Publius Pomponius Secundus was a distinguished statesman and poet in the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. He was suffect consul for the nundinium of January-June 44, succeeding the ordinary consul Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus and as the colleague of the other ordinary consul, Titus Statilius Taurus. Publius was on intimate terms with the elder Pliny, who wrote a biography of him, now lost.
Background
Publius Pomponius was born at the beginning of the first century (the exact date is unknown). Pomponius' mother was Vistilia, who by other marriages was the mother of Publius Suillius Rufus and the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. The name of his father is not known, but Ronald Syme has suggested he could be either Gaius Pomponius Graecinus, consul suffectus in AD 16, or his brother, Lucius Pomponius Flaccus, consul ordinarius in 17. Pomponius' brother, Quintus Pomponius Secundus, was involved in various intrigues during the reigns of Tiberius and Claudius. Quintus tried to protect his brother from Tiberius' displeasure.
Career
Pomponius was one of the friends of Sejanus, who was consul in 31, and on the latter's fall in October of that year, Pomponius was placed under house arrest, where he remained until Caligula released him. During either the reign of Caligula or Claudius he was governor of the public province of Creta et Cyrenaica. It was during the reign of Claudius when Pomponius acceded to the consulship. He was afterwards governor of Germania Superior from the year 50 to 54; during his office Pomponius conducted a successful campaign, described by Tacitus, against the German Chatti, where, after forty years, survivors of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest were freed from slavery. For this he received ornamenta triumphalia.
