Marcus Lollius Paulinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus

Marcus Lollius Paullinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus (69/70 – after 134) was a prominent Roman Senator who was a powerful figure in the second half of the 1st century and first half of the 2nd century. He is also known by the shorter form of his name, Decimus Valerius Asiaticus, the same name carried by his father and grandfather.

Family background and early life Saturninus was of Allobrogian and Roman ancestry. He was the son of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus His father served as a Legatus of Gallia Belgica, The father of Saturninus became powerful through wealth and the skilful exploitation of imperial patronage. whose younger sister Lollia Paulina was the third wife of the emperor Caligula. Saturninus was a grandson of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus and Lollia Saturnina. The name of Saturninus reveals paternally he is related to the Valeria, and Lollia gentes.

Despite the presence of Lollii Paulini on his father's side, Olli Salomies argues that "surely the collocation of his names points to the conclusion that they are due to a (testamentary) adoption; the adopting parent may, of course, well have been a relative of the grandmother, since ... adoptive sons and fathers were in fact often closely related." Asiaticus was survived by Vitellia and their son. Saturninus started his career in the reign of the emperor Domitian, as one of the tresviri monetalis, the most prestigious of the four boards that comprise the vigintiviri; assignment to this board was usually allocated to patricians or individuals favored by the emperor. The next honors listed on the inscription are membership in the Salii Collinus and election as one of the Pontiffs, which apparently happened when he was in his twenties. Then at the age of 25, he held the post of quaestor, being selected as one of the pair allocated to attend to the emperor; the duties of these quaestors included reading the Emperor's speeches to the Senate. The inscription breaks off where it mentions his appointment as praetor, which usually happened at the age of 30.

We can supply details of the later part of his career from other sources. One attests to Saturninus serving as a suffect consul for the nundinium of May-August 94. Another reports that Saturninus was proconsular governor of Asia for the term 108/109. Werner Eck reports an unpublished inscription from Africa indicates he was governor of Hispania Tarraconensis at some point during the reign of Hadrian. From the years 124 to 134, he served as a Praefectus urbi in Rome. Messallina bore Asiaticus a son called Decimus Valerius Taurus Catullus Messallinus Asiaticus.