Other Events and Attributes:

• House: gens Octavia
• FSID: L2S3-LSC

Notes:

Marcus Sergius or Servius Octavius Laenas Pontianus was a Roman politician of the early second century. He served as consul in AD 131, alongside Marcus Antonius Rufinus, during the reign of Hadrian.

ReferencesName[edit]
Pontianus is not mentioned in ancient writers, and although his name occurs in a number of inscriptions, his precise nomenclature is uncertain. His praenomen is given as Marcus in an inscription from Samothrace,[1] but in all other inscriptions he is either Servius or Sergius. Servius could be either a praenomen or a nomen gentilicium; both were widespread, but not particularly common. The gentile name Sergius was better known, and frequently substituted for Servius in inscriptions; this may explain why several inscriptions record Pontianus' name using the standard abbreviation for Servius,[2] while in others it was apparently written Sergius.[3][4] However, the abbreviation could be used for the gentile name Servius as well as the praenomen; and further complicating matters, in imperial times it was not uncommon for members of the Roman aristocracy to possess part or all of two or more complete nomenclatures.[5] Thus, it is entirely possible for Pontianus to have been named Marcus Sergius Octavius, Marcus Servius Octavius, Sergius Octavius, or Servius Octavius, in which Marcus, Servius, or both could be praenomina.
A small amount of epigraphic evidence weighs in favour of Sergius in connection with the Octavia gens, which regularly used the praenomen Marcus, but not Servius. A second-century inscription from Vienna in Gallia Narbonensis mentions a Marcus Sergius Octavius, who dedicated a grave for his mother, Vennonia Iarilla; but given the location and his mother's name, it is doubtful whether he is the same man.[6] An undated inscription from Rome mentions a boy, Sergius Octavius Caricus, buried by his father, who is not named.[7] But perhaps the best indication of whether Pontianus inherited the name Servius or Sergius comes from the tomb of Nerva's mother, apparently Pontianus' great-aunt: according to the inscription, her name was "Sergia Plautilla", and she was the daughter of a Laenas, Pontianus' proavus.[8]
Descent[edit]
Pontianus was probably born in the late first century to an otherwise unknown Octavius Laenas; the surname Pontianus suggests that his mother may have been named Pontia. Because so little is known of his life, his historical significance is based less on his consulship, which seems to have been uneventful, and more on his descent from Tiberius, and his relationship to Nerva.[9]
Besides the inscriptions mentioning his consulship, Pontianus had a monument built at Tusculum in memory of his grandmother, Rubellia Bassa, the daughter of Gaius Rubellius Blandus and Julia.[10] Rubellia's father was from a rather obscure family, but he had been consul in AD 18. Her mother, Julia, was the daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar, the natural son of Tiberius, and Livilla, a grandniece of Augustus. Few of Pontianus' contemporaries could have claimed descent from the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. One possible exception was Sergius Rubellius Plautus, whose name has been found on a lead pipe at Rome;[11] he may have been a son of Blandus and Julia, or perhaps another relative.[12]
In the paternal line, Pontianus was related to the emperor Nerva. The emperor's mother, Sergia Plautilla, was a sister of Gaius Octavius Laenas, consul in AD 33, and the husband of Rubellia Bassa, making Pontianus the emperor's first cousin once removed.[9][13]
Career[edit]
Pontianus was consul for the first four months of AD 131, alongside Marcus Antonius Rufinus, about midway through the reign of Hadrian. The emperor was away from Rome, visiting Egypt during their consulship, which seems to have been uneventful. Although the consulship remained the chief executive magistracy, under the authority of the emperors, much of its significance—and the reason why several different pairs of consuls shared the office each year—was to prepare able administrators to hold provincial governorships and other important positions throughout the empire. But while Pontianus probably held a variety of magistracies and other appointments before and after the consulship, none of the inscriptions mentioning him give any details of his career, except that he seems to have been a member of the College of Pontiffs.[14]

Family/Spouse: Paullus Paulla. Paullus was born in 105 in Rome, Roma, Lazio, Italy; died in DECEASED in Roman Empire ( 27 BC - 389 AD). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Paullus Lucius Sergius I was born in 125 in Rome, Roma, Lazio, Italy; died in UNKNOWN in Roman Empire ( 27 BC - 389 AD).

