roman ruiner.

Publius Petronius Turpilianus (called Petronius) was a Roman senator who held a number of offices in the middle of the 1st century AD, most notably governor of Britain.

Biography

He was the (adopted?) son of Publius Petronius and Plautia, sister of Aulus Plautius who was the conqueror and first governor of Britain.

Emperor Nero

Petronius was a loyal servant of Emperor Nero.

• He was a Roman Senator.
• In 61 he was an ordinary consul with Lucius Junius Caesennius Paetus as his colleague.

Governor of Britannia (61-63)

In the second half of 61, he quit his office as consul due to the revolt of the Iceni in Britain. He was appointed Governor of Roman Britain, replacing Gaius Suetonius Paulinus who had been removed from office in the wake of the rebellion of Boudica. In contrast to Suetonius's punitive measures, Petronius took a conciliatory approach, and conducted few military operations.

Under Nero (AD 54–68), the governors of Britannia were technically legati Augusti pro praetore (imperial legates of the emperor with proconsular power). Because Britannia was an imperial province with multiple legions, it was a "consular" province, meaning its governor had to be a senator who had already served as a consul. The fiscal affairs of the province were managed by a procurator, not the governor.

Later

• In 63 he was replaced by Marcus Trebellius Maximus, and was appointed curator aquarum (superintendent of aqueducts) in Rome.
• In 65 he was given a triumph, apparently for his loyalty to the emperor Nero.

Emperor Galba

In 9 June 68, the death of Nero, saw Servius Sulpicius Galba, governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, named Emperor (r. 8 June 68 – 15 January 69) by the Senate.

Execution

During his march from Spain to Rome, Galba had Petronius summarily executed (or ordered him to take his own life) as a commander appointed by Nero.

Further reading

Roman Britain - Publius Petronius Turpilianus

References

Primary sources

• Tacitus, Agricola 16; Annals 14:29, 14:39, 15:72; Histories 1:6, 1:37
• Plutarch, Life of Galba 15
• Frontinus, On the Water Supply of Rome 2:102.10

Secondary sources

• William Smith (ed) (1870), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology Vol 3 p. 1192
• Kevin K Carroll (1979), "The Date of Boudicca's Revolt", Britannia 10, pp. 197-202
• Anthony R Birley (1981), The Fasti of Roman Britain