Marcus Servilius Nonianus (died in 59AD) 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 ...

, best known as a historian. He was ordinary consul in 35 as the colleague of Gaius Cestius Gallus.

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

described Servilius Nonianus as a man of great eloquence and good-nature.Tacitus, ''Annales'', XIV.19 He wrote a history of Rome which is considered the major contribution on the topic between the works of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

and

, and which was much referred to by later historians, but was later lost.

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 ...

, "Servilius Nonianus", ''Hermes'', 92. Bd (1964), pp. 408, 421ff A number of anecdotes regarding him survive and help to give an understanding of Roman life in the first century.

Life

Nonianus was descended from Gaius Servilius Geminus, the

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 ...

who had renounced his Patrician status.Syme, "Servilius Nonianus", p. 409 His father was Marcus Servilius, consul in AD 3 and his mother the daughter of the Nonius whom

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

proscribed over the possession of a gem. He 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

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

in 46–47.

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

recounts several anecdotes concerning Nonianus. One was that he was terribly worried about losing his sight and to prevent this, Nonianus wore a lucky charm around his neck consisting of the two Greek letters

alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

and

rho Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...

. Pliny reports that the charm worked. Another anecdote was that his daughter was cured of an illness with goats' milk, as advised by the family doctor Servilius Democrates. The poet Persius revered Nonianus like a father, according to the historian

. Nonianus married Considia; their daughter Servilia Considia married the senator Quintus Marcius Barea Soranus. This marriage and the admiration Persius had for him, led Syme to suspect Nonianus was part of the Stoic circle of the

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The principate was ch ...

. Tacitus dates the death of Servilius Nonianus to 59, contrasting his elegant life to another senator who died that year, Domitius Afer, who possessed the same genius yet was a provincial.

Historical work

Servilius Nonianus wrote a book on the history of Rome but the work is not extant. Even its title is unknown. According to

and

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

this work was considered a very important reference book on Roman history, especially for those historians who belonged to the senatorial party. It is considered to be the leading Roman history between the works of

and Tacitus. Quintilian writes that Servilius Nonianus used publicly to read his own work, ''Recitationes''. Several scholars have suggested Tacitus drew on Servilius Nonianus for his history of the first Imperial period, along with the historian Aufidius Bassus. The period covered by Nonianus' history is unknown. It is considered probable that Nonianus also covered the reign of the emperor Tiberius. Pliny the Younger records the anecdote that during one of the public ''recitationes'' of Nonianus, the emperor

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

, who was strolling nearby, was so attracted by the applause that he asked who was reading, and joined the audience.Pliny the Younger, ''Epistulae''
I,13,3

References

Sources

* Olivier Devillers: ''Tacite et les sources des Annales''. Leuven 2003. * Michael M. Sage: "Tacitus’ Historical Works: A Survey and Appraisal," '' Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'', Vol. II.33.2. Berlin-New York 1990, pp. 851–1030. * Ronald Syme, ''Tacitus.'' 2 volumes. Oxford 1958. * Ronald Syme
"The Historian Servilius Nonianus"
''Hermes'', 92 (1964), pp. 408ff. {{DEFAULTSORT:Servilius Nonianus, Marcus 59 deaths 1st-century historians 1st-century Roman consuls Latin historians Nonianus, Marcus Year of birth unknown