Just finished Seianus Augustus, an article by Edward Champlin, which argues that Sejanus was not merely an outsider who connived to undermine the imperial family and insert his own descendants into it, but a rising heir-apparent who may or may not have been responsible for all those murders and conspiracies. Thought-provoking stuff, and it's nice to see a "flat" villain figure get more fleshed out.

I am also rotating in my mind the fascinating parallels Champlin draws between Tiberius/Sejanus and Augustus/Agrippa. The "partner of my labors." Saving the emperor from the brink of death. The second-in-command who gets things done, is great at administration and has an interest in the arts. There's even passages strongly suggesting that Sejanus was attracted to men.

But while Agrippa and Augustus' relationship appears to have been solid all their lives, something went terribly wrong between Tiberius and Sejanus. The usual narrative emphasizes Sejanus' manipulations, teachery, and even killing Tiberius' son. Champlin doesn't evaluate how true or false that narrative is, but he does hint that Sejanus might have been destroyed for a different reason: that he too openly revealed his ambitions, and Tiberius came to see him as a threat.

Agrippa, in contrast, usually avoided the spotlight and redirected people's attention back to Augustus. His marriage into the Julian family also appears to have been Augustus' idea, in contrast to Sejanus who actively sought a marriage tie. And Agrippa had an extensive track record in a variety of contexts by the time Augustus granted him the tribunician power (i.e. made him clearly the #2 guy in the empire), while Sejanus' record appears to have been mostly personal service to Tiberius. And, of course, Agrippa's personal life was virtually drama-free - although Champlin points out that we don't know how many of the allegations about Sejanus come from his enemies' smear campaign.

Anyway, a super interesting article, makes me want to reread my biographies of Tiberius and examine Sejanus' role again.