Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus

Publius Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus (c. 31 – c. 91 AD), also known as Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus or Aelius Marullinus, was a Roman Senator of Praetorian rank from Hispania who lived in the Roman Empire during the 1st century.

Family

Marullinus came from a well-established, wealthy and aristocratic family of Praetorian rank in the gens Aelia. His mother is unknown and his father was a Roman senator called Publius Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus, also the name of his paternal grandfather and paternal great-grandfather.

The paternal ancestors of Marullinus had descended from Picenum (modern Marche and Abruzzo, Italy). They were originally centurions who participated in the Punic Wars possibly under the general Scipio Africanus. About 205 BC, at the end of the Second Punic War, the paternal ancestors of Marullinus left Picenum and settled in Italica (near modern Seville, Spain) in the Roman Province of Hispania Baetica.

The paternal great-grandfather of Marullinus, Publius Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus, was admitted into the Roman Senate by Octavian (future Emperor Augustus) when he served as a member of the Second Triumvirate between 43 BC and 33 BC. He was the first person in his family to become a senator, however the circumstances leading him to be admitted into the senate are unknown. Nevertheless, Marullinus was one of the few Romans that came from the provinces who Octavian had ever admitted into the Senate.

History

Marullinus was born and raised in Italica, but spent various amounts of time in Rome. He married a noblewoman from Italica called Ulpia, who was a sister of the Roman general and senator Marcus Ulpius Traianus, the father of Emperor Trajan.

Ulpia and Marullinus had at least one child, a son called Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, who later was a soldier and politician. Hadrianus Afer married Domitia Paulina and had two children: Aelia Domitia Paulina (75–130) and Publius Aelius Hadrianus (76–138). Hadrianus was adopted by Trajan as his heir and eventually succeeded him as Emperor Hadrian.

Marullinus had a reputation in practising astrology and had predicted that his grandson would rule as Roman Emperor.

When Hadrian ruled as Roman Emperor, as a tribute to his birthplace and ancestry, he established Hispania Baetica as a province. Hadrian's second adoptive son and successor Antoninus Pius, assumed the name Aelius Hadrianus as a part of his name when he ruled as Emperor. The sixth child born to Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Roman Empress Faustina the Younger was named Hadrianus. Hadrianus (152–157) was named in honour of his grandfather Hadrian.

Nerva–Antonine family tree

Nerva–Antonine family tree
Q. Marcius Barea Soranus Q. Marcius Barea Sura Antonia Furnilla M. Cocceius Nerva Sergia Plautilla P. Aelius Hadrianus Titus (r. 79–81) Marcia Furnilla Marcia Trajanus Pater Nerva (r. 96–98) Ulpia Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus Flavia Marciana C. Salonius Matidius Trajan (r. 98–117) Plotina P. Acilius Attianus P. Aelius Afer Paulina Major Lucius Mindius (2) Libo Rupilius Frugi (3) Salonia Matidia L. Vibius Sabinus (1) Paulina Minor L. Julius Ursus Servianus Matidia Minor Sabina Hadrian (r. 117–138) Antinous C. Fuscus Salinator I Julia Serviana Paulina M. Annius Verus Rupilia Faustina Boionia Procilla Cn. Arrius Antoninus L. Ceionius Commodus Appia Severa C. Fuscus Salinator II L. Caesennius Paetus Arria Antonina Arria Fadilla T. Aurelius Fulvus L. Caesennius Antoninus L. Commodus Plautia unknown C. Avidius Nigrinus M. Annius Verus Calvisia Domitia Lucilla Fundania M. Annius Libo Faustina Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161) L. Aelius Caesar Avidia Cornificia Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) Faustina Minor C. Avidius Cassius Aurelia Fadilla Lucius Verus (r. 161–169) (1) Ceionia Fabia Plautius Quintillus Q. Servilius Pudens Ceionia Plautia Cornificia Minor M. Petronius Sura Commodus (r. 177–192) Fadilla M. Annius Verus Caesar Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2) Lucilla M. Plautius Quintillus Junius Licinius Balbus Servilia Ceionia Petronius Antoninus L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2) Aurelia Sabina L. Antistius Burrus (1) Plautius Quintillus Plautia Servilla C. Furius Sabinus Timesitheus Antonia Gordiana Junius Licinius Balbus? Furia Sabina Tranquillina Gordian III (r. 238–244)
(1) = 1st spouse (2) = 2nd spouse (3) = 3rd spouse   Reddish-purple indicates emperor of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty   lighter purple indicates designated imperial heir of said dynasty who never reigned   grey indicates unsuccessful imperial aspirants   bluish-purple indicates emperors of other dynasties dashed lines indicate adoption; dotted lines indicate love affairs/unmarried relationships Small Caps = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)
Notes: Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.
References: DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 2015-04-14. Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta. ISBN 0-8390-0193-2. Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-15708-2. Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9. Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

Sources

• Historia Augusta – Life of Hadrian
• Tiberius the Politician – Ed2, By Barbara Levick, Levick B Staff
• Marcus Aurelius By Anthony Richard Birley
• The provincial at Rome, By Ronald Syme, Anthony Birley
• Rome and the Balkans 80 BC – AD 14 By Ronald Syme, Anthony Birley