View source for Marcus Lollius Paullinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus

{{Short description|Late1st/early 2nd century Roman senator, governor and prefect}}
'''Marcus Lollius Paullinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus''' (69/70 – after 134) was a prominent<ref name=Josephus-72>Josephus, ''Death of an Emperor'', p. 72</ref> [[Roman Senate|Roman Senator]] who was a powerful figure in the second half of the 1st century and first half of the 2nd century.<ref name=Bowman-217>Bowman, ''The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 10'', p. 217</ref> He is also known by the shorter form of his name, '''Decimus Valerius Asiaticus'''.
==Family background and early life==
Saturninus was of [[Allobroges|Allobrogian]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman ancestry]]. He was the son of [[Decimus Valerius Asiaticus (Legatus)|Decimus Valerius Asiaticus]]<ref name=Bowman-217/> and [[Vitellia (daughter of emperor Vitellius)|Vitellia]] the daughter of the [[Roman emperor|emperor]] [[Vitellius]] from his wife [[Galeria Fundana]].<ref name=Morgan-149>Morgan, ''69 AD: The Year of Four Emperors'', p. 149</ref> His father served as a [[Legatus]] of [[Gallia Belgica]],<ref name=Bowman-217/> and later became the [[Roman governor|governor]] of that province<ref name=Morgan-149/> in the reign of the emperor [[Nero]].<ref name=Wightman-61>Wightman, ''Gallia Belgica'', p. 61</ref> The father of Saturninus became powerful through wealth and the skilful exploitation of imperial patronage.<ref name=Wightman-61/>
The family of his father were originally from [[Vienne, Isère|Vienna]],<ref name=Morgan-149/> [[Gallia Narbonensis]]. Saturninus was the grandson of the consul [[Decimus Valerius Asiaticus]]<ref name=Josephus-72/> and his wife [[Lollia Saturnina]],<ref name=Salomeis-35>Olli Salomies, ''Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire'' (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), p. 35</ref> whose younger sister [[Lollia Paulina]] was the third wife of the emperor [[Caligula]].<ref>Freisenbruch, '' The First Ladies of Rome: The Women Behind the Caesars'', p.131</ref> Saturninus was a grandson<ref name=Bowman-217/><ref>P.J. Sijpesteijn, [http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1989/079pdf/079194.pdf "Another οὐσια of D. Valerius Asiaticus in Egypt]", ''[[Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik]]'', 79 (1989), p. 196</ref> of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus and Lollia Saturnina. The name of Saturninus reveals paternally he is related to the [[Valeria (gens)|Valeria]], and [[Lollia (gens)|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|(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."<ref name=Salomeis-35/>
When [[Vespasian]] became emperor in second half of 69, Asiaticus was designated consul in 70;<ref name=Morgan-149/> however, he died early that year before he could enter his consulship.<ref name=Epilogue>[http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Post/1190626 Epilogue: The Fall of the Vitellii - Vitellia?, daughter] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140111030615/http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Post/1190626 |date=2014-01-11 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2021}} Asiaticus was survived by Vitellia and their son.<ref name=Bowman-217/> Later in 70, Vespasian arranged for Vitellia to remarry another unnamed man.<ref name=Epilogue/> Her second marriage was a splendid match for her and Vespasian provided for her, the dowry and clothing.<ref name=Epilogue/> Although he was born in Vienna, Saturninus was raised in [[Ancient Rome|Rome]]; otherwise little is known about his early life.
==Political career==
An inscription from [[Tivoli, Lazio|Tivoli]] provides details for the earlier part of his ''[[cursus honorum]]''.<ref>{{CIL|14|4240}}</ref> Saturninus started his career in the reign of the emperor [[Domitian]], as one of the ''[[tresviri monetalis]]'', the most prestigious of the four boards that comprise the ''[[vigintiviri]]''; assignment to this board was usually allocated to [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] or individuals favored by the emperor. The next honors listed on the inscription are membership in the ''[[salii|Salii Collinus]]'' and election as one of the [[Pontiff]]s, which apparently happened when he was in his twenties. Then at the age of 25, he held the post of [[quaestor]], 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.<ref>Anthony R. Birley, ''The Fasti of Roman Britain'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981), p. 15</ref> The inscription breaks off where it mentions his appointment as [[praetor]], 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]]'' of May-August 94.<ref>Paul Gallivan, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/638472 "The Fasti for A. D. 70-96"], ''Classical Quarterly'', 31 (1981), p. 191</ref> Another reports that Saturninus was [[proconsul]]ar governor of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]] for the term 108/109.<ref>Werner Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''[[Chiron (journal)|Chiron]]'', 12 (1982), pp. 346f</ref> [[Werner Eck]] reports an unpublished inscription from Africa indicates he was governor of [[Hispania Tarraconensis]] at some point during the reign of [[Hadrian]].<ref>Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", ''Chiron'', 13 (1983), p. 197</ref> From the years 124 to 134, he served as a [[Praefectus urbi]] in Rome.<ref name=Josephus-72/> In 125, he held the fasces again, this time as ''consul ordinarius''.<ref name=Josephus-72/> During his political career in the first half of the second century, he was friends with the emperors [[Trajan]] and Hadrian.
==Marriage and issue==
Saturninus married Valeria Catulla Messallina who came from a family of consular rank.<ref name=Skinner>Skinner, ''A Companion to Catullus (Google eBook)''</ref> Messallina bore Asiaticus a son called [[Decimus Valerius Taurus Catullus Messallinus Asiaticus]].<ref name=Skinner/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
*[https://archive.today/20140111030615/http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Post/1190626 Epilogue: The Fall of the Vitellii - Vitellia?, daughter]
*''[[Prosopographia Imperii Romani]]'', 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
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{{S-bef| before= [[Lucius Nonius Calpurnius Torquatus Asprenas]],<br/>and [[Titus Sextius Magius Lateranus (consul 94)|Titus Sextius Magius Lateranus]]|as=ordinary consuls}}
{{S-ttl| title=[[List of early imperial Roman consuls|Suffect consul]] of the [[Roman Empire]] | years=94 |regent1= [[Gaius Antius Aulus Julius Quadratus]]}}
{{S-aft| after= [[Lucius Silius Decianus]],<br/>and [[Titus Pomponius Bassus]]|as=suffect consuls}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Gaius Julius Gallus]],<br/>and [[Gaius Valerius Severus]]|as=suffect consuls}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of early imperial Roman consuls|Consul]] of the [[Roman Empire]] | years=125 |regent1=[[Lucius Titius Epidius Aquilinus]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Quintus Vetina Verus]],<br/>and [[Publius Lucius Cosconianus]]|as=suffect consuls}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lollius Paulinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus, Marcus}}
[[Category:1st-century Romans]]
[[Category:2nd-century Romans]]
[[Category:1st-century clergy]]
[[Category:2nd-century clergy]]
[[Category:1st-century births]]
[[Category:2nd-century deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:Priests from the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Imperial Roman consuls]]
[[Category:Roman governors of Asia]]
[[Category:Urban prefects of Rome]]
[[Category:Roman governors of Hispania Tarraconensis]]
[[Category:Lollii|Saturninus, Marcus]]
[[Category:Valerii]]
[[Category:Vitellii]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman adoptees]]