Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus

Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus was a prominent figure in the Roman Empire during the first century. He held the consulship twice, and was stepfather of the future emperor Nero.

Suetonius reports that Passienus was born at Visellium, an obscure town whose location has been lost. He was the grandson of Lucius Passienus Rufus, consul in 4 BC. His father, who died in AD 21, was a grandnephew of the historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), who had no children of his own, and therefore adopted his sister's grandson as his heir. The elder Passienus assumed his uncle's names, in accordance with Roman custom, and in turn these names were passed to his son.

Passienus was a regular pleader in the court of the Centumviri, which met in the Basilica Julia. Suetonius mentions a statue of Passienus, which had been set up in the Basilica. He made his first speech in the senate during the reign of Tiberius, whom he addressed politely, and whose favour he won, although Suetonius maintains that the emperor's praise was insincere. Passienus was consul for the first time in AD 27, being named suffectus from the Kalends of July, together with Publius Cornelius Lentulus, and serving out the remainder of the year.

Despite his rank and wealth, Passienus affected a humble manner in order to remain in favour with the emperors. During the reign of Gaius, he accompanied the emperor on his travels, following on foot as a token of subservience. Gaius is said to have asked him once, in private, if Passienus had ever had intercourse with his own sister, as Gaius himself had done. Realizing that answering either in the affirmative or the negative might be dangerous, Passienus cleverly replied, "not yet", thereby avoiding the emperor's displeasure.

Passienus' wife, Domitia, was the sister of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, and thus the sister-in-law of Agrippina, whom Passienus had been asked to marry. Her first husband, Decimus Haterius Agrippa, consul in AD 22, had died in 32 after advocating the condemnation of Lucius Fulcinius Trio and Publius Memmius Regulus, the feuding consuls of the previous autumn, and drawing the public ire on himself. Passienus married Domitia the following year, and became the stepfather of Quintus Haterius Antoninus, who would become consul under Claudius in AD 53.

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