Paullus Fabius Persicus (2/1 BCE - some time during the reign of Claudius) was the only son of Paullus Fabius Maximus and Marcia, a maternal cousin of Augustus (daughter of his aunt Atia and L. Marcius Philippus) and great-niece of Julius Caesar. As such, Persicus was a first-cousin-once-removed of Augustus and a great-great-nephew of Julius Caesar.

Birth and name

Paullus Fabius Persicus is believed to have been born in 2 or 1 BCE.^[1] His cognomen - like the praenomen (Paullus) he shared with his father - was given to him to advertise his natural paternal descent from Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, who had defeated the last Macedonian monarch, Perseus, in 146 BCE.^[1]

Life and career

The first appearance of Persicus is in June of the year 15, when he was co-opted into the Arval Brethren^[2] aged c. 15 to replace his then recently deceased father.^[1] Around the same time, he was also made a member of the College of Pontiffs and of the Sodales Augustales. He subsequently held the posts of quaestor under Tiberius and praetor, though the details of these posts are unknown.^[3] His next dated post is in 34, when he became ordinary consul with Lucius Vitellius, the father of the later Roman Emperor Vitellius, as his colleague.^[4]

After his consulship, his next post was proconsul of Asia in the reign of Claudius (c. 44).^[5] An edict written by Persicus from his time as proconsul of Asia survives, addressed to the Ephesians concerning issues in the worship of the Goddess Artemis.^[3]

He seems to have died sometime in the reign of Claudius.^[6]

Character

According to Seneca the Younger, Persicus was a particularly vile person,^[7] who owed his career more to his ancestry than to his own merit.^[8] Ronald Syme adds, "He was also shunned by the virtuous and exemplary Julus Graecinus, the parent of Julius Agricola, unresponsive to the Narbonensian clientela of the Fabii."^[6]