Lucius Arruntius (consul 6)

Throughout the latter part of his life he was plagued by hostility from the Praetorian Guard prefects, Sejanus and Macro, which culminated in his suicide in 37 AD after being arraigned on a trumped-up charge of irreverence to the then-emperor Tiberius.

[8] In his last conversations with Tiberius, the Roman emperor Augustus described Arruntius as "not unworthy of (ruling) the Empire and would have boldness enough to seize it should the opportunity arise".

On the motion of Arruntius it was decreed that the titles of the laws passed and the names of the nations conquered by Augustus were to be borne in the front of the funeral procession.

[9] The accession of Tiberius was a very delicate matter; maintaining Augustus' equilibrium between Republican traditions and imperial realities was never going to be an easy task.

[17] This situation may have aroused anger and resentment in Tiberius,[16] and consequently the enmity of Sejanus, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, towards Gallus and Arruntius.

The senate appointed Arruntius as well as the great jurist Ateius Capito to a committee of two to devise a means of better confining the river.

Several entreaties from neighbouring colonies (Florentia, Reate and Interamna) were heard who begged that such work not be undertaken as it would render their lands flood prone.

In the end it was decided not to make any change to the watercourses, due to "either the entreaties of the colonies, the difficulty of the work or superstitious motives".

Under Sejanus, however, it evolved into a powerful and influential branch of the government involved in public security, civil administration, and ultimately political intercession—changes which would have a lasting impact on the course of the Principate.

[18] In Book 6 of The Annals Tacitus informs us that in 37 AD Arruntius and his paramour Albucilla were arraigned on charges of irreverence towards the emperor and adultery at the instigation of Macro.

Arruntius, now in old age, committed suicide by opening his veins, tired of enduring a life of peril and scorn due to the tyranny of Sejanus and Macro.