Publius Acilius Attianus (1st – 2nd century AD) was a powerful Roman official who played a significant though obscure role in the transfer of the imperial power from
TrajanMarcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from A. D. 98 until his death in A. D. 117...
to
HadrianPublius Aelius Hadrianus was emperor of Rome from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher...
. He was born in
ItalicaItalica was the birthplace of Roman emperor Trajan. Hadrian was generous to his settled town, which he made a colonia; he added temples, including a Trajaneum venerating Trajan, and rebuilt public buildings. Italica’s amphitheater seated 25,000 spectators—half as many as the Flavian Amphitheatre in...
,
Hispania BaeticaHispania Baetica was one of three Imperial Roman provincesin Hispania, . Hispania Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania , and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis...
, which was also the birthplace of
Publius Aelius Hadrianus AferPublius Aelius Hadrianus Afer was a distinct and wealthy Roman Senator and Soldier who lived in the Roman Empire during the 1st century. Afer was originally from Spain; however, he was of Roman descent. Afer was born and raised in the grandeur city of Italica in the Roman Province of Hispania...
, the emperor Hadrian’s father. When Afer died about 86, Attianus and the future Emperor Trajan (another native of Italica) became the ten-year-old Hadrian’s guardians.
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Publius Acilius Attianus (1st – 2nd century AD) was a powerful Roman official who played a significant though obscure role in the transfer of the imperial power from
TrajanMarcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from A. D. 98 until his death in A. D. 117...
to
HadrianPublius Aelius Hadrianus was emperor of Rome from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher...
. He was born in
ItalicaItalica was the birthplace of Roman emperor Trajan. Hadrian was generous to his settled town, which he made a colonia; he added temples, including a Trajaneum venerating Trajan, and rebuilt public buildings. Italica’s amphitheater seated 25,000 spectators—half as many as the Flavian Amphitheatre in...
,
Hispania BaeticaHispania Baetica was one of three Imperial Roman provincesin Hispania, . Hispania Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania , and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis...
, which was also the birthplace of
Publius Aelius Hadrianus AferPublius Aelius Hadrianus Afer was a distinct and wealthy Roman Senator and Soldier who lived in the Roman Empire during the 1st century. Afer was originally from Spain; however, he was of Roman descent. Afer was born and raised in the grandeur city of Italica in the Roman Province of Hispania...
, the emperor Hadrian’s father. When Afer died about 86, Attianus and the future Emperor Trajan (another native of Italica) became the ten-year-old Hadrian’s guardians. Otherwise nothing is known of Attianus’s early career, but towards the end of Trajan’s reign he was joint
Praetorian PrefectPraetorian prefect was the title of a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides...
with Servius Sulpicius Similis for colleague. While Similis remained at Rome, Attianus accompanied the Emperor on campaign in the East. Attianus was present at Trajan’s deathbed at Selinus in
CiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia now known as Çukurova, was a commonly used name of the south coastal region of Asia Minor south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
in August 117 and helped the Empress Plotina secure the succession of Hadrian, either by pleading his case or, as was also alleged, helping to forge Trajan’s will. Along with Plotina and
MatidiaSalonina Matidia was the daughter and only child of Ulpia Marciana and wealthy praetor Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus. Her maternal uncle was the Roman emperor Trajan. Trajan had no children and treated her like his daughter...
, Attianus accompanied Trajan’s body to
SeleuciaSeleucia was the first capital of the Seleucid Empire, and one of the great cities of antiquity standing in Mesopotamia, on the Tigris River.Seleucia may refer to:...
and his ashes to Rome. He counselled Hadrian on his accession against various possible opponents, and according to Hadrian’s lost autobiography it was Attianus who was responsible for the murder of the ‘four consulars’ whose deaths were an early stain on his reign. Hadrian resented Attianus’s power and in 119 induced him to request to be relieved of the post of Praetorian Prefect. He was given
senatorialThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government...
rank and the
ornamenta consularia on his retirement; nothing more is heard of him.