Marcus Aurelius Nigrinianus, known in English as Nigrinian (d. 284/285) was a grandson of Roman emperor

Carus Marcus Aurelius Carus ( – July or August 283) was Roman emperor from 282 to 283. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success. He died while campaigning against the Sassanid ...

who died young and was deified by Carus' eldest son

Carinus Marcus Aurelius Carinus (died 285) was Roman Emperor from 283 to 285. The eldest son of the Emperor Carus, he was first appointed '' Caesar'' in late 282, then given the title of ''Augustus'' in early 283, and made co-emperor of the western p ...

. He was the last family member of an emperor to be deified posthumously.

Biography

Nigrinian is generally assumed to be a child of Carus' eldest son

, who issued the coins commemorating him, but he could have been the child of Carus' younger son

Numerian Numerian (; died November 284) was Roman emperor from 283 to 284 with his older brother Carinus. They were sons of Carus, a general raised to the office of praetorian prefect under Emperor Probus in 282.Leadbetter, "Carus." Early life and Ca ...

or their sister Paulina. A now lost inscription from the ''

Forum Romanum A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along ...

'', set up for him by Carinus's ''perfectissimus rationalis'' Gemimius Festus, merely calls him ''Divo Nigriniano nepoti Cari'' (divine Nigrinianus grandson of Carus) without mentioning his parents. This leads historian John Kent to doubt that he was the son of either Carinus or Numerian. It has been speculated that he was born around mid-October 284. He is presumed to have died in childhood in late 284 or early 285. After his death he was given divine status.

Research

Before the discovery of the dedicatory epigraph for a statue set up for him by Festus, it was sometimes conjectured that Nigrinianus was the son of the usurper Lucius Domitius Alexander, who revolted in 311 AD.Smith, William, "Nigrinianus", ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', 1870, v. 2, p.

References

Sources

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 ...

p. 360.

External links

{{Commons category, Nigrinianus
Overview of coins of Nigrinianus

280s deaths 3rd-century Romans Deified ancient Roman men Aurelii Sons of Roman emperors Caran dynasty Ancient Roman royalty who died as children 284 births