Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus

Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus was a consul of Ancient Rome in the year 131 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. He was probably born in the late 1st century CE to an otherwise unknown Octavius Laenas and a woman named Pontia.

Family and Descent

Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus was a genealogically important figure on two accounts: his connection to the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and his connection to the Emperor Nerva.

Julio-Claudian Connection

An inscription found at Tusculum, possibly set up by Pontianus himself, recounts a single genealogical connection to a female ancestor--specifically, his grandmother, Rubellia Bassa, the daughter of Gaius Rubellius Blandus.[1] The genealogical significance of this connection is that the Gaius Rubellius Blandus had, in the early 30s CE, married Julia, the daughter of Livilla,— the daughter of Antonia Minor, who was the niece of the Emperor Augustus,— and Drusus Julius Caesar,— who, in turn, was the son of the Emperor Tiberius. Unfortunately, it is not known whether Rubellia Bassa was a product of this union or a daughter of Blandus by an earlier marriage. Either way, Pontianus made a connection very few others were able to make by the reign of Hadrian--specifically, to the first dynasty of Rome.

A likely relative of Pontianus is one 'Sergius Rubellius Plautus', whose name was found on a lead pipe at Rome.[2][3] It is uncertain whether this Rubellius Plautus is the son of Gaius Rubellius Blandus and Julia or another otherwise unknown relative.

Connection to Nerva

However, the Julio-Claudian connection was not the only Imperial connection of Pontianus. He also had a blood connection with the Emperor Nerva.

The connection was as follows: Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus was a descendant (probably great-grandson) of Gaius Octavius Laenas (suffect consul 33 AD), whose sister Sergia Plautilla married a Marcus Cocceius Nerva; the Emperor Nerva was their son.[4]

Career

Apart from holding the ordinary consulship in 131 AD with Marcus Antonius Rufinus, nothing is known for certain about Pontianus' career.

An inscription from Lucus Angitiae (modern Luco) that refers to a "... g ... Octav ... n ... ontianus" as being a member of the College of Pontiffs[5] might be about Pontianus.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ CIL XIV, 2610 "[Rub]elliae / [Bla]ndi f(iliae) Bassae / Octavi Laenatis / Sergius Octavius / Laenas Pontianus / aviae optimae"
  2. ↑ AE 1954, 00070 "Serg(i) Rubelli Plauti"
  3. ↑ Syme, R., 'The Marriage of Rubellius Blandus', p. 68
  4. ↑ Syme, R., 'The Marriage of Rubellius Blandus', pp. 67-8
  5. ↑ CIL IX, 03893 "[Ser]g(ius) Octav/[ius Lae]n[as(?)] / [P]ontianus / pont(ifex) pec(unia) / pub(lica) fac(iendum) / cur(avit)"

References

  • Syme, R., 'The Marriage of Rubellius Blandus' American Journal of Philology, Vol. 103, No. 1 (Spring, 1982), pp. 62–85
  • Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL)
  • L'Année Epigraphique (AE)
Political offices
Preceded by
Cassius Agrippa,
and Tiberius Claudius Quartinus
as suffect consuls		 Consul of the Roman Empire
131
with Marcus Antonius Rufinus		 Succeeded by
Lucius Fabius Gallus,
and Quintus Fabius Julianus
as suffect consuls
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