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 century.Bowman, ''The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 10'', p. 217 He is also known by the shorter form of his name, Decimus Valerius Asiaticus.

Family background and early life

Saturninus was of Allobrogian and Roman ancestry. He was the son of

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, ...

and

Vitellia The gens Vitellia was a family of ancient Rome, which rose from obscurity in imperial times, and briefly held the Empire itself in AD 69. The first of this gens to obtain the consulship was Aulus Vitellius, uncle of the emperor Vitellius, in AD ...

the daughter of the emperor Vitellius from 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 ...

.Morgan, ''69 AD: The Year of Four Emperors'', p. 149 His father served as a Legatus of Gallia Belgica, and later became the governor of that province in the reign of the emperor Nero.Wightman, ''Gallia Belgica'', p. 61 The father of Saturninus became powerful through wealth and the skilful exploitation of imperial patronage. The family of his father were originally from Vienna,

Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the ...

. Saturninus was the grandson of the consul

and 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 sapien ...

,Olli Salomies, ''Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire'' (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), p. 35 whose younger sister Lollia Paulina was the third wife of the emperor

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...

. Saturninus was a grandson of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus and Lollia Saturnina. The name of Saturninus reveals paternally he is related to the Valeria, and Lollia gens. Despite the presence of Lollii Paulini on his mother's side, Olli Salomies argues that "surely the collocation of his names points to the conclusion that they are due to a (testamentary) adoption; the adopting parent may, of course, well have been a relative of the grandmother, since ... adoptive sons and fathers were in fact often closely related." When Vespasian became emperor in second half of 69, Asiaticus was designated consul in 70; however, he died early that year before he could enter his consulship.Epilogue: The Fall of the Vitellii - Vitellia?, daughter
Asiaticus was survived by Vitellia and their son. Later in 70, Vespasian arranged for Vitellia to remarry another unnamed man. Her second marriage was a splendid match for her and Vespasian provided for her, the dowry and clothing. Although he was born in Vienna, Saturninus was raised in Rome; otherwise little is known about his early life.

Political career

An inscription from

Tivoli Tivoli may refer to: * Tivoli, Lazio, a town in Lazio, Italy, known for historic sites; the inspiration for other places named Tivoli Buildings * Tivoli (Baltimore, Maryland), a mansion built about 1855 * Tivoli Building (Cheyenne, Wyoming), a ...

provides details for the earlier part of his '' cursus honorum''. Saturninus started his career in the reign of the emperor Domitian, as one of the ''

tresviri monetalis The ''triumvir monetalis'' ( ''tresviri'' or ''triumviri monetales'', also called the , abbreviated IIIVIR A. A. A. F. F.) was a moneyer during the Roman Republic and the Empire, who oversaw the minting of coins. In that role, he would be respons ...

'', the most prestigious of the four boards that comprise the '' vigintiviri''; assignment to this board was usually allocated to patricians or individuals favored by the emperor. The next honors listed on the inscription are membership in the '' Salii Collinus'' and election as one of the Pontiffs, which apparently happened when he was in his twenties. Then at the age of 25, he held the post of

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

, being selected as one of the pair allocated to attend to the emperor; the duties of these quaestors included reading the Emperor's speeches to the Senate. The inscription breaks off where it mentions his appointment as praetor, which usually happened at the age of 30. We can supply details of the later part of his career from other sources. One attests to Saturninus serving as a suffect consul 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 May-August 94. Another reports that Saturninus was proconsular governor of Asia for the term 108/109. Werner Eck reports an unpublished inscription from Africa indicates he was governor of

Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia was the ...

at some point during the reign of

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

.Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''Chiron'', 13 (1983), p. 197 From the years 124 to 134, he served as a Praefectus urbi in Rome. In 125, he held the fasces again, this time as ''consul ordinarius''. During his political career in the first half of the second century, he was friends with the emperors Trajan and Hadrian.

Marriage and issue

Saturninus married Valeria Catulla Messallina who came from a family of consular rank.Skinner, ''A Companion to Catullus (Google eBook)'' Messallina bore Asiaticus a son called

Decimus Valerius Taurus Catullus Messallinus Asiaticus 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 s ...

References

Sources

Epilogue: The Fall of the Vitellii - Vitellia?, daughter
*'' Prosopographia Imperii Romani'', L 320 *E.M. Wightman, ''Gallia Belgica'', University of California Press, 1985 *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 * ''Biographischer Index der Antike'' (Google eBook), Walter de Gruyter, 2001 * B. Jones, ''The Emperor Domitian'' (Google eBook), Routledge, 2002 *Gwynn 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 *A. Freisenbruch, ''The First Ladies of Rome: The Women Behind the Caesars'' (Google eBook), Random House, 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lollius Paulinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus, Marcus 1st-century Romans 2nd-century Romans 1st-century clergy 2nd-century clergy 1st-century births 2nd-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown Priests of the Roman Empire Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Asia Urban prefects of Rome Roman governors of Hispania Tarraconensis Saturninus, Marcus Valerii Vitellii Ancient Roman adoptees