Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus

Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus (born AD 31) was the maternal grandfather of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. A member of gens Arria, a family of consular rank, Antoninus was also an office holder, having been twice consul: the first time was in 69 with Aulus Marius Celsus as his colleague,[1] and the second in 97 with Gaius Calpurnius Piso as his colleague.[2] Antoninus was also proconsul of Asia in 78/79.[3]

Antoninus was a friend of and correspondent to the senator and historian Pliny the Younger. The Historia Augusta describes him as a "righteous person", who pitied Nerva when he became Emperor in 96.[4] John Grainger notes "he was the senior figure in a potent aristocratic network which centered on Gallia Narbonensis and extended into Spain, whose members included T. Aurelius Fulvus, P. Julius Lupus and M. Annius Verus."[5]

Antoninus married Boionia Procilla, by whom he had two daughters: Arria Antonina and Arria Fadilla. Fadilla married Titus Aurelius Fulvus, ordinary consul in 89; their only child was Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius, who, as Antoninus Pius, became Emperor (138-161). Antoninus Pius' father had died when he was young. Following Fulvus's death, Fadilla married Publius Julius Lupus, suffect consul in 98, and bore him two daughters, Julia Fadilla and Arria Lupula.

Antoninus raised his grandson, and when he died Antoninus Pius inherited his money. Through the inheritances of both sides, Antoninus Pius became one of the wealthiest men in Rome.

Nerva–Antonine family tree

References

  1. G.B. Townend, "The Consuls of A. D. 69/70", American Journal of Philology, 83 (1962), pp. 113-129
  2. As determined by Fausto Zevi "I consoli del 97 d. Cr. in due framenti gia' editi dei Fasti Ostienses", Listy filologické / Folia philologica, 96 (1973), pp. 125–137
  3. Werner Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", Chiron, 12 (1982), p. 300
  4. Historia Augusta, "Antoninus Pius", 1.4
  5. Grainger, Nerva and the Roman succession crisis of AD 96-99 (London: Routledge, 2004), p. 41

Sources

Political offices
Preceded by
Titus Flavius Sabinus, and
Gnaeus Arulenus Caelius Sabinus
Consul of the Roman Empire
69
with Aulus Marius Celsus
Succeeded by
Fabius Valens, and
Aulus Caecina Alienus
Preceded by
Marcus Cocceius Nerva III,
and Lucius Verginius Rufus III

as Ordinary consuls
Suffect consul of the Roman Empire
97
with Gaius Calpurnius Piso
Succeeded by
Marcus Annius Verus,
and Lucius Neratius Priscus

as Suffect consuls
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