Junius Licinius Balbus

Junius Licinius Balbus (ca. 180 - after 238) was a Roman Senator who served as a Suffect Consul. He is known for being the husband of Antonia Gordiana, daughter of Gordian I and sister of Gordian II, and being the father of the Roman emperor Gordian III. Or so the Historia Augusta claims; modern historians dismiss this identification of the husband of Antonia Gordian and father of the child emperor.

According to the Historia Augusta, Balbus was the son of Junius Licinius Balbus, a man of consular rank and his wife, Servilia the daughter of the Roman nobles Ceionia Plautia, sister of Lucius Verus, and Quintus Servilius Pudens. Although Antonia Gordiana married an unnamed Roman Senator, modern historians suspect this connection to the Antonine dynasty to be a genealogical fabrication by the anonymous author of the Historia Augusta.

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

Nerva
(r. 96–98)

Ulpia[lower-roman 1]

Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus

Julia Flavia[lower-roman 2]

Marciana[lower-roman 3]

C. Salonius Matidius[lower-roman 4]

Trajan
(r. 98–117)

P. Acilius Attianus

P. Aelius Afer[lower-roman 5]

Paulina Major[lower-roman 6]

Lucius Mindius
(2)

Libo Rupilius Frugi
(3)

Matidia[lower-roman 7]

L. Vibius Sabinus
(1)[lower-roman 8]

Paulina Minor[lower-roman 6]

L. Julius Ursus Servianus[lower-roman 9]

Matidia Minor[lower-roman 7]

Suetonius?[lower-roman 10]

Sabina[lower-roman 3]

Hadrian[lower-roman 5][lower-roman 11][lower-roman 6] (r. 117–138)

Antinous[lower-roman 12]

Julia Balbilla?[lower-roman 13]

C. Fuscus Salinator I

Julia Serviana Paulina

M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 14]

Rupilia Faustina[lower-roman 15]

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla[lower-roman 16]

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

Fundania Plautia

ignota[lower-roman 17]

C. Avidius Nigrinus

M. Annius Verus[lower-roman 15]

Domitia Calvilla[lower-roman 18]

Fundania[lower-roman 19]

M. Annius Libo[lower-roman 15]

FAUSTINA[lower-roman 16]

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)[lower-roman 16]

L. Aelius Caesar[lower-roman 17]

Avidia Plautia[lower-roman 17]

Cornificia[lower-roman 15]

MARCUS AURELIUS
(r. 161–180)[lower-roman 20]

FAUSTINA Minor[lower-roman 20]

C. Avidius Cassius[lower-roman 21]

Aurelia Fadilla[lower-roman 16]

LUCIUS VERUS
(r. 161–169)[lower-roman 17]
(1)

Ceionia Fabia[lower-roman 17]

Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 22]

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia[lower-roman 17]

Cornificia Minor[lower-roman 23]

M. Petronius Sura

COMMODUS
(r. 177–192)[lower-roman 20]

Fadilla[lower-roman 23]

M. Annius Verus Caesar[lower-roman 20]

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus
(2)

Lucilla[lower-roman 20]

M. Plautius Quintillus[lower-roman 17]

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus
(2)

Aurelia Sabina[lower-roman 23]

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.

Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
Levick (2014), p. 161.
Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3
Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.
Julia Balbilla a possible lover of Sabina: A. R. Birley (1997), Hadrian, the Restless Emperor, p. 251, cited in Levick (2014), p. 30, who is sceptical of this suggestion.
Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
Levick (2014), p. 163.
Levick (2014), p. 162.
Levick (2014), p. 164.
Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24.
Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
Levick (2014), p. 117.

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.
William Smith, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

References

Sources

Christian Settipani, Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale, 2000

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