Lollia Saturnina

Lollia Saturnina (c.10-41[1]) was a Roman noble woman that lived in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. She was the sister of the Roman empress Lollia Paulina[2] and was a mistress of the Roman emperor Caligula.[3]

Family background and early life

Saturnina was a member of the plebeian gens Lollia. Saturnina was the first daughter of the suffect consul Marcus Lollius from the noble woman Volusia Saturnina[4] while her younger sister was Lollia Paulina.[5]

Her father, Marcus Lollius was the son born to the Roman Politician and Military Officer Marcus Lollius[6] from his wife Valeria.[7] Valeria was one of the daughters of the literary patron, consul Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus and a sister to the Roman Senators Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus and Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus.[8] Her possible paternal uncle may have been Publius Lollius Maximus or at least a close relation to his paternal grandfather.[9] Publius Lollius Maximus was a soldier who served under the first Roman emperor Augustus;[10] later becoming a friend of the Poet Horace;[11] who became a possible poet, historian and must have been offered a post in the Retinue of the future Roman emperor Tiberius in about 20 BC.[12] Her cognomen Saturnina, she inherited from the paternal ancestry of her mother’s family.

Her mother Volusia Saturnina, came from an ancient and distinguished Senatorial family, that never rose above the Praetorship[13] which was of eques status.[14] She was the daughter of the prefect, Quintus Volusius from his wife Claudia. Her father served under Cicero in 51 BC to 50 BC in Cilicia[15] and was a pupil of his in oratory.[16] Claudia was a daughter of Pompey’s officer Drusus Claudius Nero and a sister of praetor, Tiberius Claudius Nero,[17] as Volusia Saturnina was a first cousin to Roman emperor Tiberius and his brother, the General Nero Claudius Drusus.[18] The brother of Volusia Saturnina was the consul Lucius Volusius Saturninus.[19][20] Saturnina was born and raised in Rome. She was a beautiful woman,[21] who was one of the heirs of the wealth of her grandfather, Marcus Lollius.[22]

Marriage and Caligula

Saturnina married Decimus Valerius Asiaticus, who served as a suffect consul in 35[23] and was a wealthy, prominent Roman Senator.[24] Asiaticus was of Allobrogian origin from Gallia Narbonensis and was the first Roman Senator from that place.[25] Saturnina with Asiaticus had a son called Decimus Valerius Asiaticus.[26] There is a possibility they may had other children.

Around 39, six months after Caligula divorced her sister Lollia Paulina, Saturnina became a mistress to Caligula. When Caligula started publicly discussing their relationship, which included in the presence of Asiaticus, this lead him to hate Caligula.[27] The freedman Marcus Lollius Philippus, who loaned large sums of money to the various members of the gens, Sulpicii, may have been one of the freedmen of Saturnina.[28]

Inscriptional evidence

Below is a Latin inscription that has ever been found on Saturnina.[29] This inscription mentions one freedman Marcus Lollius Princeps and two freedwomen Lollia Urbana and Lollia Methe.[30]

D(is) m(anibus) s(anctum)|M(arco) Lollio Saturninae l(iberto)|Principi amico fidissimo|
qui vixit annis LVIII et|Lollia Saturninae l(ibertae)|Urbanae contubernal(i) eius [et]|
Lolliae Saturninae lib(ertae)|Methes sorori eius Lollia|C(aii) l(iberta) Galatea paren-
tib(us) carislsmis fecit permissu Urlsionis contuberanal(is) mei (CIL VI 21473a).

References

  1. ↑ A bit of History – Lollia Saturnina
  2. ↑ A bit of History – Lollia Saturnina
  3. ↑ Seneca the Younger, De Constantia sapientis: 18,2
  4. ↑ Lollius by D.C. O’Driscoll
  5. ↑ Marcus Lollius’ article at Livius.org
  6. ↑ Marcus Lollius’ article at Livius.org
  7. ↑ Genealogy of Lollius by D.C. O’Driscoll
  8. ↑ Genealogy of Lollius by D.C. O’Driscoll
  9. ↑ Harrison, Homage to Horace: A Bimillenary Celebration, p.290
  10. ↑ Harrison, Homage to Horace: A Bimillenary Celebration, p.290
  11. ↑ Highet, The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature, p.96
  12. ↑ Horace, Horace: Epistles Book I, p.136
  13. ↑ Tacitus, Annals: Part One: Tiberius, Chapter 6 - Tiberius and the Senate
  14. ↑ Genealogy of Volusius Saturninus by D.C. O’Driscoll
  15. ↑ Romeins Imperium – Lucius Quintus Volusius Saturninus translated from Dutch to English
  16. ↑ Quintus Volusius no.2 article at ancient library
  17. ↑ Romeins Imperium – Lucius Quintus Volusius Saturninus translated from Dutch to English
  18. ↑ After Actium: Two Caesars Are Not Enough: Chapter LXXXVII: The Trials of Livia Valeria
  19. ↑ Rickman, Roman Granaries and Store Buildings, p.169
  20. ↑ Genealogy of Volusius Saturninus by D.C. O’Driscoll
  21. ↑ Wiseman, Talking to Virgil: A Miscellany, p.75
  22. ↑ Wiseman, Talking to Virgil: A Miscellany, p.p.74-5
  23. ↑ Romeins Imperium – Lollia Paulina translated from Dutch to English
  24. ↑ Wiseman, Talking to Virgil: A Miscellany, p.75
  25. ↑ Genealogy of Lollius by D.C. O’Driscoll
  26. ↑ The Roman World: Gallia Narbonensis's Urbs of Vienna
  27. ↑ Seneca the Younger, De Constantia sapientis: 18,2
  28. ↑ Andreau, Banking and Business in the Roman World, p.74
  29. ↑ JSTOR: Lollia Saturnina
  30. ↑ JSTOR: Lollia Saturnina

Sources

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