Descended from the patrician Cornelia gens, Cornelius' father and grandfather were both named Gnaeus, and they belonged to the family of the Cornelii Lentuli, which first appears in Roman history during the fourth century BC.
[3] The surname Maluginensis was borne by the most ancient branch of the Cornelii, but had long since vanished from use; in Imperial times old cognomina were frequently revived.
[4] Cornelius' chief notability is for having been appointed flamen dialis, the high priest of Jupiter, at the direction of Augustus, after the position had been vacant for an unusually long period.
[5] But Tacitus states that he was appointed seventy-two years after the suicide of Lucius Cornelius Merula, the previous holder of the priesthood, in 87 BC.
However, the emperor Tiberius asserted that the religious duties and obligations of the flamen dialis precluded his leaving Italy, and thus Cornelius was denied the governorship.