Servius Cornelius Dolabella Petronianus was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in the latter part of the first century.PIR² As the colleague 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 ...

, he was one of the eponymous consuls of AD 86.

Family

Petronianus was the son of Petronia and one of the

Cornelii Dolabellae The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any o ...

. His mother had previously been married to

Aulus Vitellius 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 future emperor, while his father had been adopted by

Servius Sulpicius Galba Servius Sulpicius Galba may refer to: * Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 144 BC) * Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 108 BC) * Servius Sulpicius Galba (praetor 54 BC), assassin of Julius Caesar * Galba, born Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman emperor fr ...

, whom

Otho Marcus Otho (; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was the seventh Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. A member of a noble Etr ...

overthrew in AD 69, the "

Year of the Four Emperors The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the transition from the ...

".''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, p. 1060 (Cornelius Dolabella, No. 11); vol. III, p. 215 (Petronia).PIR, vol. I, nos. 1090, 1095, 1096.Grainger, p. 68. Petronianus' father was put to death by Vitellius upon his accession. There is considerable uncertainty about the identity of Petronianus' father. Suetonius, the only ancient historian to mention his

praenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bir ...

, calls him ''Gnaeus'', while the

filiation Filiation is the legal term for the recognized legal status of the relationship between family members, or more specifically the legal relationship between parent and child. As described by the Government of Quebec: Filiation is the relationship ...

Servius Cornelius Dolabella Metilianus Pompeius Marcellus Servius Cornelius Dolabella Metilianus Pompeius Marcellus was a Roman senator and patrician. He was suffect consul for the first ''nundinium'' of the year 113 as the colleague of Gaius Clodius Crispinus; Marcellus replaced the ''consul prior'' L ...

, consul ''suffectus'' in AD 113 and who is considered the likely son of Petronianus, is ''Ser. f. P. n. P. pronepos P. abnepos''. If Petronianus was the father of Marcellus, then according to Marcellus' filiation Petronianus' father, grandfather, and great-grandfather would have been named ''Publius''. Petronianus' father might then be the same Cornelius Dolabella who was consul ''suffectus'' in AD 55 or 56, and probably the same Cornelius Dolabella who had been inducted into a priestly college, probably the

Salii Palatini In ancient Roman religion, the Salii ( , ) were the "leaping priests" (from the verb ''saliō'' "leap, jump") of Mars supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve patrician youths, dressed as archaic warriors: an emb ...

, in 38 or 39; but this consul's ''praenomen'' is also uncertain; on the basis of Marcellus' filiation, some scholars infer that he was ''Publius'', and that he was the father of Petronianus.Tansey, "The Perils of Prosopography", pp. 267, 268.

References

Bibliography

Publius Cornelius Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

, '' Historiae''. *

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

, '' De Vita Caesarum'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars). * Giuseppe Camodeca
"I consoli des 55–56 e un nuovo collega di seneca nel consolato: P. Cornelius Dolabella"
(The Consuls of 55–56 and a New Colleague of Seneca in the Consulate: P. Cornelius Dolabella), in ''

Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik The ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' (commonly abbreviated ZPE; "Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy") is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to papyrology and epigraphy. It has been described as " ...

'', vol. 63, pp. 201–215 (1986). * Paul A. Gallivan
"The ''Fasti'' for A.D. 70–96"
in ''

Classical Quarterly The Classical Association is a British learned society in the field of classics, aimed at developing classical study and promoting its importance in education. Constitution The association was founded on 19 December 1903, and its objects are def ...

'', vol. 31, pp. 186–220 (1981). * John D. Grainger, ''Nerva and the Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96–99'', Routledge, London (2003), . * Edmund Groag,

Arthur Stein Arthur Stein may refer to: * Arthur Stein (political scientist) * Arthur Stein (historian) * Arthur Stein (activist) {{hndis, Stein, Arthur ...

Leiva Petersen Leiva Petersen (28 November 1912 - 17 April 1992) was a German classical philologist and publisher. Life Leiva Konstanze Petersen was born in Berlin. Her father, Carl Petersen (1885–1942) was originally from Hviding in Northwest Schleswig. ...

, and Klaus Wachtel, ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani'' (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire, Second Edition, abbreviated ''PIR²''), Berlin (1933–2015). *

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th centur ...

''et alii'', ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). *

Paul von Rohden Paul von Rohden (12 December 1862, Barmen – 28 February 1939, Pieterlen) was a German-Swiss schoolteacher and historian known for his research in the field of prosopography. He was the son of theologian Ludwig von Rohden (1815–1889) and the b ...

Elimar Klebs Elimar Klebs (15 October 1852 – 16 May 1918) was a German historian of ancient history. He was the brother of botanist Georg Klebs. Biography Klebs was born in Braunsberg (Braniewo), Prussia. He studied in Berlin under Theodor Mommsen ...

, and

Hermann Dessau Hermann Dessau (6 April 1856, Frankfurt am Main – 12 April 1931, Berlin) was a German ancient historian and epigrapher. He is noted for a key work of textual criticism published in 1889 on the ''Historia Augusta'', which uncovered reasons to ...

, ''

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 ...

'' (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire, abbreviated ''PIR''), Berlin (1898). * ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * Patrick Tansey
"The Perils of Prosopography: The Case of the Cornelii Dolabellae"
in ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', vol. 130, pp. 265–271 (2000). {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Dolabella Petronianus, Servius Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Senators of the Roman Empire Dolabella Petronianus, Servius 1st-century Romans Roman patricians

Family

See also

References

Bibliography