Marcus Lollius
Encyclopedia
Marcus Lollius Paulinus, Roman
was a general, the first governor of Galatia
(25 BC) and served as consul in 21 BC. In 16 BC, when governor of Gaul
(Bergmanus), he was defeated by the Sicambri
and Tencteri and Usipetes
, German tribes who had crossed the Rhine. This defeat (the "clades Lolliana") is coupled by Suetonius
with the disaster of Publius Quinctilius Varus
, but it was disgraceful rather than dangerous.
Lollius was subsequently (2 BC) attached in the capacity of tutor and adviser to Gaius Caesar
on his mission to the East. Gaius was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
and Julia the Elder
. His maternal grandparents were Augustus
and his second wife Scribonia
.
Lollius was accused of extortion and treachery to the state, and denounced by Gaius to the Roman Emperor
. To avoid punishment he is said to have taken poison. According to Velleius Paterculus and Pliny
, he was a hypocrite and cared for nothing but amassing wealth. It was formerly thought that this was the Lollius whom Horace
described as a model of integrity and superior to avarice in Odes iv.9, but it seems hardly likely that this Ode, as well as the two Lollian epistles of Horace (i.2 and 18), was addressed to him. All three must have been addressed to the same individual, a young man, probably the son of this Lollius. He had a son of the same name.
A. Degrassi suggested that this son was consul suffectus in AD 13, followed by P.A. Brunt. R. Syme and G. Stern disagreed. By AD 13 Tiberius was powerful and had little reason to allow his enemy's son to reach the consulship. A few years later Tiberius criticized the older (dead) Lollius to the Senate.
The younger Lollius was the father of brief Empress and third wife of Emperor Caligula
, Lollia Paulina
.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
was a general, the first governor of Galatia
Galatia
Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. Galatia was named for the immigrant Gauls from Thrace , who settled here and became its ruling caste in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of...
(25 BC) and served as consul in 21 BC. In 16 BC, when governor of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
(Bergmanus), he was defeated by the Sicambri
Sicambri
The Sicambri were a Germanic people living on the right bank of the Rhine river, near where it passes out of Germany and enters what is now called the Netherlands at the turn of the first millennium....
and Tencteri and Usipetes
Tencteri and Usipetes
The Tencteri and Usipetes were an ancient Germanic tribe, or tribes, located on the eastern bank of the lower Rhine in the 1st century BC. They are known primarily from Julius Caesar's account of his campaigns against them in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico.Tacitus mentions the Tencteri and...
, German tribes who had crossed the Rhine. This defeat (the "clades Lolliana") is coupled by Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
with the disaster of Publius Quinctilius Varus
Publius Quinctilius Varus
Publius Quinctilius Varus was a Roman politician and general under Emperor Augustus, mainly remembered for having lost three Roman legions and his own life when attacked by Germanic leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.-Life:His paternal grandfather was senator Sextus Quinctilius...
, but it was disgraceful rather than dangerous.
Lollius was subsequently (2 BC) attached in the capacity of tutor and adviser to Gaius Caesar
Gaius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
on his mission to the East. Gaius was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...
and Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
. His maternal grandparents were Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
and his second wife Scribonia
Scribonia
Scribonia was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder. She was the mother-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, and...
.
Lollius was accused of extortion and treachery to the state, and denounced by Gaius to the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
. To avoid punishment he is said to have taken poison. According to Velleius Paterculus and Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, he was a hypocrite and cared for nothing but amassing wealth. It was formerly thought that this was the Lollius whom Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
described as a model of integrity and superior to avarice in Odes iv.9, but it seems hardly likely that this Ode, as well as the two Lollian epistles of Horace (i.2 and 18), was addressed to him. All three must have been addressed to the same individual, a young man, probably the son of this Lollius. He had a son of the same name.
A. Degrassi suggested that this son was consul suffectus in AD 13, followed by P.A. Brunt. R. Syme and G. Stern disagreed. By AD 13 Tiberius was powerful and had little reason to allow his enemy's son to reach the consulship. A few years later Tiberius criticized the older (dead) Lollius to the Senate.
The younger Lollius was the father of brief Empress and third wife of Emperor Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
, Lollia Paulina
Lollia Paulina
Lollia Paulina was a noble Roman woman who lived in the 1st century, and for six months in AD 38 was a Roman Empress as the third wife of the Emperor Caligula.-Life:...
.
Sources
- Ancient sources: SuetoniusLives of the Twelve CaesarsDe vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in AD 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius,...
, Augustus, 23, Tiberius, 12; Velleius Paterculus ii.97, 102; TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, Annals, i.10, iii.48; PlinyPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, Nat. Hist. ix.35 (58); Dio CassiusDio CassiusLucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
, liv.6.