Marcus Lollius (son of consul)
Marcus Lollius, perhaps with the cognomen Paulinus,[1] was a Roman Senator who was active in the second half of 1st century BC and first half of 1st century.
Due to a passage in Tacitus,[2] a number of scholars have argued that Lollius was a suffect consul, possibly even in AD 13. However, Ronald Syme pointed out that Lollius could never have been consul due to the disgrace of his father in 2 BC, which resulted in a prolonged antipathy towards him by Tiberius. "When requesting the Senate to honor Sulpicius Quirnius with a public funeral," Syme writes, "and recounting his merits and his loyalty, the Princeps was put in mind of the Rhodian years and could not suppress harsh words about Lollius."[3] Syme proposes an emendation that would make the passage refer to the elder Lollius, not this one. Providing a definite solution is the findings of Diana Gorostidi Pi, who completed the list of consuls for this year and showed there is no room for Lollius here.[4]
Family Background
Lollius was a member of the plebeian gens Lollia.[5] He was the son of the Roman senator and Military Officer Marcus Lollius[6] and his wife Aurelia.[7] Ronald Syme identifies Aurelia as "a sister of the postulated and unattested Aurelius Cotta who adopted the younger son of Messalla Corvinus".[7] Lollius was the namesake of his father and paternal grandfather. Publius Lollius Maximus may have been his brother, or at least a close relation.[8]
Career
Little is known on the life of Lollius. The Horrea Lolliana was either built by his father or Lollius himself.[9] It is known from the inscriptions refer to them and also, from their plan in the Severan Marble Plan of Rome.[9] It seems his family had long trade connections and his family’s name is found among the Italian merchants on the Greek island of Delos in the Hellenistic period.[9]
Wife and Issue
Lollius married a Roman noblewoman called Volusia Saturnina, a sister to the consul Lucius Volusius Saturninus.[10] and daughter of Quintus Volusius and Claudia, a sister of the praetor Tiberius Claudius Nero. As thus, she was a first cousin to Tiberius and his brother, Nero Claudius Drusus.[11]
Through Volusia, Lollius was the father of two daughters:[6]
- Lollia Saturnina
- Lollia Paulina, third wife of Caligula.
References
- Marcus Lollius no. 5 article at ancient library Archived 2012-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Annales, XII.1
- Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), p. 177
- Pi, "Sui consoli dell’anno 13 d.C.: Nuovi dati dai fasti consulares Tusculani", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 189 (2014), pg 265–275
- Lollia Gens article at ancient library Archived 2013-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Marcus Lollius’ article at Livius.org
- Syme, Augustan Aristocracy, p. 178
- Harrison, Homage to Horace: A Bimillenary Celebration, p. 290
- Rickman, Roman Granaries and Store Buildings, p. 164
- Rickman, Roman Granaries and Store Buildings, p.169
- Syme, Augustan Aristocracy, p. 56
Sources
- Horace - Edited by O.A.W Dilke, Horace: Epistles Book I, Taylor & Francis
- G. Highet, The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature, Oxford University Press, 1949
- G. Rickman, Roman Granaries and Store Buildings, CUP Archive, 1971
- S.J. Harrison, Homage to Horace: A Bimillenary Celebration, Oxford University Press, 1995