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 daughter of the

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

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...

from his wife Galeria Fundana.Morgan, ''69 AD: The Year of Four Emperors'', p. 149 His father served as a

Legatus A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...

of Gallia Belgica, and later became the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of that province in the reign of the emperor

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 ...

.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 en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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 th ...

. 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 Germani ...

. 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 Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Emp ...

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 , 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 ...

; 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), ...

provides details for the earlier part of his ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The ''c ...

''. Saturninus started his career in the reign of the emperor

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...

, 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

Pontiff A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was l ...

s, 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 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 vari ...

, 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'' of May-August 94. Another reports that Saturninus was

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 ' ...

ar governor of

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 are ...

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 ...

.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 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, a ...

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 Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

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.

References

Sources

Epilogue: The Fall of the Vitellii - Vitellia?, daughter
*''

Prosopographia Imperii Romani The ', abbreviated ''PIR'', is a collective historical work to establish the prosopography of high-profile people from the Roman empire. The time period covered extends from the Battle of Actium in 31 BC to the reign of Diocletian. The final vol ...

'', 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