Marcus Hordeonius Flaccus
During the first century, Marcus Hordeonius Flaccus served as a senator for Rome. He served as Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Sedatus's coworker as an effective consul from March to April 47. Later, during the Batavian uprising, he served as the head of the Rhine army.
Marcus Hordeonius Flaccus had a life that was mostly unknown to us. During Tiberius' rule, his father, who resided close to Naples, served as procurator of the imperial possessions in Gallia Narbonensis. Prosecutors are often wealthy people, without the personal dignity that makes them acceptable as knights or senators.
In order to help him against Vespasian's insurrection, Emperor Vitellius ordered troops from the Rhine frontier to be redeployed to Italy in 69. However, Flaccus refused because of rumors of a possible uprising that occurred by the Batavians. Flaccus resisted ordering his army to leave the Rhine. Instead, he dispatched men from the Augustan Eighth Legion to Nijmegen, the principal Roman stronghold in the Batavian nation, from Novae in Moesia. It was only when Vitellius ordered the forced recruitment of the Batavians that Flaccus rebelled against the Romans. Inability to make a decision in favor of the emperor Vitellius prevented him from quelling the Batavian uprising. His later reputation suffered. After trying to celebrate Vespasian's triumph, he was killed by his own troops.
