Decimus Valerius Taurus Catullus Messallinus Asiaticus was a member of the Arval Brethren who lived in the second half of 1st century and first half of 2nd century.

Family background

Asiaticus was of Allobrogian and Roman ancestry. He was the son of the wealthy, prominentJosephus, ''Death of an Emperor'', p.72 and powerfulBowman, ''The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 10'', p.217

Roman Senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

figure

Marcus Lollius Paulinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus Marcus Lollius Paullinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus (69/70 – after 134) was a prominentJosephus, ''Death of an Emperor'', p. 72 Roman Senator who was a powerful figure in the second half of the 1st century and first half of the 2nd ce ...

and the noblewoman Valeria Catulla Messallina,Skinner, ''A Companion to Catullus (Google eBook)'' who came from a family of consular rank. The parents of his father were the Legatus, Decimus Valerius Asiaticus and his wife, Vitellia,Morgan, ''69 AD: The Year of Four Emperors'', p.149 the daughter of the Roman emperor

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...

by his wife

Galeria Fundana Galeria Fundana (c. 40 – aft. 69) was a Roman empress, the second wife of Roman emperor Vitellius. Biography Early life Suetonius tells us that Galeria was the daughter of an ex-praetor, and bore two children during her marriage, a son and a ...

. His name reveals that he was related to the consul of the mid-1st century

Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus was a member of the Titus Statilius Taurus family of Roman Senators which went back to Titus Statilius Taurus, the general of emperor Augustus. Corvinus was consul in 45 AD during the reign of the Emperor Claudiu ...

; was a descendant of the Gallic consul, Roman Senator

Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus (around 5 BCP.J. Sijpesteijn"Another οὐσία of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus in Egypt" ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 79 (1989), p. 19347 AD,Alston, ''Aspects of Roman History AD 14-117'', p. 92 el, ...

by his wife,

Lollia Saturnina Lollia Saturnina (c.10-41) was a Roman noble woman who lived in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. She was the sister of the Roman empress Lollia Paulina and was a mistress of the Roman emperor Caligula.Seneca the Younger, ''De Constantia sapie ...

and it is presumed he is the last known descendant of the brother of the poet

Gaius Valerius Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

.Marcus Lollius Paullinus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus & Valerii Catulli at Romeins Imperium, translated from Dutch to English
/ref> He was born and raised in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Career

In 105, during the reign of Roman emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

he served as a member of the Arval Brethren. According to inscriptional evidence, Asiaticus was honored on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

island of

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...

and in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus. When Asiaticus died, he was honored with two funeral Greek inscriptions in Ephesus. The honorary inscriptions celebrate him as being the son of Marcus Lollius Paulinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus and his career being a priest serving in Rome. : υίωνῷ Δ �κμου έκγό : νῳ, Ούλ �ινία Ταύρῳ Κατύλ : λῳ Μεσσα �ίνῳ Άσιατικᾢ, Ούα : λερίου Άσια �ικοῦ υίᾢref name="Greek inscription from Ephesus
Greek inscription from Ephesus
/ref> : �αύρῳ Κ�τύλλῳ Μεσσαλίνῳ Άσια]- : �ικῲ, Ούα�ερίο � Άσιατικοῦ: �ίῷ πο�τίφικ �ς_Σαλίου :_[Κολλεί�ου,_έπάρ[χου_Ῥώμης,.html" ;"title="�ολλεί.html" ;"title="�ς Σαλίου : [Κολλεί">�ς Σαλίου : [Κολλεί�ου, έπάρ[χου Ῥώμης,">�ολλεί.html" ;"title="�ς Σαλίου : [Κολλεί">�ς Σαλίου : [Κολλεί�ου, έπάρ[χου Ῥώμης,: [τρίων άν]δρων [χαλκοῦ] : [άργύρου] χρυσο[ῦ χαρακτη]- : [ριάσαντ]ος, τ[αμία Ῥώμης - ]

References

Sources

*Flavius Josephus, Death of an Emperor, University of Exeter Press, 1991 *A.K. Bowman, E. Champlin & A. Lintott, The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 10, Cambridge University Press, 1996 *G. Morgan, 69 AD: The Year of Four Emperors, Oxford University Press, 2005 *M.B. Skinner, A Companion to Catullus (Google eBook), John Wiley & Sons, 2010
Marcus Lollius Paullinus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus & Valerii Catulli at Romeins Imperium, translated from Dutch to English

Greek inscription from EphesusGreek inscription from Ephesus
{{authority control 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans 1st-century clergy 2nd-century clergy Priests of the Roman Empire Valerii Messallae