View source for Decimus Valerius Taurus Catullus Messallinus Asiaticus

{{Short description|2nd century Roman member of the Arval Brethren}}
'''Decimus Valerius Taurus Catullus Messallinus Asiaticus''' was a member of the [[Arval Brethren]] who lived in the second half of 1st century and first half of 2nd century.
==Family background==
Asiaticus was of [[Allobroges|Allobrogian]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman ancestry]]. He was the son of the wealthy, prominent<ref>Josephus, ''Death of an Emperor'', p.72</ref> and powerful<ref name=Bowman-217>Bowman, ''The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 10'', p.217</ref> [[Roman Senate|Roman Senator]] figure [[Marcus Lollius Paulinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus]] and the noblewoman Valeria Catulla Messallina,<ref name="ReferenceA">Skinner, ''A Companion to Catullus (Google eBook)''</ref> who came from a family of consular rank.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The parents of his father were [[Decimus Valerius Asiaticus (Legatus)|the Legatus, Decimus Valerius Asiaticus]]<ref name=Bowman-217/> and his wife, Vitellia,<ref name=Morgan-149>Morgan, ''69 AD: The Year of Four Emperors'', p.149</ref> the daughter of the [[Roman emperor]] [[Vitellius]] by his wife [[Galeria Fundana]].<ref name=Morgan-149/> His name reveals that he was related to the consul of the mid-1st century [[Titus Statilius Taurus Corvinus]];<ref name="ReferenceA"/> was a descendant of the Gallic consul, Roman Senator [[Decimus Valerius Asiaticus]] by his wife, [[Lollia Saturnina]] and it is presumed he is the last known descendant of the brother of the poet [[Catullus|Gaius Valerius Catullus]].<ref name="translate.google.com.au">[http://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.romeinsimperium.nl/Rom_LolliusAsiaticus.htm&ei=DcF2T-aeMIykiQe8t5yEBQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC8Q7gEwAjge&prev=/search%3Fq%3DM.%2BLollius%2BPaullinus%2BD.%2BValerius%2BAsiaticus%2BSaturninus%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D814%26prmd%3Dimvnsob Marcus Lollius Paullinus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus & Valerii Catulli at Romeins Imperium, translated from Dutch to English]</ref> He was born and raised in [[Ancient Rome|Rome]].
==Career==
In 105, during the reign of [[Roman emperor]] [[Trajan]] he served as a member of the [[Arval Brethren]].<ref name="translate.google.com.au"/> According to inscriptional evidence, Asiaticus was honored on the [[Greece|Greek]] island of [[Samos]] and in the ancient Greek city of [[Ephesus]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
When Asiaticus died, he was honored with two funeral Greek inscriptions in Ephesus. The honorary inscriptions celebrate him as being the son of Marcus Lollius Paulinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus and his career being a priest serving in Rome.
: υίωνῷ Δ[έκμου έκγό]-
: νῳ, Ούλ[τινία Ταύρῳ Κατύλ]-
: λῳ Μεσσα[λίνῳ Άσιατικᾢ, Ούα]-
: λερίου Άσια[τικοῦ υίᾢ]<ref name="Greek inscription from Ephesus">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140219093339/http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions//main?url=oi%3Fikey=249100&bookid=490&region=8&subregion=29 Greek inscription from Ephesus]</ref>
: [Ταύρῳ Κ]ατύλλῳ Μεσσαλίνῳ Άσια]-
: [τικῲ, Ούα]λερίο[υ Άσιατικοῦ]
: [υίῷ πο]ντίφικ[ος Σαλίου
: [Κολλεί]νου, έπάρ[χου Ῥώμης,]
: [τρίων άν]δρων [χαλκοῦ]
: [άργύρου] χρυσο[ῦ χαρακτη]-
: [ριάσαντ]ος, τ[αμία Ῥώμης - ]<ref name="Greek inscription from Ephesus"/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
*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
*G. 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
*[http://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.romeinsimperium.nl/Rom_LolliusAsiaticus.htm&ei=DcF2T-aeMIykiQe8t5yEBQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC8Q7gEwAjge&prev=/search%3Fq%3DM.%2BLollius%2BPaullinus%2BD.%2BValerius%2BAsiaticus%2BSaturninus%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D814%26prmd%3Dimvnsob Marcus Lollius Paullinus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus & Valerii Catulli at Romeins Imperium, translated from Dutch to English]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140219093339/http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions//main?url=oi%3Fikey=249100&bookid=490&region=8&subregion=29 Greek inscription from Ephesus]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140219093339/http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions//main?url=oi%3Fikey=249100&bookid=490&region=8&subregion=29 Greek inscription from Ephesus]
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:2nd-century Romans]]
[[Category:1st-century clergy]]
[[Category:2nd-century clergy]]
[[Category:Priests from the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Valerii Messallae]]