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[German version] [1] Follower of Septimius Severus N. was a schoolteacher in Rome who, as a senator on commission from  Septimius Severus pretended to raise for him an army in Gaul. In fact he achieved considerable success in battle against the troops of  Clodius [II 1] Albinus. N. allegedly seized 70 million sesterces for Severus, after whose victory in AD 97 N. renounced all his privileges and was content with only a small maintenance pension (Cass. Dio 75,5). PIR2 N 198. Franke, Thomas (Bochum) [German version] [2] Imp. Caes. M. Aurelius Numerius N. Augustus 3rd cent. AD emperor Roman e…

[German version] As praetorian governor of Numidia in AD 238 (perhaps identical with the epigraphically attested legatus Augusti pro praetore L. Ovinius Pudens Capella, PIR2 O 189), with the legio III Augusta, he quelled the revolt in Gordiane (Herodian. 7,9,11; SHA Maximin. 19,20, Gord. 15-16; ILS 8499). PIR2 C 404. Birley, A. R. (Düsseldorf) Bibliography K.-H. Dietz, Senatus contra principem, 1980, 109ff.

(Κάρος, Κάκυρος; Káros, Kákyros). Celtiberian from Segeda, general of several Iberian tribes and towns that defeated the army of the consul Q.  Fulvius [I 17] Nobilior on 23/ 8/153 BC. The Roman prohibition of building a wall around Segeda caused the confrontation. C. was killed while pursuing the enemy (App. Ib. 45; Diod. Sic. 31,39; Flor. Epit. 1,34 [Megaravicus]).  Hispania Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum) [German version] [2] Poet friend of Ovid A poet friend of  Ovid (Pont. 4,13 is addressed to him; 3,5 in the Tristiae, where the identity of the respective addressees is con…

Plebeian nomen gentile, documented in the literary tradition since the 5th cent.; the most important family were the Decii Mures (D. [I 1-3]), possibly from Campania [1], whose self-sacrifice (partly unhistorical) in battle made them much quoted examples in the tradition. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] D. Mus, P. (Origin of the cognomen not known), in 352 BC, committee member dealing with a debt crisis in Rome (Liv. 7,21,6); as war tribune in 343, he is said to have saved the army of the consul A. Cornelius [I 22] Cossus Arvina from…

[German version] The victor's name D. was not assumed by Domitian, contrary to the report at Mart. 8 pr. Trajan was officially called D. only after 102; in 236 Maximinus assumed the name D. Maximus for himself and his son Maximus. In the case of later emperors the title was probably unofficial: Decius (D. maximus from 250, but only on Spanish milestones), Gallienus (D. max. only in ILS 552, from 257), Aurelian [3] (ILS 581, from 275). Constantine [1] I named himself D. Maximus in 336 (AE 1934, 158…

[German version] M. Aurelius Maus(aeus?), AD 286-293.A Menapian by birth, and by profession a former helmsman, C. excelled himself in the Bagaudian War under  Maximianus. Subsequently, as commander of a fleet based in Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer), he was given the task of fighting the piratical Franks and Saxons. Based on suspicions that he had withheld war booty, the order was given to kill C.; in consequence, C. had himself proclaimed emperor in 286, and assumed the rule of Britannia. He was also …

[German version] I Greek (Σευῆρος; Seuêros). [German version] [1] Platonist, 2nd cent.? Platonist, probably 2nd cent. AD. He wrote a monograph On the soul [1. 80, 299; 2. 409-13, 428 f., 435 f.] and a commentary on Plato’s Timaeus [1. 52, 217 f.; 2. 407-9]. He appears in these works to be an original-minded, somewhat stoicizing interpreter of Aristotle’s doctrine of categories [1. 259; 2. 413 f.; 3. 66, 288 f.], and of Plato’s theories of the soul [1. 299; 3. 56, 278 f.] and of the origin of the world [4. 116-18, 417-21]. His works …

[German version] [1], M. Homo novus, 1st cent. AD, dialogue partner in Tacitus's Dialogus Lived from about AD 23 until the last quarter of 1st cent. A Roman orator from Gallia (Tac. Dial. 10,2; presumably Tres Galliae [4. 799 f.]), possibly father of Flavius A. (PIR2 F 206). Was probably awarded during the campaign in Britain 43 (Tac. Dial. 17,4) the latus clavus, which for the homo novus opened a career as quaestor, tribune of the people and praetor (7,1). In Tacitus' Dialogus he appears as a dialogue partner, the only source for the famous orator (14,3). Rottler, Christoph (Tübingen) Bibli…

Oscan praenomen ( Egnatius [I 3]). Attested as a Roman nomen gentile from the 2nd cent. BC. The most important holder is the seven-time consul M. [I 1]; the prominent Imperial-period Spanish bearer of the name, M. [II 3], is probably a descendant of family members of that Marius. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] M., C. Seven-time consul, victor over Jugurtha and over the Cimbri and Teutoni, opponent of Sulla The seven-time consul; victor over Jugurtha and over the Cimbri and Teutoni. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] A. The rise to political prominence Born c. 157 BC…

