“On the danger situation of timeservers”: Aelius Sejanus’s image in Russian literature of 18th century

The article deals with the perception of one of the most notorious and well-known European figures in Roman history by Russian writers of the 18th century. The author, based on the material of European, mainly French pamphlets, lists of public figures 17th and 18th centuries that were identified by contemporaries as the commander of the Roman Praetorian Guard era of Emperor Tiberius, famous timeserver Aelius Sejanus, and for the first time in domestic science provides an explanation of a small interest to this character in Russia in 18th century. According to the researcher, such kind of attitude to Aelius Sejanus in Russia isn’t depends on lack of knowledge, but it’s a result of conflicting information in Russian translation of ancient authors. Sejanus looked a certainly negative hero in the “Annals” by Tacitus that was well-known to European reader in 17th and 18th centuries, and unreleased in Russian during the 18th century. This article doesn’t examine the problem of perception of ancient heritage in Europe, and European material serves as a framework, that allows to see some non-obvious features of Russian literature in 18th century.