Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus

Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus (45–136) was an Iberian Roman politician. He was a prominent public figure in the reigns of Roman emperors Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian. He was the last private citizen to receive a third consulship; such honors came to be reserved for members of the emperor's family.^[1]

According to an inscription found, his full name is Gaius Julius Servilius Ursus Servianus, however in Augustan History, he is known as Lucius Julius Ursus Servianus.

Life

Little is known on his origins. Ronald Syme has argued that he was originally named Servius Julius Servianus, suffect consul in 90, and that Lucius Julius Ursus adopted him after that year, leading to a name change; no scholar has spoken against this identification, and it has been considered accepted by all.^[2] Before the accession of Trajan in 98, Servianus had married Aelia Domitia Paulina, the elder sister of Hadrian, who was thirty years younger than he was. During Trajan's reign (98-117), Paulina and Servianus had a daughter called Julia Serviana Paulina.

When Nerva died on January 27 98, Hadrian travelled to Germany to find Trajan, to announce the death of Nerva. Servianus tried unsuccessfully to stop Hadrian's travel to Germany, because he was jealous of the favor shown Hadrian by Trajan. However, Servianus and Hadrian reconciled and were for a long time on good terms.

Servianus served twice as consul under Trajan, and once as consul under Hadrian in 134. As a senator he was a very influential and powerful man. Trajan appointed him Roman Governor of Germania Inferior for 97-99,^[3] and immediately afterwards made him Roman Governor of Pannonia for 99-100,^[4] granting him important military commands against Dacia.

Servianus was a friend to Roman Senator and historian Pliny the Younger; two of Pliny's surviving letters is addressed to him, and Pliny mentions him in two more.^[5] Through Servianus' influence, Trajan granted Pliny immunities only usually granted to a father of three, the jus trium liberorum. Before Pliny’s death around 111, Servianus and Paulina had arranged and married their daughter Julia to Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator, a man from Iberia who was ordinary consul in 118 as the colleague of emperor Hadrian. Pliny the Younger sent him and his wife a letter of congratulations about their daughter’s wedding.

When Trajan died on August 8, 117, his cousin and adopted son Hadrian became emperor. As Emperor, Hadrian treated Servianus with distinguished honor, considering him to be his first successor. When Paulina died in 130, Hadrian and Servianus shared a private ceremony for her.

For a long time, the emperor Hadrian had considered Servianus as his unofficial successor. As Hadrian's reign drew to a close, however, he changed his mind. Although the emperor certainly thought Servianus capable of ruling as an emperor after Hadrian's own death, Servianus, by now in his nineties, was clearly too old for the position. Hadrian's attentions turned to Servianus' grandson, was also was named Gnaeus Pedanius Fuscus Salinator like his father. Hadrian promoted the young Salinator, his great-nephew, gave him special status in his court, and groomed him as his heir. Servianus, who always cherished the idea that his youthful grandson would one day succeed his brother-in-law, was over-joyed.

However, in 136, Hadrian changed his mind and decided to adopt Lucius Aelius Caesar as his son and heir. Servianus and the younger Salinator were very angry at Hadrian and wanted to challenge him over the adoption. It is possible Salinator went so far as to attempt a coup against Hadrian in which Servianus was implicated. In order to avoid any potential conflict in the succession, Hadrian ordered the deaths of Salinator and Servianus.^[6] Ironically, Aelius died before Hadrian in 138, leaving Hadrian to adopt Antoninus Pius.

Nerva–Antonine family tree

Q. Marcius Barea Soranus

Q. Marcius Barea Sura

Antonia Furnilla

M. Cocceius Nerva

Sergia Plautilla

P. Aelius Hadrianus

Titus
(r. 79–81)

Marcia Furnilla

Marcia

Trajanus Pater

Nerva
(r. 96–98)

Ulpia^{[lower-roman 1]}

Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus

Julia Flavia^{[lower-roman 2]}

Marciana^{[lower-roman 3]}

C. Salonius Matidius^{[lower-roman 4]}

Trajan
(r. 98–117)

Plotina

P. Acilius Attianus

P. Aelius Afer^{[lower-roman 5]}

Paulina Major^{[lower-roman 6]}

Lucius Mindius
(2)

Libo Rupilius Frugi
(3)

Matidia^{[lower-roman 7]}

L. Vibius Sabinus
(1)^{[lower-roman 8]}

Paulina Minor^{[lower-roman 6]}

L. Julius Ursus Servianus^{[lower-roman 9]}

Matidia Minor^{[lower-roman 7]}

Suetonius?^{[lower-roman 10]}

Sabina^{[lower-roman 3]}

Hadrian^{[lower-roman 5]}^{[lower-roman 11]}^{[lower-roman 6]} (r. 117–138)

