Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus (born 31) was the maternal grandfather of the Emperor Antoninus Pius.

Life

A member of gens gens Arria, a family of consular rank, Antoninus was also an office holder, having been twice

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 ...

: the first time was in 69 with Aulus Marius Celsus as his colleague, and the second in 97 with

Gaius Calpurnius Piso Gaius Calpurnius Piso may refer to: * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (conspirator) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (consul 180 BC) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (consul 67 BC) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (praetor 211 BC) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso Crassus Frugi Licinianus Gai ...

as his colleague. Antoninus was also

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 ' ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

in 78/79. __NOTOC__ Antoninus was a friend of and correspondent to the senator and historian

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 ...

. The ''

Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

'' describes him as a "righteous person", who pitied

Nerva Nerva (; originally Marcus Cocceius Nerva; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98) was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the succeeding rulers of the Flavian dy ...

when he became Emperor in 96. John Grainger notes "he was the senior figure in a potent aristocratic network which centered on

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 ...

and extended into Spain, whose members included T. Aurelius Fulvus, P. Julius Lupus and M. Annius Verus."Grainger, ''Nerva and the Roman succession crisis of AD 96-99'' (London: Routledge, 2004), p. 41

Family

Antoninus married Boionia Procilla, by whom he had two daughters: Arria Antonina and Arria Fadilla. Fadilla married

Titus Aurelius Fulvus Titus Aurelius Fulvus may refer to: * Titus Aurelius Fulvus (grandfather of Antoninus Pius) Titus Aurelius Fulvus was a Roman consul and grandfather of the emperor Antoninus Pius; as his son by the same name was Pius's father. Biography Titus A ...

, ordinary consul in 89; their only child was Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus, who, as Antoninus Pius, became emperor (138-161). Antoninus Pius' father had died when he was young. Following Fulvus's death, Fadilla married

Publius Julius Lupus Publius Julius Lupus was a Roman senator, best known as the step-father of the emperor Antoninus Pius. He was suffect consul in the ''nundinium'' of November-December 98 as the colleague of Quintus Fulvius Gillo Bittius Proculus. Lupus was a d ...

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 ...

in 98, and bore him two daughters, Julia Fadilla and Arria Lupula. Antoninus raised his maternal grandson, and when he died Antoninus Pius inherited his money. Through the inheritances of both sides, Antoninus Pius became one of the wealthiest men in Rome.

References

Sources

Antoninus Pius biography
31 births Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Asia 1st-century Romans Year of death unknown Arrii {{AncientRome-politician-stub