Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus
Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus was the maternal grandfather of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. A member of gens Arria, a family of consular rank, Antoninus was also an office holder, having been twice consul; for the first time in 69 and the second in 97; he was also proconsul of Asia in 78/79.
Antoninus was a friend and correspondent to the senator and historian Pliny the Younger. The Historia Augusta describes him as a "righteous person", who pitied Nerva when he became Emperor in 96.
Antoninus married Boionia Procilla, by whom he had two daughters: Arria Antonina and Arria Fadilla, who married Titus Aurelius Fulvus, consul in 89. Their only child was Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius, who, as Antoninus Pius, became Emperor. Antoninus Pius' father had died when he was young. Following Pius' father's death, Fadilla married Publius Julius Lupus, suffect consul in 98, and bore him two daughters, Julia Fadilla and Arria Lupula.
Antoninus raised his grandson, and when he died Antoninus Pius inherited his money. Through the inheritances of both sides, Antoninus Pius became one of the wealthiest men in Rome.
