Lucius Venuleius Montanus Apronianus was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the first century. He was

suffect consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

for the ''

nundinium Nundinium was a Latin word derived from the word '' nundinum'', which referred to the cycle of days observed by the Romans. During the Roman Empire, ''nundinium'' came to mean the duration of a single consulship among several in a calendar year. S ...

'' of January to April AD 92 with Qunintus Volusius Saturninus, replacing the emperor

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

. The Venuleii were, in the words of

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

, "an eminent and opulent family at Pisae".Syme, ''Some Arval Brethren'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980), p. 57 Apronianus' father was Lucius Montanus,

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...

Bithynia et Pontus Bithynia and Pontus ( la, Provincia Bithynia et Pontus, Ancient Greek ) was the name of a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). It was formed during the late Roman Republic by the ama ...

in the early years of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

's reign which was confirmed by the proper understanding of a set of inscriptions from

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, which also confirmed his mother's name as Laetilla.J. Scheid
"Note sur les Venuleii Aproniani"
''

Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik The ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' (commonly abbreviated ZPE; "Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy") is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to papyrology and epigraphy. It has been described as "th ...

'', 52 (1983), pp. 225-228 As Apronianus was co-opted into the

Arval Brethren In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren ( la, Fratres Arvales, "Brothers of the Fields") or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests. Inscriptions provide eviden ...

in 80, it makes him unique in his generation for being the only known member of that priesthood whose father was a senator. He constructed the

Caldaccoli Aqueduct The Caldaccoli Aqueduct was an ancient Roman aqueduct dating to the 1st century. It carried water from the thermal springs at the resort of Caldaccoli, then known as the ', (literally, hot waters), near the present-day San Giuliano Terme, to the ...

to Pisa in 92 AD as he was patron of the Pisan colony, and consul of Attidium (Roman city near Fabriano), according to an inscription (CIL XI 1433). In a paper published in 1968, Syme suggested that he may be identified as the otherwise unknown Montanus, to whom

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

wrote two letters (''Epistulae'' VII.29, VIII.6) complaining about an inscription set up by the Senate praising

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

, the freedman of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

, whom they both detested. Apronianus may be the proconsul of

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

of 89/90, attested in an inscription where the name is lost: according to the ''

Acta Arvalia The ''Acta Arvalia'' were the recorded protocols of the Arval Brothers ''(Arvales fratres)'', a priestly brotherhood ('' sodalitas'') of ancient Roman religion. The ''acta'' were inscribed in marble tablets fastened to the walls of the Temple o ...

'', he was absent from their ceremonies from June 90 to November 91. He may also have been adlected into the patrician class by

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

.Syme, ''Arval Brethren'', p. 38 n His wife's name is known to have been Celerina; it is not known if he had any children. Although Syme believed Lucius Venuleius Apronianus Octavius Priscus, consul 123, was possibly his son, Schied has shown that this is not likely. The Venuleii family owned the magnificent villa-estate at

Massaciuccoli Massaciuccoli is village near Lake Massaciuccoli in the municipality of Massarosa, province of Lucca. The main historical interest is the exceptional monumental baths of the ancient Roman villa complex that belonged to the patrician Venulei ...

. This is probably the same Montanus described by

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...

in his fourth satire:Daisy Dunn ''In the Shadow of Vesuvius'' (2019), p. 50

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venuleius Montanus Apronianus, Lucius 1st-century Romans Senators of the Roman Empire Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Montanus Apronianus