Early political career Gaius was
designatus by the
Comitia Centuriata in 6BC with the intention that he should assume the consulship in his twentieth year. The next year, Augustus made him a
pontifex, and granted him the right to attend
Senate meetings, behold spectacles, and to be present at banquets with senators. Roman support for the young prince soon spread through Italy; statues and inscriptions were set up in every district to commemorate the fact that he had been nominated as a consul at an unprecedented age of fourteen. The following year (5BC), when he attained military age, he assumed the
toga virilis, and was introduced by Augustus to the Senate, who declared him as
princeps iuventutis ("leader of the youth") and
sevir turmae (commander of a cavalry division). Having been designated consul, he was allowed to give his opinion to the senate. Lucius, three years his junior, was granted the same honours after the appropriate interval had elapsed. his sons
Antipas and
Archelaus both came to Rome with their own copy of Herod's will to plead their case as to why they each deserved to inherit their father's kingdom. Augustus, as usual, declined the sole responsibility of the decision. He convened a council of senators, among whom he included Gaius. The council decided to ratify the will brought by Archelaus, which included a large bequest to Augustus and his wife
Livia. The cities of Judaea rose in revolt after the
procurator, Sabinus, garrisoned
Syria Palaestina to guard the tens of millions of
sesterces promised to the Emperor. The governor of Syria,
Varus, was forced to bring in the legions from Syria to restore order. Historian
Ferrero speculates that Phraates may have been hoping to use Armenia as a bargaining chip to secure the release of his sons who were held captive by the Romans. Roman supremacy in Asia depended on its possession of Armenia as a protectorate. Before Rome could deal with the Parthians in Armenia, it would first need to make its Syrian legions available, which were still tied down in Palestine. In order to free up the legions there, the Kingdom of Judaea was divided among the sons of Herod the Great. One half remained under Archelaus, while the other half was subdivided between his brothers, Antipas and
Philip. This served to restore stability to the region, whilst keeping Judaea from becoming powerful. Having settled matters in Judaea, the Emperor decided to deploy an army to Armenia to re-establish its status as a Roman protectorate and to show the eastern world that Rome held dominion over all land as far as the
Euphrates. Before leaving for the east, he and his brother Lucius were given the authority to consecrate buildings, and they did, with their management of the games held to celebrate the dedication of the
Temple of Mars Ultor (1 August 2BC). His youngest brother, Postumus, participated in the Trojan game with the rest of the equestrian youth. 260 lions were slaughtered in the
Circus Maximus, there was gladiatorial combat, a naval battle between the "Persians" and the "Athenians", and 36 crocodiles were slaughtered in the
Circus Flaminius. Friends of Augustus had hoped that he would abandon his plan of sending Gaius to the east but, faced with increasing troubles there, he persisted with the plan and dispatched Gaius to Syria at the beginning of 1BC. The Emperor entrusted Gaius with proconsular authority and had him marry his second cousin Livilla, the daughter of Drusus the Elder and
Antonia Minor. Due to Gaius' youth and inexperience, the Emperor had advisors go with him. Among his entourage to the east were:
Marcus Lollius as
adiutor ("helper"),
Publius Sulpicius Quirinus as
rector ("guide"), the future historian
Velleius Paterculus,
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (grandfather of Nero),
Juba II of Numidia, and future
praetorian prefect Sejanus. On his way to Syria, Gaius met with Tiberius, who had abandoned politics and retired to
Rhodes. On one occasion, Lollius offered to decapitate Tiberius if Gaius gave the word. Suetonius wrote that it was Lollius' growing influence that compelled Tiberius to plead with Augustus for his return to Rome.
Consulship () The next year, on 1 January, he entered the consulship
in absentia with his brother-in-law,
Lucius Aemilius Paullus, in accordance with the decision of 6BC which named him consul designate. His inexperience meant he was forced to rely on his companions, namely the unruly Lollius, who had taken advantage of the powers he held, and was reportedly holding towns, individuals, and even sovereign princes for ransom. After Gaius opened negotiations with Phraates, Lollius offered the Parthian king certain concessions in return for money. Preparations for the war continued into the spring and summer of 1AD, at which point there had been a successful breakthrough in negotiations. As Phraates was not willing to go to war, he agreed to evacuate Armenia and abandon his brothers who were still in Roman captivity. In the second half of the year, Gaius had advanced with his army to the Parthian frontier to an unknown spot and brought Phraates to a final agreement on the proposals, in which he renounced all claims to Armenia and all power over his half-brothers. It was about this time that Augustus passed through Judea and commended Gaius for not offering prayers at Jerusalem, as it would have been provocative to the Jews living there.
Expedition in Arabia Sometime in the course of his time in the east, Gaius led an expedition into Arabia. Exactly where and for what purpose remains uncertain, though
Pliny mentioned it in connection with
Aelius Gallus' exploits in
South Arabia. The term "Arabia" is never defined, and the term was used loosely by Roman sources. Various reasons, such as an attempt by Rome to control the incense trade, have been suggested but never proven. Juba II, former king of
Mauretania, accompanied Gaius to the east. In order to prepare Gaius for his encounter with the Arabs, Juba wrote him a treatise. According to Pliny, the young prince made it as far as the
Gulf of Aqaba. It is certain that this expedition happened before his time in Armenia, and, referencing Gaius' cenotaph in Pisa, it is almost certain to have taken place during his consulship. This is probably evidenced by the continuation of coinage in the king's name after Gaius' consulship. mentions trouble in Egypt which was suppressed by a tribune of the Praetorian Guard. It is very likely this man was part of Gaius' entourage, but other than that nothing is known of him. The death of Lollius was fortunate to Tiberius, after which Gaius consented to his return to Rome and consequent return to Roman politics. At the same time, the throne of Armenia had become vacant and, with permission from the Emperor, Gaius placed
Ariobarzanes II of Atropatene on the throne. The Romans weren't the only ones interested in Armenia: the Parthians stirred up a revolt among nationalists in the nation. A large force of rebels had occupied the fortress in the city of
Artagira. Gaius was drawn into the conflict, and invaded Armenia in late August of 2 AD. He encountered no serious opposition as there were only a few revolts he had to suppress as a result of the nationalist party. On 9 September, Abbadon, the leader of the rebellion, invited Gaius into the fortress to speak with him. It proved to be a trick, and Gaius was wounded in the confrontation. He had to be carried away by his outraged lieutenants. His forces promptly laid siege to the city and captured the fortress after intense fighting. At first the wound did not seem serious and he was able to complete the pacification of Armenia, a relatively easy task. ==Post mortem==