Pisonian conspiracy

The conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso in AD 65 was a major turning point in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero (54–68). The plot reflected the growing discontent among the ruling class of the Roman state with Nero's increasingly despotic leadership, and as a result is a significant event on the road towards his eventual suicide and the chaos of the Year of Four Emperors which followed.

Gaius Calpurnius Piso, a leading Roman statesman, benefactor of literature, and orator, intended to have Nero assassinated, with the goal of having himself declared Emperor of Rome by the imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard. He enlisted the aid of several prominent senators, equestrians, and soldiers with a loosely conceived plan in which Faenius Rufus—joint prefect of the Praetorian Guard with Ofonius Tigellinus—would conduct Piso to the Praetorian Camp for a formal declaration by the Guard. The conspirators were said to have varying motives: some were imperialists and others were Republicans. According to the ancient historian Tacitus, the ringleaders included Subrius Flavus, a tribune of the Praetorian court, and the centurion Sulpicius Asper, who helped Piso spawn the scheme.

The conspiracy was almost betrayed by a woman named Epicharis, who divulged parts of the plan to Volusius Proculus, a fleet captain in Campania. When Proculus complained to Epicharis that Nero did not favor him, she revealed the plot without giving him names. However, instead of joining the conspiracy, as Epicharis thought he would, Proculus turned her in. Under torture, she revealed details and names, but she remained otherwise loyal to the conspiracy and did not betray it.

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