The Tale OF Pallas, A Roman Slave Who Became A Multi-Millionaire And Confidant Of An Emperor And Empress

By
thehistorianshut
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An intriguing man named Pallas lived a remarkable life within the Roman Empire in the 1st century. Little is known about his origins, except that he was certainly enslaved at some point in his early life. He was likely Greek, or came from a family that traced itself back to Greece. In fact, once he was in Rome, Pallas reportedly insisted that he came from the stock of Greek nobility, though this claim brought him no privileges, especially while he was a slave. On Pallas’ supposed lineage, the Roman historian, Tacitus (c. c. 56/57-117+), wrote, “though descended from Arcadian kings, he preferred the national interests to his antique lineage, and let himself be regarded as one of the emperor’s servants” (Tacitus, Annals of Imperial Rome, 12.53). Another key feature of Pallas’ reputation was that he became incredibly wealthy. Not much is known about how he built his riches, be it in personal business or through his administrative service to the Roman Empire, but Pallas became one of the wealthiest men in Rome and was regarded as a master of finance.

Pallas entered the historical record as a highly influential confidant and advisor of Emperor Claudius (r. 41-54). That emperor, interestingly, surrounded himself and his administration with former slaves, often called freedmen in ancient Roman texts. Important freedmen in Claudius’ administration included his Secretary-General, Narcissus, as well as the Petitions Secretary, Callistus, and of course the featured figure of this article, Pallas, who served as the Financial Secretary. Although Pallas was not the most powerful of the secretaries at the beginning of Claudius’ reign, he was always well-regarded by the emperor. Tacitus, upon first mentioning the Financial Secretary’s existence in his historical narrative, wrote that Pallas “was now basking in the warmest favor” (Annals of Imperial Rome, 11.29). His basking in favor with the emperor aside, Pallas’ influence really took off when the Financial Secretary made a political alliance with the ambitious widowed Roman noblewoman, Agrippina the Younger, who wanted to bring herself and her son from her late husband to the pinnacle of Roman society. Pallas and Agrippina were alleged to have also been lovers, but the allegation’s validity and the circumstances of the timeline remain vague.

In the year 48, Emperor Claudius executed his then wife, Valeria Messalina, after she was accused of having an affair with a certain Gaius Silius (supposedly the handsomest man in Rome at the time). With Claudius once more a single man, Agrippina the Younger took the initiative and became a relentless suitor for Claudius’ hand in marriage. Their potential union, however, was highly controversial—even for ancient Rome. Agrippina the Younger was the daughter of Claudius’ brother, Germanicus, and therefore Emperor Claudius and Agrippina happened to be uncle and niece. A marriage between the two was not explicitly legal at the time when the union was first proposed, but emperors, of course, can change and amend laws that impede their wishes. Incestuous scandal aside, Agrippina and Pallas pushed for the marriage, and Emperor Claudius quickly married Agrippina the Younger in the year 49. One year later, after further prompting from Agrippina and Pallas, Emperor Claudius adopted his new wife’s son into the immediate royal family and gave him the infamous name of Nero. On all of this, and Pallas’ connection to the events, Tacitus wrote:

“Pallas, pledged to Agrippina as organizer of her marriage and subsequently her lover, took the initiative…The emperor was convinced. Echoing the ex-slave’s arguments in the senate, he promoted Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus above his own son, who was three years younger. Thanks were voted to the emperor. More remarkable was the compliment that the young man received: legal adoption into the Claudian family with the name of Nero…and now Agrippina, too, was honoured with the title of Augusta” (Tacitus, Annals of Imperial Rome, 12.25-26).

With Agrippina the Younger situated as the empress (or Augusta) and with Emperor Claudius continuing to place high regard on the advice of the Financial Secretary, Pallas was at the height of his influence. By this point, Pallas was also advising Emperor Claudius on issues far outside of financial matters. Ironically, Pallas supposedly was the mastermind for a law that penalized marriages between free women and enslaved men in Rome. If the slave’s master was somehow unaware of the marriage, then the master was to be enslaved, and if they were aware, then the master would be given the social status of a freedman. Supposedly as thanks for Pallas’ brainstorming of that peculiar law, the Roman government decided to grant the influential secretary with an honorary title and a substantial monetary gift. Pallas, however, turned down the money, for the reward was pocket change compared to the wealth he had already accumulated by that time. On this curious incident, Tacitus wrote:

“The emperor revealed that this proposal was due to Pallas; to whom accordingly rewards of an honorary praetorship and fifteen million sesterces were proposed by the consul-designate Marcius Bares Soranus…Claudius reported that Pallas was content with that distinction only, and preferred not to exceed his former modest means. So the senate’s decree was engraved in letters of bronze; it loaded praises for old-world frugality on a man who had once been a slave and was now worth three hundred million sesterces” (Tacitus, Annals of Imperial Rome, 12.53).