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LXQ4-37B

Lænus married Pontia. Pontia was born in UNKNOWN in Roman Empire ( 27 BC - 389 AD); died in DECEASED in Roman Empire ( 27 BC - 389 AD). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LXQN-27Y

Other Events and Attributes:

• Life Event: Roman Senator
• FSID: LVP9-L49
• Life Event: 33; Suffect Consul

Notes:

Gaius Octavius Laenas was a Roman senator, who was active during the Principate. He was suffect consul in the second half of AD 33 as the colleague of Lucius Salvius Otho.[1] Laenas was also curator aquarum, or overseer of the aqueducts and water supply of Rome from the death of Marcus Cocceius Nerva from about the year 33 to the year 38.[2]
Octavius Laenas is important for genealogical reasons, as Ronald Syme explains. He was the son of another Octavius Laenas, who is otherwise unattested, and Sergia "presumed a daughter of the patrician L. Sergius Plautus". Besides the future consul, the elder Laenas and Sergia also had a daughter, Sergia Plautilla, who married Marcus Cocceius Nerva; their children included the future emperor Nerva. The younger Laenas married Rubellia Bassa, the daughter of his maternal cousin Gaius Rubellius Blandus, suffect consul in 18. That Blandus was married, either before or after the birth of Rubellia, to Julia Livia, great-granddaughter of the emperor Tiberius, which aligned Laenas with the ruling Julio-Claudian dynasty.[3]
Together Laenas and Rubellia Bassa are known to have at least one child, a surmised son, who was the grandfather of Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus, consul in 131.[3]

Gaius married Rubellia Bassa. Rubellia (daughter of Gaius Rubellius Blandus and Julia Livia Drusus Filia) was born on 33 - 38 in Rome, Roma, Lazio, Italy; died in DECEASED in Roman Empire ( 27 BC - 389 AD). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LXQ4-3HL

Notes:

Rubellia Bassa (born between 33-38) was a daughter of Gaius Rubellius Blandus, consul in AD 18 and possibly his wife Julia Livia (killed 43) or an earlier wife.
It has been theorized that her mother was Julia Livia (daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla), which would make Bassa the great-granddaughter of Tiberius and the great-great-niece of Augustus through his sister Octavia the Younger; however, this lineage is uncertain because her father, Gaius Rubellius Blandus married Julia when he was around 55, which makes an earlier marriage likely (possibly to a Laecania Bassa), and Rubellia Bassa may have been the daughter of Blandus by this theorized earlier marriage.
Bassa had at least one sibling or half-sibling, a brother named Gaius Rubellius Plautus who was one of the nearest heirs of the blood of Tiberius, being the grandson of Drusus Julius Caesar. Plautus was forced to kill himself in 62 and his wife Antistia Pollitta and children were executed four years later, perhaps because the children were direct descendants of previous Roman Emperors.
Marriage and possible descendants[edit]
Rubellia Bassa married Gaius Octavius Laenas, maternal uncle of the future emperor Nerva. Ronald Syme claims that Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus, consul in 131 under Emperor Hadrian, set up a dedication to his grandmother, "[Rub]elliae / [Bla]ndi f(iliae) Bassae / Octavi Laenatis / Sergius Octavius / Laenas Pontianus / aviae optimae ".[1][2] This obscure link is perhaps a continuation of the Julio-Claudian bloodline through the 2nd century.

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: LD53-LDQ

Notes:

Gaius Rubellius Blandus was a Roman senator who lived during the Principate. Blandus was the grandson of Rubellius Blandus of Tibur, a member of the Equestrian class, who was the first Roman to teach rhetoric. He was suffect consul from August to December AD 18 with Marcus Vipstanus Gallus as his colleague.[1] In AD 33, he married Julia Livia, granddaughter of the Roman emperor Tiberius.
As the first member of his family to be admitted to the Senate, Blandus is considered a homo novus. His cursus honorum is documented in several inscriptions found in North Africa.[2] Blandus began his career with the singular honor of being quaestor in service to the emperor Augustus; two more of the traditional Republican magistracies followed, plebeian tribune and praetor. Two years after he served as suffect consul, he was involved with the prosecution of Aemilia Lepida, putting forward a motion in the senate to outlaw her which carried.[3]
The primary sources disagree when Blandus was admitted to the prestigious College of Pontiffs, whether it was before or after his consulate; one inscription lists it before, while two list it afterwards. Hoffman notes Blandus "probably received the priesthood late because of his low birth."[4] Despite his background, Blandus achieved what came to be the pinnacle of a successful senatorial career, proconsular governor of Africa in 35/36. Upon returning to Rome, Blandus was selected as one of four members of a commission to assess damage a fire had caused in Rome earlier that year.[5]
Marriages and family[edit]
In the year 33 he married Julia Livia, one of the princesses of the Imperial house. Despite the fact that Blandus had been suffect consul in 18, the match was considered a social disaster; Tacitus includes the event in a list of "the many sorrows which saddened Rome", which otherwise consisted of deaths of different prominent people.[6] Ronald Syme identifies the historian's reaction as "the tone and sentiments of a man enslaved to the standards of class and rank."[7] Julia was the daughter of Livilla and Drusus Julius Caesar, and the granddaughter of Emperor Tiberius.
The marriage produced at least two children: a boy, Rubellius Plautus, who was considered as a rival to Emperor Nero, and a girl, Rubellia Bassa. Two further children are uncertain: a single inscription refers to a Rubellius Drusus, who died before his third birthday,[8] while Juvenal implies the existence of another son, also named Gaius Rubellius Blandus.[9]

