Pisonian

Pisonian is an English adjective relating to Piso, a Roman family name, notably Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus, who led a failed conspiracy against Emperor Nero in AD 65. The Pisonian conspiracy, also called the Piso conspiracy, aimed to murder Nero and place Piso on the throne. The term Pisonian is used in historical writing to describe things connected with Piso or with the conspiracy, such as Pisonian conspirators, Pisonian faction, or Pisonian era in some older sources.

In classical literature and scholarship, the label has also been used, with varying degrees of certainty, to describe a circle of poets and writers associated with the Piso faction or Nero's court; however, the exact membership and influence of this circle are debated.

The name itself comes from the gens Piso, a Roman senatorial family. The reference may appear in texts describing Nero's suppression of the conspiracy and the consequences for involved nobles, including Piso's co-conspirators and several poets or philosophers of the time. The usage reflects the historical association of the term with a specific political faction and its cultural milieu in the mid-1st century CE.

In modern usage, Pisonian is primarily encountered in historical or literary contexts and rarely used outside discussions of early Imperial Rome. See also Pisonian conspiracy and Piso (gens).