Marcus Lollius Paullinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus (69/70 – after 134) was a prominentJosephus, ''Death of an Emperor'', p. 72

Roman Senator The Roman Senate () was the highest and Roman constitution, constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the Rome, city of Rome (traditionally founded ...

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, the same name carried by his father and grandfather.

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 ) wa ...

and Vitellia the daughter of the

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 ...

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

from his wife

Galeria Fundana Galeria Fundana ( – aft. 69) was a Roman empress and the second wife of Roman emperor Vitellius. Biography Early life Suetonius tells us that Galeria was the daughter of an ex-praetor and bore two children during her marriage: a son and a dau ...

.Morgan, ''69 AD: The Year of Four Emperors'', p. 149 His father served as a

Legatus A legate (Latin: , ) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman army, equivalent to a high-ranking general officer of modern times. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in comman ...

Gallia Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and German ...

, and later became the

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

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 a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

.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 Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in Occitania and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first ...

. Saturninus was the grandson of the consul

and his wife Lollia Saturnina,Olli Salomies, ''Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire'' (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), p. 35 whose younger sister

Lollia Paulina Lollia Paulina (sometimes written Paullina)Caligula Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), also called Gaius and Caligula (), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Augustus' granddaughter Ag ...

. 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 father'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 (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

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 Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

; otherwise little is known about his early life.

Political career

An inscription from Tivoli provides details for the earlier part of his ''

cursus honorum The , 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 comprised a mixture of ...

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

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 ...

, 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 The ''vigintisexviri'' ( ''vigintisexvir''; ) were a college ( ''collegium'') of minor magistrates (''magistratus minores'') in the Roman Republic. The college consisted of six boards: * the '' decemviri stlitibus judicandis'' – 10 magis ...

''; assignment to this board was usually allocated to

patricians The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...

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 In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was 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 later applied to any h ...

s, which apparently happened when he was in his twenties. Then at the age of 25, he held the post of

quaestor A quaestor ( , ; ; "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 officia ...

, 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 disch ...

, 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 Nundinium was a Latin word derived from the word '' nundinum'', which referred to the cycle of days observed by the Romans. During the Roman Empire, ''nundinium'' came to mean the duration of a single consulship among several in a calendar year. ...

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

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

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

for the term 108/109.

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. Hi ...

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 North Region, Portugal, northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now ...

at some point during the reign of

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 '' ...

.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, an ...

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 ( ; 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 ...

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 volum ...

'', 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 from 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