Sila'nus, Ju'nius
15. L.
Junius Torquatus Silanus, the son of No. 12, and consequently the
atnepos, or greatgreat-great grandson of Augustus.
In consequence of the early death of his father, he was brought up in the house of the jurist Cassius, who had married his aunt Lepida; but his descent from Augustus, as well as his virtues, rendered him an object of suspicion to Nero.
He was accordingly accused in A. D. 65, along with Cassius and his aunt Lepida.
The crimes laid to the charge of Silanus were that he was aspiring to the empire, and that he had committed incest with his aunt Lepida. Silanus was sentenced to banishment, and was removed to Ostia, as if for the purpose of being carried over to Naxus; but front Ostia he was conveyed to Barium, a municipium of Apulia, and was there shortly afterwards put to death.
The name of the month of Junius was now changed into that of Germanicus, because the two Torquati had by their crimes rendered this name inauspicious (
Tac. Ann. 15.52,
16.7-
9. 12). This L. Silanus is probably the same as the L. Silanus whose statue was erected in the forum in the time of the younger Pliny (
Plin. Ep. 1.17). This Sianus appears to have been the last descendant of Julia, the granddaughter of Augustus.