Pallas was likely not the only one from his family who benefited due to the meteoric ascendance of his influence in the Roman Empire. Pallas’ brother was allegedly Antonius Felix, an equites knight who managed to be appointed as a governor of Judea. As a side note, this Felix was briefly mentioned within the pages of the Acts of the Apostles. In Judea, the 1st century was a time of great political and religious tensions, and Emperor Claudius’ reign was not spared from troubles in the holy lands. Antonius Felix was a harsh governor, even by Roman standards, and he and other officials in the region were put under scrutiny for their actions. According to Tacitus, Emperor Claudius kept Antonius Felix from facing trial, and instead placed blame for the region’s instability on Ventidius Cumanus, who had been governing the Galileans. As told by the historian, “Pallas’ brother, the knight Antonius Felix, who was the governor of Judea, showed less moderation. Backed by vast influence, he believed himself free to commit any crime. However, the Jews had shown unrest and rioted…Claudius, learning the causes of the revolt…displayed Felix as one of the judges, his position on the bench being intended to silence his accusers. Cumanus was condemned for the irregularities of both. Then the Judean province was peaceful again” (Tacitus, Annals of Imperial Rome, 12.54). It should be noted, Tacitus did not overtly accuse Pallas of getting his brother out of legal trouble, but it is heavily implied that Felix was saved by his brother’s influence or that the emperor spared Felix as a favor to Pallas.

Pallas’ wave of influence began to crash around the year 54, when Emperor Claudius unexpectedly (or one could say, suspiciously) died. The Financial Secretary maintained his influence in that tumultuous time through his firm alliance with Agrippina the Younger, who was able to smoothly have her son Emperor Nero (r. 54-68) installed on the throne. Although Agrippina and Pallas—who were still allegedly lovers—might have thought their futures were secure, they could not have been more wrong. Whereas Emperor Claudius had cherished Pallas and Agrippina, Emperor Nero turned out to be a rebellious youth who despised his mother and her allies. Even worse, the rebelling son was a totalitarian ruler who could decide whether they lived or died.

At the start of the young emperor’s reign, Nero was hesitant to openly oppose his mother. Yet, no such hesitance existed toward Pallas. Nero’s dislike of the Financial Secretary was apparently personal. As written by Tacitus, “Pallas’ surly arrogance, anomalous in a man of servile origin, disgusted him” (Annals of Imperial Rome, 13.2). Nero’s dislike of Pallas continued to grow each time the secretary joined Agrippina the Younger in her efforts to maintain control and influence over the young emperor’s unpredictable actions. After several months of settling into power, Emperor Nero finally wielded his imperial authority and expelled the Financial Secretary from the government. Tacitus wrote, “Nero, exasperated with the partisans of this female conceit, deposed Pallas from the position from which, since his appointment by Claudius, he had virtually controlled the empire” (Annals of Imperial Rome, 13.14). With Pallas forced out of the imperial court, Agrippina the Younger became increasingly isolated. Unfortunately for her, Nero only became more bold and ruthless as the years rolled on. A sign of what was to come occurred in the year 55, when Britannicus, Claudius’ biological son who had been eclipsed by Nero, was assassinated by the emperor. Agrippina the Younger, too, was assassinated in the year 59, and Pallas similarly faced a suspicious death around the year 62, when Claudius’ daughter, Octavia, was executed. On the death of Pallas, Tacitus wrote, “In the same year [as the death of Claudia Octavia in 62] Nero was believed to have poisoned two of his most prominent ex-slaves—Doryphorus for opposing the emperor’s marriage with Poppaea, and Pallas for reserving his own immense riches for himself by living so long” (Annals of Imperial Rome, 14.65).

Although Nero may have killed Pallas, the emperor did not extend his wrath to public monuments or art installations that had been set up to honor the man. Curiously, a fellow master of finance named Pliny the Younger (c. 61/62-113) later came across one such roadside memorial and made sure to make note of it in a letter to a friend. Pliny wrote: “On the road to Tibur, less than a mile from Rome, as I noticed the other day, there is a monument to Pallas with the following inscription: ‘To him the Senate decreed in return for his loyal services to his patrons, the insignia of a praetor, and the sum of fifteen million sesterces, but he thought fit to accept the distinction only.’” (Pliny the Younger, Letter, 7.29). Despite the existence of such monuments, many Romans believed that Pallas was not a man who deserved any honoring. Tacitus, Pliny, and most of their literary peers were openly hostile to his memory, perhaps in part due to prejudice against former slaves and especially his role in bringing about the ascendance of Agrippina the Younger and the infamous Emperor Nero.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (The Death of Britannicus, made in 1814 by Alexandre Denis Abel de Pujol Frenchca, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons and the MET).

 

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