Gaius Avidius Heliodorus

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Gaius Avidius Heliodorus (c. 100 aft. 142) was a Roman politician and a noted orator.

He was of Greek origin and became ab epistulis under Hadrian, and later prefect of Egypt between 137 and 142. [1] According to the Historia Augusta , Heliodorus drew the wrath of emperor Hadrian, who attacked him in a notorious letter. [2] Nevertheless, he remained prefect of Egypt for several years under Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius. [3]

Heliodorus married Julia Cassia Alexandra, princess of Judaea; she was the daughter of Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus and Cassia Lepida, a descendant of Cassius and Augustus. Their son was the usurper Avidius Cassius. [4]

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  1. G. Bastianini, "Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik , 17 (1975), p. 288
  2. G.W. Bowersock, Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965), pp. 50f
  3. Bowersock, Greek Sophists, p. 52
  4. Dio Cassius, 71.22
Political offices
Preceded by
Marcus Petronius Mamertinus
Prefect of Egypt
Succeeded by
Gaius Valerius Eudaemon