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Marcus Ummidius Quadratus Annianus (138–182) was a
Roman Senator The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...
and the nephew 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 ( ...
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...
. He was involved in an unsuccessful plot to assassinate his cousin the Emperor
Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...
, which led to his execution afterwards. Offices Quadratus Annianus held included legate to the proconsul of
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 ...
, and consul ordinarius in 167 with the emperor Lucius Aurelius Verus.


Life

Quadratus Annianus was the son of Marcus Aurelius’ sister,
Annia Cornificia Faustina Annia Cornificia Faustina (122/123between 152 and 158) was the youngest child and only daughter of the praetor Marcus Annius Verus and Domitia Lucilla. The parents of Cornificia came from wealthy senatorial families who were of consular rank. H ...
and an unnamed Senator.
Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...
identifies him with one of the suffect consuls in 146, recorded in the ''
Fasti Ostienses The ''Fasti Ostienses'' are a calendar of Roman magistrates and significant events from 49 BC to AD 175, found at Ostia, the principal seaport of Rome. Together with similar inscriptions, such as the ''Fasti Capitolini'' and ''Fasti Triumphale ...
'' as Gaius Annianus Verus, but having the full name of
Gaius Ummidius Quadratus Annianus Verus Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius ...
. He was descended from one of the leading aristocratic and political influential families in Rome and was a direct descendant of the late suffect consul
Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus (c. 12 BC – c. 60 AD) was a Roman senator of the Principate. He was the first member of the Ummidii to reach the office of consul in his family, or a '' homo novus''. Quadratus is also known for his tenure as go ...
. Through his mother, Quadratus Annianus was related to the ruling
Nerva–Antonine dynasty The Nerva–Antonine dynasty comprised 7 Roman emperors who ruled from 96 to 192 AD: Nerva (96–98), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161), Marcus Aurelius (161–180), Lucius Verus (161–169), and Commodus (18 ...
. His sister was
Ummidia Cornificia Faustina Ummidia Cornificia Faustina (AD 141–182) was a wealthy Roman noblewoman, an heiress and the niece of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Family Cornificia Faustina was the daughter of Marcus Aurelius’ sister, Annia Cornificia Faustina and a R ...
. His mother had died sometime between 152 and 158. At her death, Quadratus Annianus and Cornificia Faustina divided their mother's property, making them both very wealthy.Sigrid Mratschek-Halfmann, ''Divites et praepotentes. Reichtum und soziale Stellung in der Literatur der Prinzipatszeit'' (Dissertation, Historia Einzelschriften, Bd. 70). Steiner, Stuttgart 1993, , p. 110 After his mother's death, Quadratus took a mistress, a Greek freedwoman named Marcia, who would later become the emperor Commodus' mistress. Following his consulship, Quadratus adopted the first son of the Senator and philosopher Gnaeus Claudius Severus, who then assumed the name ''Marcus Claudius Ummidius Quadratus''. The reason for the adoption is unknown. When Marcus Aurelius died in 180, Quadratus' maternal cousin Commodus succeeded him as emperor. Commodus’ sister Lucilla was not happy living as a quiet, private citizen in Rome and became jealous of her brother and her sister-in-law. Further, she became very concerned at Commodus' erratic behavior. In 182, Lucilla, her daughter Plautia, and her nephew-in-marriage Quintianus, along with Quadratus, his adopted son, and Cornificia Faustina, planned to assassinate Commodus and replace him with Lucilla and her second husband, the consul
Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus Quintianus Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus Quintianus (170 – between 212 and 217) was the son of Syrian Roman Consul Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus.''Historia Augusta'', "Life of Caracalla" 3.8 During the reign of Roman Emperor Caracalla Marcus Aure ...
. The involvement of Quadratus, his adopted son and his sister can be explained by a possible dynastic dispute with Commodus, or a possible romantic relationship between Quadratus and Lucilla. Quintianus burst from his place of hiding with a dagger, trying to stab Commodus. He said to him, "Here is the dagger the senate sends to you", giving away his intentions before he had the chance to act. The guards were faster than he was, and overpowered him. The conspirators were soon revealed; the emperor ordered the deaths of Quadratus Annianus, his adopted son and Quintianus. Commodus may have confiscated Quadratus Annianus’ property and fortune. Lucilla, her daughter, and Cornificia Faustina were banished to the Italian island of
Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has be ...
. Later that year the Emperor sent a centurion to Capri to execute the three women.


See also

*
Ummidia gens The gens Ummidia was a Roman family which flourished during the first and second centuries. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Ummidius Durmius Quadratus, governor of Syria during the reigns of Claudius and Nero. The U ...


Sources

* Krawczuk, Aleksander. ''Poczet cesarzowych Rzymu''. Warszawa: Iskry. . * Anthony Richard Birley, ''Septimius Severus: the African emperor'', Second Edition, 1999 * Anthony Richard Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', Routledge, 2000 * Albino Garzetti, ''From Tiberius to the Antonines: a history of the Roman Empire AD 14-192'', 1974 *
William M. Ramsay Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, FBA (15 March 185120 April 1939) was a Scottish archaeologist and New Testament scholar. By his death in 1939 he had become the foremost authority of his day on the history of Asia Minor and a leading scholar in t ...
, ''The Cities and Bishoprics of Phyrgia: Being an Essay of the Local History of Phrygia from the Earliest Times to the Turkish Conquest'', Volume One, Part One
Roman Emperors
* *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ummidius Quadratus Annianus, Marcus 138 births 182 deaths 2nd-century Romans Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Africa Quadratus Annianus, Marcus