Acquaintance Chain to Antiquity

I define an acquaintance chain to antiquity^© (ACTA) as any demonstrable, unbroken line of personal acquaintance from oneself to any figure in Greco-Roman and other ancient history. The concept, to the best of my knowledge, is original. Unlike the concept of “six degrees of separation” (linking any person on earth through six degrees of acquaintance to every other person—unprovable for any individual, for it’s only convincing statistically), ACTA lines are vertical and demonstrable. They are also satisfyingly personal—the chain begins with oneself and links one to the deep past. The varieties of route are almost infinite. Even the so-called Dark Ages can be readily traversed. In addition, ACTA have the attraction of providing a new category of record-setting, for instance the shortest number of acquaintance links between oneself and Julius Caesar (let’s say), or the deepest historical penetration. Anyone with a good library can play. In the present article I demonstrate an unbroken acquaintance chain from myself to Julius Caesar, making comments along the way. Given time, I could have done the journey with fewer links, and I invite others to achieve the same goal by a shorter route. The project was suggested by my reading on the subject of Descent from Antiquity (DFA), the so-far unsuccessful attempt by Christian Settipani and others to establish for anyone alive today a demonstrable, properly researched descent from anyone in Greco-Roman antiquity. If no one can demonstrate a descent from classical antiquity, I thought, then how about an acquaintance chain to antiquity, done in as short a number of links as one can manage?

The best way to begin is by accessing “highways” of famous people and moving up along them—royalty, composers, scientists, writers, in other words people with entries in encyclopedias and about whom there are books or records. It’s important to include only people who clearly and demonstrably knew each other well, so that the connections are beyond debate. For instance, a son who was only two or three when his father died cannot properly be said to have known him.

Beginning with myself, then: one of my friends is Sir Ninian Stephen, former governor-general of Australia, who knows Queen Elizabeth II, who knew George V, who knew Queen Victoria, who knew George IV, tutored by Bishop Richard Hurd, friend of William Warburton, friend of Alexander Pope, who knew John Dryden, friend of William Davenant, who knew Fulke Greville, a favourite of Elizabeth I, who knew her father Henry VIII, born in 1491. Thus in thirteen links we are a quarter way back to Julius Caesar.

A couple of points about the trip so far: we have just covered over 500 years, which represents about seventeen generations if we allow thirty years per generation, so thirteen links is nothing outstanding. Five hundred years should be able to be traversed with eight or nine acquaintance links if we restrict ourselves to old people who, when young, knew old people who, when young, knew old people, and so on—a challenge for which I currently lack the time.

Stage two will take us to Charlemagne (with life-dates in brackets, to be clear about whom I’m naming): Henry VIII knew his grandmother Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509), who knew her half-brother-in-law Henry VI (1421–71), one of whose guardians was Henry Beaufort (c. 1375–1447, bishop of Lincoln and Winchester), a son of John of Gaunt (1340–99), a son of Edward III (1312–77), eldest son of Edward II (1284–1327), a son of Edward I (1239–1307), eldest son of Henry III (1207–1272), eldest son of King John (1167–1216), youngest son of Henry II (1133–89), son of Matilda (1102–64), daughter of Henry I (1068–1135), a son of William I (the Conqueror, 1027 or 1028–87), who knew Henry I King of France (1008–60), who knew Robert II King of France (c. 970–1031), son of Hugh Capet (c. 938–96), son of Hugh the Great (898–956), son of Robert I King of France (that is, of the Franks, 866–923), brother of Odo (or Eudes, c. 860–98), son of Robert the Strong (count of Anjou and of Blois, d. 866), closely associated with Charles the Bald (Roman emperor, king of the West Franks, 823–77), son of Louis I (the Pious, 778–840), co-emperor with his father Charlemagne (c. 742–814).

Twenty-three acquaintance links across those 750 years from 1491 back to 742—a reasonable number, perhaps, given the frequent disorder.

We approach the Dark Ages—unproblematic, though at some points the prevailing chaos means more and shorter links.

