Lucius Nonius Asprenas (fl. 1st century AD) 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 letter ...

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 ...

who was active in the reigns of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

and

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

. Asprenas was appointed suffect consul to replace Lucius Arruntius on 1 July AD 6.

Biography

A member of the ''gens'' Nonii, Asprenas was the son of Lucius Nonius Asprenas, an intimate friend 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), ...

, and Quinctilia, a sister of

Publius Quinctilius Varus Publius Quinctilius Varus (Cremona, 46 BC – Teutoburg Forest, AD 9) was a Roman general and politician under the first Roman emperor Augustus. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions when ambushed by Germanic tribes l ...

. His brother was Sextus Nonius Quinctilianus, ordinary consul of the year 8.Ladislav Vidman
"Zum Stemma der Nonii Asprenates"
''Listy filologické / Folia philologica'', 105 (1982), pp. 1-5 In 4 BC, Nonius Asprenas served as a

military tribune A military tribune (Latin ''tribunus militum'', "tribune of the soldiers") was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone to ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

under his uncle Varus. In AD 9, Nonius Asprenas was serving as a consular

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...

again under Varus. When Varus and his legions perished at the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as the Varian Disaster () by Ancient Rome, Roman historians, took place at modern Kalkriese in AD 9, when an alliance of Germanic peoples ambushed Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius ...

, Asprenas was in command of two legions at Moguntiacum. Hearing news of the disaster, he led his two legions down the

River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

to protect the winter camps and rescue the survivors of the battle. However, he was then accused of helping himself to the property of the dead officers. The accusation did not hurt his career, for in AD 14/15, Nonius Asprenas won the

sortition In governance, sortition (also known as selection by lottery, selection by lot, allotment, demarchy, stochocracy, aleatoric democracy, democratic lottery, and lottocracy) is the selection of political officials as a random sample from a larger ...

and became

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 ' ...

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 ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The historian

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

reports that while he was governor, soldiers killed

Sempronius Gracchus Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman nobleman who seduced Julia the Elder when she was wife of Marcus Agrippa; this led to a long-term affair. Gracchus was involved in an intrigue with the imperial family of Augustus by which he sought to undermine th ...

, then living in exile on the

Kerkennah Islands Kerkennah Islands ( aeb, قرقنة '; Ancient Greek: ''Κέρκιννα Cercinna''; Spanish:''Querquenes'') are a group of islands lying off the east coast of Tunisia in the Gulf of Gabès, at . The Islands are low-lying, being no more than abo ...

which were part of Asperenas' province; while Tacitus implies the soldiers acted on Tiberius' orders, he notes an alternative version of the story states they were sent by Asperenas "on the authority of Tiberius, who had vainly hoped that the infamy of the murder might be shifted on Asperenas." Following the trial and execution of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso in AD 20, Asperenas asked in the

Senate 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 ...

why

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

was not included an official vote of thanks to those who pursued justice in the death of

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...

. "It was a probing question," writes Barbara Levick. She concludes, "Asperenas did not venture actually to propose the alteration of the vote of thanks, because he could not be sure how much support such a change would get, but his question showed a flag."Levick,''Claudius'' (New Haven: Yale University, 1990), p. 22

Family

Nonius Asprenas married a daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, Calpurnia L. Pisonis f., and they had three sons: Lucius Nonius Asprenas, suffect consul in AD 29; Publius Nonius Asprenas Calpurnius Serranus, ordinary consul in 38; and Nonius Asprenas Calpurnius Torquatus.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nonius Asprenas, Lucius 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Romans Senators of the Roman Empire Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Africa Asprenas, Lucius Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown