Marcus Petronius Sura Mamertinus

Last updated January 20, 2024

Marcus Petronius Sura Mamertinus (died between 190 and 192 AD) was a Roman consul who lived in the 2nd century and was one of the sons-in-law of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Mamertinus came from a wealthy, well-connected family of African origin—possibly from Egypt. His father, Marcus Petronius Mamertinus, was suffect consul in 150 and his mother's name is unknown. He had a brother, Marcus Petronius Sura Septimianus, who served as consul in 190, and a sister whose husband was the illustrious senator Marcus Antoninus Antius Lupus. Mamertinus was a kinsman of the grammarian Marcus Cornelius Fronto.

During the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180) and Faustina the Younger (161-175), Mamertinus married their daughter Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor in Rome.

Sometime after 173, Cornificia Faustina bore Mamertinus a son, Petronius Antoninus.

Mamertinus and his family could have been at the winter camp of Marcus Aurelius in early 180. When Marcus Aurelius died later that year, Mamertinus' brother-in-law Commodus succeeded him as Emperor. In 182, Mamertinus served as consul. Sometime between 190 and 192, Commodus ordered the deaths of Mamertinus, his son, his brother and his sister's family. Cornificia Faustina survived the political persecutions of her brother and later remarried.

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

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)

Salonia 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]}^{[lower-roman 16]}

Boionia Procilla

Cn. Arrius Antoninus

L. Ceionius Commodus

Appia Severa

C. Fuscus Salinator II

L. Caesennius Paetus

Arria Antonina

Arria Fadilla^{[lower-roman 17]}

T. Aurelius Fulvus

L. Caesennius Antoninus

L. Commodus

Plautia

unknown^{[lower-roman 18]}

C. Avidius Nigrinus

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

Calvisia Domitia Lucilla ^{[lower-roman 19]}

Fundania^{[lower-roman 20]}

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

Faustina ^{[lower-roman 17]}

Antoninus Pius
(r. 138–161)^{[lower-roman 17]}

L. Aelius Caesar ^{[lower-roman 18]}

Avidia ^{[lower-roman 18]}

Cornificia ^{[lower-roman 15]}

Marcus Aurelius
(r. 161–180)^{[lower-roman 21]}

Faustina Minor ^{[lower-roman 21]}

C. Avidius Cassius ^{[lower-roman 22]}

Aurelia Fadilla^{[lower-roman 17]}

Lucius Verus
(r. 161–169)^{[lower-roman 18]} (1)

Ceionia Fabia ^{[lower-roman 18]}

Plautius Quintillus ^{[lower-roman 23]}

Q. Servilius Pudens

Ceionia Plautia ^{[lower-roman 18]}

Cornificia Minor ^{[lower-roman 24]}

M. Petronius Sura

Commodus
(r. 177–192)^{[lower-roman 21]}

Fadilla ^{[lower-roman 24]}

M. Annius Verus Caesar ^{[lower-roman 21]}

Ti. Claudius Pompeianus (2)

Lucilla ^{[lower-roman 21]}

M. Plautius Quintillus ^{[lower-roman 18]}

Junius Licinius Balbus

Servilia Ceionia

Petronius Antoninus

L. Aurelius Agaclytus (2)

Aurelia Sabina ^{[lower-roman 24]}

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.
↑ It is uncertain whether Rupilia Faustina was Frugi's daughter by Salonia Matidia or another woman.
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.
Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology .

Sources

Martin M. Winkler, The Fall of the Roman Empire: Film and History (2009)
Michael Petrus Josephus van den Hout, A commentary on the Letters of M. Cornelius Fronto (1999)
Albino Garzetti, From Tiberius to the Antonines: a history of the Roman Empire AD 14-192 (1974)
Faustina II livius.org (last accessed 27 February 2020)

Political offices
Preceded by Commodus III, and Lucius Antistius Burrus	Consul of the Roman Empire 182 with Quintus Tineius Rufus	Succeeded by Commodus IV, and Gaius Aufidius Victorinus

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[1] Sister of Trajan's father: Giacosa (1977), p. 7.

[giac8-2] Giacosa (1977), p. 8.

[lev161-3] 1 2 Levick (2014), p. 161.

[4] Husband of Ulpia Marciana: Levick (2014), p. 161.

[giac7-5] 1 2 Giacosa (1977), p. 7.

[DIR_hadrian-6] 1 2 3 DIR contributor (Herbert W. Benario, 2000), "Hadrian".

[giac9-7] 1 2 Giacosa (1977), p. 9.

[8] Husband of Salonia Matidia: Levick (2014), p. 161.

[Smith_Servianus-9] Smith (1870), "Julius Servianus".

[10] Suetonius a possible lover of Sabina: One interpretation of HA Hadrianus 11:3

[Smith_1870a_p._319-11] Smith (1870), "Hadrian", pp. 319–322.

[12] Lover of Hadrian: Lambert (1984), p. 99 and passim; deification: Lamber (1984), pp. 2–5, etc.

[13] 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.

[14] Husband of Rupilia Faustina: Levick (2014), p. 163.

[lev163-15] 1 2 3 4 Levick (2014), p. 163.

[16] It is uncertain whether Rupilia Faustina was Frugi's daughter by Salonia Matidia or another woman.

[lev162-17] 1 2 3 4 Levick (2014), p. 162.

[lev164-18] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Levick (2014), p. 164.

[19] Wife of M. Annius Verus: Giacosa (1977), p. 10.

[20] Wife of M. Annius Libo: Levick (2014), p. 163.

[giac10-21] 1 2 3 4 5 Giacosa (1977), p. 10.

[22] 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.

[23] Husband of Ceionia Fabia: Levick (2014), p. 164.

[lev117-24] 1 2 3 Levick (2014), p. 117.

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