Charlemagne’s father was Peppin III (“the Short”, 714–68), son of Charles Martel (c. 688–741), son of Peppin II (635 or 645–714), son of Ansegisel (c. 602 or 610, killed before 679), son of St Arnulf of Metz (c. 582–c. 640), adviser to Theudebert II of Austrasia (586–612), son of Childebert II (570–95), who knew Chilperic I king of Neustria (c. 539–84), son of Clotaire I king of the Franks (c. 497–561), son of Clovis first king of the Franks (c. 466–511), converted to Christianity by St Remigius (c. 437–533), who knew Caius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius (c. 430–87), son-in-law of the Western emperor Avitus (c. 385–456/7).

Though in thirteen acquaintance links from Charlemagne we are now almost a century deep into the Western Roman Empire (which “ended” in 476), the chaos at certain points increases, so consequently many of the chronological links are very short. This is particularly so through the “crisis of the third century”, that turbulent period prior to Diocletian and “the Dominate”. Once we reach the Severans and the Antonines the road of war and disorder becomes a fast highway again.

Before becoming emperor, Avitus was appointed magister militum by emperor Petronius Maximus (c. 396–455), who knew Valentinian II (419–55), son of Galla Placidia (c. 388/90–450), daughter of Theodosius I (the Great, 347–95), son of Count Theodosius the Elder (d. 376), senior military adviser to Valentinian I (321–75), son of Gratian the Elder (comes britanniarum in the 340s), hated and feared by Constantius II (317–61), who was made Caesar by his father Constantine the Great (c. 272–337), son of Flavius Valerius Constantius (“Chlorus”, 250–306), appointed governor of Dalmatia by the emperor Carus (230–83), who was appointed prefect of the Pretorian Guard by the emperor Probus (232–82), who was appointed governor of the East by the emperor Tacitus (c. 200–76), who knew and succeeded to the emperor Aurelian (c. 214–75), right-hand man to the emperor Gallienus (218–68), son of Valerian I (c. 200–60), princeps senatus in 238 and close to Gordian I (c. 159–238), suffect consul under emperor Elagabalus (c. 203–22), grandson of Julia Maesa (c. 165–224), sister-in-law to emperor Septimius Severus (145/6–211), appointed senator by Marcus Aurelius (121–80), who knew Hadrian (76–138), ward of Trajan (53–117), who was nominated consul under Domitian (51–96), son of Vespasian (17–79), a consul under Claudius (10 BC–54 AD), who knew Augustus (63 BC–14 AD), adopted son of Julius Caesar (100–44 BC).

The twenty-eight acquaintance links from Avitus back to Julius Caesar could be reduced by blazing different acquaintance trails. Incorporating theologians and philosophers who knew each other across the generations might produce fewer links than sticking with politicians and military commanders.

In total, then, we have an acquaintance chain of seventy-seven links from me to Julius Caesar. Given time and a lot more biographical reading, it could possibly be done in sixty or fewer. 

Two challenges: first, can you do the trip in seventy or fewer links? and second, how deep back into antiquity can you go with all the links remaining historically secure and demonstrable? I stopped with Julius Caesar, but with one more link I would be at 157 BC, birth-year of Marius, whom Caesar knew. There would be no problem connecting oneself with the great commanders of the second and first Punic Wars (third century BC), with Alexander the Great, and with pre-eminent Greek philosophers and playwrights. One could also take by-roads towards the end here, and do Cleopatra VII (via Augustus) in seventy-seven, Marcus Antonius in seventy-seven, Pontius Pilatus in seventy-seven (Claudius knew Tiberius, who appointed Pontius Pilatus praefectus iudaeae—official title attached to his name on a stone inscription found in an archaeological dig in 1961). One is as honoured to find oneself seventy-eight acquaintance links from Jesus of Nazareth as to find oneself a mere seventy from that profound philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius, though I put Jesus on one side, not because I personally doubt his historicity, or the fact that Pilate dealt with him at first-hand, but because I’m aware that a handful of averagely intelligent people still do, despite the Gospels and evidences in Tacitus, Suetonius and Josephus.

If we were minded to see how far back into antiquity we could go, we would follow verifiable acquaintance trails through Rome to the Hellenic world and thence to Parthian and Persian dynasties. It goes without saying that we would shun the Old Testament and historical records heavily contaminated with myth and legend (like the earliest books of Livy), using only the most reliable sections of the classical historians, backed wherever possible by inscriptional and other archaeological records. I have no idea how far these might extend the chains, but I intend to find out, and I encourage the setting of long-distance records in this field.