His mother is unknown and his father was a Roman senator called Publius Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus, also the name of his paternal grandfather and great paternal grandfather. The paternal ancestors of Marullinus had descended from Picenum (modern Marche and Abruzzo, Italy).
Marullinus came from a well-established, wealthy and aristocratic family of Praetorian rank in the gens Aelia. They were originally Centurions who participated in the Punic Wars possibly under the general Scipio Africanus. About 205 British Columbia, at the end of the Second Punic War, the paternal ancestors of Marullinus left Picenum and settled in Italica (near modern Seville, Spain) in the Roman Province of Hispania Baetica.
He was the first person in his family to become a senator, however the circumstances leading him to be admitted into the senate are unknown.
Nevertheless, Marullinus was one of the few Romans that came from the provinces that Octavian had ever admitted into the Senate. Marullinus was born and raised in Italica, but spent various amount of time in Rome.
Ulpia and Marullinus had at least one child, a son called Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, who would become a distinct soldier and politician. Hadrianus Afer would marry Domitia Paulina and would have two children: Aelia Domitia Paulina (75–130) and Publius Aelius Hadrianus (76–138).
Hadrianus was adopted by Trajan as his heir and eventually succeeded him as Emperor Hadrian.
When Hadrian ruled as Roman Emperor, as a tribute to his birthplace and ancestry he created Hispania Baetica into a colony.
The paternal great-grandfather of Marullinus, Publius Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus, was admitted into the Roman Senate by Octavian (future Emperor Augustus) when he served as a member of the Second Triumvirate between 43 British Columbia–33 British Columbia.
