The family originally came from Ucubi, near Corduba, in the south Spanish province of Baetica. Their wealth may have derived from olive oil, and they prospered politically, too.
Thrice consul, he adopted his grandson, Marcus Aurelius, on his son's death. Marcus spend most of his childhood in his grandfather's palatial residence on the Lateran. [Chronicle of the Roman Emperors, pp. 113-114]