Marcus Petronius Sura Mamertinus (died between 190 and 192 AD) was a

Roman 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 ...

who lived in the 2nd century and was one of the sons-in-law of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

. Mamertinus came from a wealthy, well-connected family of African origin—possibly from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. His father,

Marcus Petronius Mamertinus Marcus Petronius Mamertinus, possibly known as Sextus Petronius Mamertinus, was a Roman senator originally of the Equestrian order. He served as suffect consul in 150 AD as the colleague of Marcus Cassius Apollinaris. Edward Champlin has argued ...

, was suffect consul in 150 and his mother's name is unknown. He had a brother, Marcus Petronius Sura Septimianus, who served as consul in 190, and a sister whose husband was the illustrious senator Marcus Antoninus Antius Lupus. Mamertinus was a kinsman of the grammarian

Marcus Cornelius Fronto Marcus Cornelius Fronto (c. 100late 160s AD), best known as Fronto, was a Roman grammarian, rhetorician, and advocate. Of Berber origin, he was born at Cirta (modern-day Constantine, Algeria) in Numidia. He was suffect consul for the ''nundinium' ...

. During the reign of

(161-180) and

Faustina the Younger Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger (born probably 21 September AD, – 175/176 AD) was Roman empress from 161 to her death as the wife of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, her maternal cousin. Faustina was the youngest child of Emperor Antoninus Pius an ...

(161-175), Mamertinus married their daughter

Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (''Minor'' Latin for ''the younger'', 160–212 AD) was a daughter of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and his wife, Faustina the Younger. She was sister to Lucilla and Commodus. Her maternal grandparents were An ...

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 ...

. Sometime after 173, Cornificia Faustina bore Mamertinus a son, Petronius Antoninus. Mamertinus and his family could have been at the winter camp of Marcus Aurelius in early 180. When Marcus Aurelius died later that year, Mamertinus' brother-in-law

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

succeeded him as Emperor. In 182, Mamertinus served as consul. Sometime between 190 and 192, Commodus ordered the deaths of Mamertinus, his son, his brother and his sister's family. Cornificia Faustina survived the political persecutions of her brother and later remarried.

Sources

* Martin M. Winkler, ''The Fall of the Roman Empire: Film and History'' (2009) * Michael Petrus Josephus van den Hout, ''A commentary on the Letters of M. Cornelius Fronto'' (1999) * Albino Garzetti, ''From Tiberius to the Antonines: a history of the Roman Empire AD 14-192'' (1974)
Faustina II
livius.org (last accessed 27 February 2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Petronius Sura Mamertinus, Marcus 2nd-century Romans Imperial Roman consuls Nerva–Antonine dynasty Petronii 190s deaths Executed ancient Roman people People executed by the Roman Empire Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain