Soccer Dad

"I, claudius," in the news

At one point the cruel Sejanus - head of the Praetorian Guard - was possibly the most powerful person in the Roman Empire. But his ambition made the emporer, Tiberius, jealous and Sejanus's career ended rather abruptly.

When it became clear to Tiberius that support for Sejanus was not as strong as he had feared, his next step was to choose Naevius Sutorius Macro, who had previously been prefect of the vigiles (Roman police and fire department),to replace Sejanus and accomplish his downfall. On October 18, 31, Sejanus was summoned to a Senate meeting by a letter from Tiberius, ostensibly to bestow the tribunician powers upon him. At dawn he entered the Senate, but while the letter was being read Macro assumed control of the Praetorian Guard, and members of the vigiles led by Graecinius Laco surrounded the building. The senators at first congratulated Sejanus, but when the letter, which first digressed into completely unrelated matters, suddenly denounced him and ordered his arrest, he was immediately surrounded and escorted to prison.

That night Sejanus was executed. In the aftermath of his execution, Sejanus's family was also killed. In the fictionalized account of the aftermath, in "I, Claudius", was this exchange about Seanjus's children.

-->Guard: I can't do it. I can't just kill them, they're underage.
-->Macro: They're on the list. Now get on with it.
-->Guard: The girl is a virgin. It's unprecedented to kill a virgin. It will bring bad luck to the city.
-->Macro: Then make sure she's not a virgin when you kill her. Now GET ON WITH IT!

That's barbaric isn't it? It couldn't happen nowadays. Could it? Well it does. See Elder of Ziyon for details.