Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC)

:"For others of this family, see Ahenobarbus."Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (fl. 1st century BC & 1st century) was the son and only child of consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Aemilia Lepida. His mother was a paternal relative to the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. His paternal grandmother was Porcia Catonis (sister of the senator Cato).Citation | last = Smith | first = William | author-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | contribution = Ahenobarbus (9), Lucius Domitius | editor-last = Smith | editor-first = William | title = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology | volume = 1 | pages = 86 | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | place = Boston | year = 1867 | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0095.html ]

As a young man Lucius was a renowned and devoted charioteer, perhaps to the point of obsession.Citation | last = Syme | first = Ronald | author-link = Ronald Syme | contribution = Domitus Ahenobarbus, Lucius (2) | editor-last = Hornblower | editor-first = Simon | title = Oxford Classical Dictionary | volume = | pages = | publisher = Oxford University Press | place = Oxford | year = 1996 | contribution-url = ] He was betrothed in 36 BC, at the meeting of Octavianus and Mark Antony at Tarentum, to Antonia, the daughter of the latter by Octavia. He was aedile in 22 BC, and consul in 16 BC. After his consulship, and probably as the successor of Tiberius, he commanded the Roman army in Germany, crossed the Elbe, where he set up an altar to Augustus, and penetrat­ed further into the country than any of his prede­cessors had done. He also built a walkway, called the "pontes longi", over the marshes between the Rhine and the Ems. For these achievements he received the insignia of a triumph. He died in 25.

Sueto­nius described him as "arrogant, cruel, notorious and extravagant," [Suetonius, "Nero" 4] and records numerous instances of his disrespect, to censor Lucius Munatius Plancus, to a proconsul of Africa, to a legate of Illyricum, &c. In his praetorship and consulship he brought Roman knights and married women on the stage to perform in pantomimes, which rankled because in Rome acting was considered to be low-class. He exhibited shows of wild beasts in every quarter of the city, and his gladiatorial combats were con­ducted with such excessive bloodshed that Augustus was obliged to put some restraint upon them. [Tacitus, "Annales" iv. 44] [Cassius Dio, liv. 59] [Marcus Velleius Paterculus, ii. 72]

He had three children with Antonia: Domitia, consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Domitia Lepida.

The Ara Pacis (an altar from the Augustan Era) shows Lucius' son Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and his elder daughter Domitia. The woman behind Domitia and Domitius is their mother Antonia Major and the man next to Antonia is probably Lucius himself. [ [http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/gallery/arch/ara_pacis.htm Latin title ] ]

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