Gaius married Julia Livia Drusus Filia in 33 in Roman Empire ( 27 BC - 389 AD). Julia (daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar II and Claudia Livia Julia) was born in 5 in Roman Empire ( 27 BC - 389 AD); died in 43 in Roman Empire ( 27 BC - 389 AD). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FSID: 27H5-FWL

Notes:

Julia Livia (7 – 43 AD),[1] was the daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla, and granddaughter of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. She was also a first cousin of the emperor Caligula, and niece of the emperor Claudius.

Early life[edit]
Julia was born in the later years of the reign of her adoptive great-grandfather, Emperor Augustus, and was the daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar (a grandson of Augustus wife' Livia Drusilla through her son Tiberius) and Livilla (a granddaughter of Livia Drusilla through her son Nero Claudius Drusus, and a granddaughter of Mark Antony through his daughter Antonia Minor). At the time of Augustus' death in AD 14, Julia, who was in early childhood, fell ill. Before he died, the aged emperor had asked his wife Livia whether Julia had recovered.[2]
Marriages[edit]
Upon the death of Augustus, Julia's paternal grandfather, Tiberius, succeeded him as Rome's second Emperor. It was during her grandfather's rule, when she was around the age of 16, that Julia married her cousin Nero Caesar (the son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder). The marriage appears to have been an unhappy one, and fell victim to the machinations of the notorious palace guardsman Sejanus, who exploited his intimacy with Julia's mother Livilla to scheme against Germanicus’ family. In the words of Tacitus,
Whether the young prince spoke or held his tongue, silence and speech were alike criminal. Every night had its anxieties, for his sleepless hours, his dreams and sighs were all made known by his wife to her mother Livia [i.e. Livilla] and by Livia to Sejanus.[3]
Later in 29, owing to the intrigues of Sejanus, and at the insistence of Tiberius, Nero and Agrippina were accused of treason. Nero was declared a public enemy by the Senate and taken away in chains in a closed litter. Nero was incarcerated on the island of Pontia (Ponza). The following year he was executed or driven to suicide. Cassius Dio[4] records that Julia was now engaged to Sejanus, but this claim appears to be contradicted by Tacitus, whose authority is to be preferred. Sejanus was condemned and executed on Tiberius’ orders on 18 October 31. His lover, Julia's mother Livilla, died around the same time (probably starved by her own mother: Julia's grandmother Antonia, or committed suicide).
In 33, Julia married Gaius Rubellius Blandus, a man from an equestrian background. Despite that Blandus had been consul suffect in 18, the match was considered a disaster; Tacitus includes the event in a list of "the many sorrows which saddened Rome", which otherwise consisted of deaths of different influential people.[5] Their children were Gaius Rubellius Plautus[6] and possibly a daughter Rubellia Bassa who married a maternal uncle of the future Roman Emperor Nerva. Juvenal, in Satire VIII.39, suggests another son, also named Gaius Rubellius Blandus. An inscription suggests Julia may also have been the mother of Rubellius Drusus, a child who died before the age of three.[7]
Around 43, an agent of the Roman Emperor Claudius' wife, Empress Valeria Messalina, had falsely charged Julia with incest and immorality. Messalina considered her and her son a threat to the throne.[8] The Emperor, her uncle Claudius, without securing any defence for his niece, had her executed 'by the sword' (Octavia 944-6: "ferro... caesa est"). She may have anticipated execution by taking her own life.[9] Her distant relative Pomponia Graecina remained in mourning for 40 years in open defiance of the Emperor, yet was unpunished.[10] Julia was executed around the same time as her first cousin Julia Livilla, the daughter of Germanicus and sister of the former Emperor Caligula.