Plotius Grypus

Plotius Grypus was a partisan of the Roman emperor Vespasian. He was the brother of the Urban prefect Plotius Pegasus, and father of the identically named Plotius Grypus, who was the dedicatee of one of Statius' poems, written about the Sarmatian campaign of 92.^[1] Grypus acceded to the suffect consulship for 13 January–April 88, succeeding the emperor Domitian.^[2]

Originally Grypus was a soldier, whom Vespasian adlected into the Roman senate late in the year 69.^[3] Then in January 70 he replaced Tettius Julianus as praetor on the accusation that he had deserted his post as legate of his legion in Dacia because it had declared for Vespasian.^[4] A few days afterwards the rank was restored to Tettius when he made it known that he had fled for refuge to Vespasian, but Grypus retained his rank.^[5]

Brian W. Jones notes that when Statius wrote his poem for the younger Grypus, he made no reference to his consular father. While admitting that the older Grypus may have died before the Sarmatian War, Jones suggests that a more likely reason may have been that Grypus was exiled by then. The most possible reason would be as a result of the events of 70, when Tettius and Grypus struggled for the same prestigious rank as praetor, and the rivalry between the two at the time revived, and Tettius was behind his exile. "In 88, though, the position was vastly different: Julianus was the hero of Tapae, victor over the Dacians, whereas it had taken Grypus 18 years to reach the consulship. Jealousy may have caused him to attempt to undermine his former rival, and failure led to his banishment."^[6]

Notes

Further reading

• François Berard, "La carrière de Plotius Grypus et le ravitaillement de l'armée impériale en campagne", Mélanges de l'école française de Rome , 96 (1989), pp. 259-324
• William Smith, "Plotius Griphus", in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870), Vol. 3, p. 428