Marcus Nonius Macrinus

Marcus Nonius Macrinus was a Roman general and statesman fl. 161 AD in the era of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He served as Consul (suffectus) in 154, and several terms as proconsul thereafter.

According to the inscriptions on his tomb, he was originally from Brescia. During his lifetime, he served not only as an adviser to Marcus Aurelius, but also as proconsul of the Roman province of Asia.^[1]

In October 2008 his tomb was discovered by archaeologists on the banks of the river Tiber, near the Via Flaminia north of Rome.^{[2] [3]} Four years after its discovery, in December 2012, the tomb is being reburied due to lack of funds for reconstruction. It is hoped that this is a temporary measure, to preserve the fragile marble. ^[4]

In popular culture

Macrinus' life was one of the inspirations for Russell Crowe's character Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 feature film Gladiator.^[5] However, while both Marcus Nonius Macrinus and the fictitious Maximus Decimus Meridius are placed in the same time period and share similarities such as being liked and well known to Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Nonius Macrinus went on to enjoy a successful career and died a wealthy man. In the movie, Maximus Decimus Meridius is portrayed with having a much different later life, losing his family and being sold into slavery.

References

1. "'Gladiator' tomb is found in Rome". BBC News. 2008-10-17. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
2. "Tomb of Real 'Gladiator' Found in Rome". Fox News. 2008-10-17. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
3. "Tomb of 'Gladiator' Roman general unearthed". CBC News. 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
4. "Tomb of Roman general who inspired Gladiator reburied". PreHist.org - Preserving History. 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
5. Owen, Richard (2008-10-17). "Tomb of the real 'Gladiator' discovered in Italy". The Times. Retrieved 2008-10-17.

External links

• News related to Lost tomb of 'Gladiator' real life Roman inspiration found at Wikinews