Gaius Avidius Nigrinus (died 118 AD) was a
Roman senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
who lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries. Nigrinus served as
suffect consul for the ''
nundinium'' of April to June 110 with
Tiberius Julius Aquila Polemaeanus as his colleague.
Ancestry
Nigrinus’ ancestors were Romans of the highest political rank: he was the son of an elder
Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, and his uncle was the consul
Titus Avidius Quietus. Nigrinus’ family was wealthy, distinguished and well-connected politically in Faventia (modern
Faenza,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
), where he was born and raised. Nigrinus and his family may have been related to
Gaius Petronius Pontius Nigrinus, who was consul in the year 37.
His family had strong links to
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. The father of Nigrinus had served as
Proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, 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 ...
of
Achaea
Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...
during the reign of
Emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
Domitian
Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor 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 Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...
(81-96), as had his paternal uncle. His family was friendly with
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...
and
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
, the latter of whom dedicated ‘On Brotherly Love’ to the elder Nigrinus and Quietus.
Career
The earliest known office Nigrinus held was as
plebeian tribune in 105;
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 Roma ...
raises the possibility that he is the Nigrinus
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...
praises for his speech indicting
Varenus Rufus for corruption during his administration of
Bithynia and Pontus. Nigrinus later became
proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, 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 ...
ar governor of
Achaea
Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...
, although it is unclear during what years this was; this was probably part of
Trajan
Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
’s attempt to recognize and stabilize the administration of the financially troubled province.
Nigrinus was a trusted lieutenant of the Emperor Trajan. During the year of his consulship, Trajan sent Nigrinus to
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...
, Greece as a member of an advisory council to assist the future historian
Arrian in settling boundary disputes. This event is recorded in Delphi, where there are honorific inscriptions dedicated to Nigrinus in Greek and Latin.
Following his consulate, Nigrinus was appointed governor of
Dacia
Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...
; he held this office from 113 until his death.
In 117, Trajan died and he was succeeded by his paternal second cousin
Hadrian
Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
. In the summer of 118, Nigrinus was executed at Faventia on orders of the Senate. According to 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, Caesar (title), designated heirs and Roman usurper, usurpers from 117 to 284. S ...
'' Nigrinus was one of four senators who plotted to kill Hadrian while he was sacrificing, while adding that Hadrian had intended to make Nigrinus his heir apparent; the other three senators were
Aulus Cornelius Palma,
Lucius Publilius Celsus, and
Lusius Quietus. It is possible that Hadrian could have viewed Nigrinus as a potential threat, given his previous high standing and close relationship with Trajan.
Anthony Birley
Anthony Richard Birley (8 October 1937 – 19 December 2020) was a British ancient historian, archaeologist and academic. He was one of the leaders of excavations at of the Roman fortress at Vindolanda and also published several books on Roman ...
mentions the suggestion that Hadrian may have later felt remorse for this act, thus explaining why Hadrian adopted Nigrinus' son-in-law, Ceionius Commodus (who later, following his adoption of
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...
, took the name
Lucius Aelius). However, Birley also suggests Hadrian adopted Commodus out of "sheer perversity -- Hadrian's desire to infuriate other aspirants."
Family
Nigrinus is known to have had two wives. The name of his first wife is not known, but their daughter
Avidia married
Ceionius Commodus; together they had a son, the future
Lucius Verus
Lucius Aurelius Verus (; 15 December 130 – 23 January 169) was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with Ma ...
, co-emperor with
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...
. His second wife
Plautia, had previously been married to
Lucius Ceionius Commodus (ordinary consul 106), and after Nigrinus' death married
Sextus Vettulenus Civica. Plautia and Nigrinus had a daughter, Avidia Plautia, who had two children,
Lucius Titius Plautius Aquilinus (ordinary consul 162) and
Plautius Quintillus (ordinary consul 159).
[Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', pp. 238, 246]
References
Sources
*Matthew Bunson, ''A dictionary of the Roman Empire'' 1995
*C. Konrad, ''Plutarch's Sertorius: A Historical Commentary'' Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994
*Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, Dominic Rathbone, ''The Cambridge ancient history'', Volume 11, 2nd Edition 2000
*Anthony Richard Birley, ''The Roman Government of Britain'' Oxford, 2005
*Anthony R. Birley
"Hadrian and Greek Senators" ''
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 116 (1997), pp. 209–245
*http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Aelius*.html#2.8
*http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Lucius_Verus*.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avidius Nigrinus, Gaius
2nd-century Romans
Roman governors of Achaia
Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome
Roman governors of Dacia
Nigrinus, Gaius
118 deaths
1st-century births
Year of birth unknown
Executed ancient Roman people
People executed by the Roman Empire