Marcus Asinius Marcellus was the name of two men of the

Asinii The gens Asinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which rose to prominence during the first century BC. The first member of this gens mentioned in history is Herius Asinius, commander of the Marrucini during the Social War. The Asinii prob ...

Marcus Asinius Marcellus, the Elder

Marcus Asinius Marcellus was

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in 54 as the colleague of Manius Acilius Aviola; it was the same year the Emperor

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 ...

died. According to Paul von Rohden, Marcellus was the son of

Marcus Asinius Agrippa Marcus Asinius Agrippa was a Roman senator, who was active during the Principate. He was consul in AD 25 as the colleague of first Cossus Cornelius Lentulus, then of Gaius Petronius. Agrippa died at the end of the following year (26). According ...

, consul in 25, and the paternal grandson of

Vipsania Agrippina Vipsania Agrippina (; 36 BC – 20 AD) was the first wife of the Roman emperor, Emperor Tiberius. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Caecilia Attica, Pomponia Caecilia Attica, thus a granddaughter of Titus Pomponius Atticus, th ...

, although he admits to the slight chance Marcellus was a grandson of Asinia and Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Marcellus was a

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 ...

active in the reigns of the emperors

and

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 ...

. In the year 60 Marcellus was caught up in a scandal involving a relative of a

Praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

who forged his will. The associates in the scandal were disgraced and punished. Although Marcellus was also disgraced and his accomplices executed, he escaped punishment because the Emperor Nero intervened--reportedly because he was "great-grandson of Asinius Pollio and bore a character far from contemptible."

Marcus Asinius Marcellus, the Younger

The younger Marcus Asinius Marcellus was a consul ''ordinarius'' in 104 as the colleague of Sextus Attius Suburanus Aemilianus, and son or grandson of the consul of 54.

Edmund Groag Edmund Groag (2 February 1873, in Prerau – 19 August 1945, in Vienna) was an Austrian classical scholar, who specialized in Roman history. From 1892 he studied history and philology at the University of Vienna, receiving his doctorate in 18 ...

suggested he is identical to the homonymous man mentioned as a member of the

College of Pontifices The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see ''collegium'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other ...

around AD 101/102."Asinius (19)", ''Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'', S.1 (1903), col. 152 Nothing more is known of him.

References

Senators of the Roman Empire Imperial Roman consuls 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans Marcellus, Marcus Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{AncientRome-politician-stub