Antinous^{[lower-roman 12]}

Julia Balbilla?^{[lower-roman 13]}

C. Fuscus Salinator I

Julia Serviana Paulina

M. Annius Verus^{[lower-roman 14]}

Rupilia Faustina^{[lower-roman 15]}

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla^{[lower-roman 16]}

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

Fundania Plautia

ignota^{[lower-roman 17]}

C. Avidius Nigrinus

M. Annius Verus^{[lower-roman 15]}

Domitia Lucilla^{[lower-roman 18]}

Fundania^{[lower-roman 19]}

M. Annius Libo^{[lower-roman 15]}

FAUSTINA^{[lower-roman 16]}

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)^{[lower-roman 16]}

L. Aelius Caesar^{[lower-roman 17]}

Avidia Plautia^{[lower-roman 17]}

Cornificia^{[lower-roman 15]}

MARCUS AURELIUS
(r. 161–180)^{[lower-roman 20]}

FAUSTINA Minor^{[lower-roman 20]}

C. Avidius Cassius^{[lower-roman 21]}

Aurelia Fadilla^{[lower-roman 16]}

LUCIUS VERUS
(r. 161–169)^{[lower-roman 17]}
(1)

Ceionia Fabia^{[lower-roman 17]}

Plautius Quintillus^{[lower-roman 22]}

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia^{[lower-roman 17]}

Cornificia Minor^{[lower-roman 23]}

M. Petronius Sura

COMMODUS
(r. 177–192)^{[lower-roman 20]}

Fadilla^{[lower-roman 23]}

M. Annius Verus Caesar^{[lower-roman 20]}

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus
(2)

Lucilla^{[lower-roman 20]}

M. Plautius Quintillus^{[lower-roman 17]}

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus
(2)

Aurelia Sabina^{[lower-roman 23]}

L. Antistius Burrus
(1)

Plautius Quintillus

Plautia Servilla

C. Furius Sabinus Timesitheus

Antonia Gordiana

Junius Licinius Balbus

Furia Sabina Tranquillina

GORDIAN III
(r. 238–244)

(1) = 1st spouse
(2) = 2nd spouse
(3) = 3rd spouse
  Reddish purple indicates emperor of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty

  lighter purple indicates designated imperial heir of said dynasty who never reigned

  grey indicates unsuccessful imperial aspirants

  bluish purple indicates emperors of other dynasties
dashed lines indicate adoption; dotted lines indicate love affairs/unmarried relationships
small caps = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)

Notes:

Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.

↑ Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
↑ Giacosa (1977), p. 8.
1 2 Levick (2014), p. 161.
↑ Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.
1 2 Giacosa (1977), p. 7.
1 2 3 DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".
1 2 Giacosa (1977), p. 9.
↑ Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.
↑ Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".
↑ Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3
↑ Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.
↑ Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2-5, etc.
↑ Julia Balbilla a possible lover of Sabina: A. R. Birley (1997), Hadrian, the Restless Emperor, p. 251, cited in Levick (2014), p. 30, who is sceptical of this suggestion.
↑ Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.
1 2 3 4 Levick (2014), p. 163.
1 2 3 4 Levick (2014), p. 162.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Levick (2014), p. 164.
↑ Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
↑ Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.
1 2 3 4 5 Giacosa (1977), p. 10.
↑ The epitomator of Cassius Dio (72.22) gives the story that Faustina the Elder promised to marry Avidius Cassius. This is also echoed in HA "Marcus Aurelius" 24.
↑ Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.
1 2 3 Levick (2014), p. 117.

References:

DIR contributors (2000). "De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and Their Families". Retrieved 2015-04-14.
Giacosa, Giorgio (1977). Women of the Caesars: Their Lives and Portraits on Coins. Translated by R. Ross Holloway. Milan: Edizioni Arte e Moneta. ISBN 0-8390-0193-2.
Lambert, Royston (1984). Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-15708-2.
Levick, Barbara (2014). Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537941-9.
William Smith, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

Sources

References

↑ Caillan Davenport, "Iterated Consulships and the Government of Severus Alexander", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 177 (2011), p. 288
↑ Olli Salomies, Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 1992), p. 51
↑ Werner Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten der senatorischen Statthalter von 69/70 bis 138/139", Chiron, 12 (1982), pp. 328-330
↑ Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten", pp. 332-334
↑ Pliny, Epistulae 3.17 and VI.26 are addressed to Servianus; he is mentioned in VII.6.9 and X.2.1
↑ Anthony Birley, Hadrian the Restless Emperor, pp. 291-292.

Political offices
Preceded by Imp. Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus IV, and Quintus Articuleius Paetus II	Consul of the Roman Empire 102 with Lucius Licinius Sura II	Succeeded by Imp. Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus V, and Manlius Laberius Maximus II
Preceded by Marcus Antonius Hiberus, and Publius Mummius Sisenna	Consul of the Roman Empire 134 with Titus Vibius Varus	Succeeded by Titus Tutilius Lupercus Pontianus, and Publius Calpurnius Atilianus

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