Turcius Rufius Apronianus Asterius ( AD 494) was a Roman aristocrat during the reign of

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy b ...

. He held the

consulship 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 ...

with Flavius Praesidius in 494, having been ''

praefectus urbi The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and ...

'' of Rome before holding that honor. One of the oldest texts of

Vergil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

's works, the '' codex Mediceus'' (Florence Laur. 39.1 + Vatican lat. 3225, f.76), which was written in Italy in the fifth century, contains a subscription stating that it was corrected at

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 ...

by Turcius Rufius Apronianus Asterius. As John Matthews notes, "Not only did Asterius thus record for posterity his literary work ... in an elegiac poem he also commemorated the consular games given by him (in 494) at great expense to his now slender fortune." According to the ''

Liber Pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adrian II (867� ...

'', enemies of

Pope Vigilius Pope Vigilius (died 7 June 555) was the bishop of Rome from 29 March 537 to his death. He is considered the first pope of the Byzantine papacy. Born into Roman aristocracy, Vigilius served as a deacon and papal ''apocrisiarius'' in Constantino ...

claimed the pope married Asterius to his niece Vigilia, "then took an opportunity to have him arrested at night and beaten to death." However Jeffrey Richards strips the defamation from this claim, and explains that Vigilia was married to Asterius following her father

Reparatus Reparatus (died 539) was a Roman aristocrat, and politician under Ostrogothic rule. He held the offices of Urban prefect (527) and Praetorian prefect of Italy. Reparatus was the brother of Pope Vigilius; according to the ''Liber pontificalis'', the ...

's death in 539 as a way to provide for her. According to

Christian Settipani Christian Settipani (born 31 January 1961) is a French genealogist, historian and IT professional, currently working as the Technical Director of a company in Paris. Biography Settipani holds a Master of Advanced Studies from the Paris-Sorbo ...

, it was in fact Asterius's namesake grandson who married Vigilia.Settipani, Christian. ''Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale'' (2000), p. 161

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asterius, Turcius Rufius Apronianus 5th-century Romans 5th-century Roman consuls Imperial Roman consuls Patricii Rufii Urban prefects of Rome