[German version] [1] Avitianus, L., governor under the Severi Avitianus, L., praetoric governor of Arabia and consularian governor of Pannonia inferior in the time of the Severi; frater Arvalis (present in the collegium AD 218 and AD 231). PIR2 A 519. Birley, A. R. (Düsseldorf) Bibliography Leunissen, 256, 262. [German version] [2] Senecio, L., governor (beginning of the 3rd cent. AD) Senecio, L., son of a procurator Aug. by the same name, from Cuicul in Numidia, legatus Aug. pro praetore in Coele Syria under Severus, and governor of Britannia between 205 and 207. PIR2 A 521. Birley, A. R.…

[German version] [1] One of the 30 tyrants Character invented by the author of   Historia Augusta ; one of the so-called 30 tyrants, supposedly usurper under Claudius Gothicus, he was killed after seven days. For vita, SHA Tyr. Trig. 31,12; 32,8-33,6. PIR2 C 656. Birley, A. R. (Düsseldorf) Bibliography K.-P. Johne, Kaiserbiographie und Senatsaristokratie, 1976, 122-28. [German version] [2] Caelius C., C. High official, 4th cent. AD High official of the time of  Constantinus the Great. He is known only from an inscription from Campania (ILS 1216), where the offi…

[German version] [1] Imperator Caesar C. Pius E. Tetricus Augustus Augustus in Gaul and Britannia AD 271-274 He came from a noble (Aur. Vict. Caes. 33,14), certainly (because of the name E.) Gallic family and, even before his elevation to Augustus, was senator and governor of Aquitania, when Victorinus ruled over the rebel Gallic empire (Eutr. 9,10). After Victorinus was murdered, he was proclaimed emperor by the military, probably in the spring of AD 271, and clothed in the purple in Bordeaux (Eutr. ibid.; [Aur…

[German version] Decree of  Caracalla (AD 212), by which he extended Roman citizenship to almost all members of the empire (Cass. Dio 77,9,5; Dig. 1,5,17); cf. Aur. Vict., Caesares 16,12, who mistakenly attributes that action to  Marcus Aurelius instead of M. Aur. Antoninus Caracalla. Whether the much-discussed PGiss. 40 I contained the edict is questioned by [1]. The problem of the [de]diticii, who in the papyrus were apparently excluded from  citizenship or from the rights and privileges that it entailed, is possibly explained by the so-called Tabula Ba…

[German version] Called ‘Callistus’ by Greek authors, because of an orthographical error [1], Praetorian praefect of  Valerianus, then of  Macrianus (SHA Valer. 4,4; SHA Gall. 3,2). After Valerian was taken prisoner, he had the sons of Macrianus proclaimed emperors (SHA Gall. 1,3). As cavalry commander for Macrianus, he triumphed over the Persians (Zon. 12,24). He stayed in the east with Quietus, the younger son of Macrianus, but surrendered Quietus in the battle of Emesa; however, B. was soon killed by Odoenathus (Zon. 12,24; SHA Gall. 3,1f.). PIR2 B 41; PLRE 1, 146. Birley, A. R. (Dü…

[German version] [1] Imperator Caesar M. Aurelius Probus Augustus Roman emperor AD 276-282 Roman emperor 276-282 AD. Born on 19 August 232 AD in Sirmium; the information about his father in SHA Probus 3,2 and in [Aur. Vict.] epit. Caes. 37,1 is probably fictitious. P.'s career prior to his elevation to emperor in the East in the summer of 276 (Zos. 1,64) (in SHA Probus he is confused with a dux Tenagino P.) is unknown. During his six-year reign ( cos. I-III 277-279, cos. IV 281, cos. V 282) he fought first on the Rhine against the Alamanni, then against the Franci, Burgundiones an…

[No German version] I. Greek Degani, Enzo (Bologna) Bibliography GA 2,1,11 f.; 2,2,13-16. [German version] [I 1] Epigrammatic poet of Nicaea. Author of three interesting epigrams from the ‘Garland’ of Philippus: the astounding lament of a ship that -- having escaped shipwreck -- returns to port ‘with a cargo of corpses’ (Anth. Pal. 9,218), and two descriptions of works of art, the first (Anth. Pal. 7,623) a famous painting by Aristides of Thebes (Plin. HN 35,98), the second (Anth. Pal. 9,756) seems to illustrate …

[German version] [1] Name of a deity Name of a deity, based on its earliest attestation (Palmyrene stele of Nazala, 1st cent. AD), it can be etymologically derived from lhbl (Hdn. 5,3,4: Elaiagabalos). Since lh is present in the status emphaticus, E. must be read as the ‘God Mountain’ [8. 503f.]. The image on the stele also speaks for this [1. 707]. The mountain signifies the citadel mountain of  Emesa (Ḥimṣ) with the temple of E. [6. 257f.; 8. 509f.], which is indicated in ancient descriptions (Avien. Descriptio orbis 1083-1093) …

[German version] A. Modestus Crescentianus, Q. Participated as XV vir sacris faciundis in AD 204 in the ludi saeculares; he was praetorian imperial legate in Arabia. Cos. suff., legate of Germania superior in 209 and cos. II ord. in 228. PIR2 A 470. Birley, A. R. (Düsseldorf) Bibliography Eck, 81-82.

Name of a plebeian gens (cf. Tac. Ann. 6,15,1), the representatives of whom have been known historically since the middle of the 3rd cent. BC. The most important family, especially in the 1st cent. BC, are the Cassii Longini. A patrician C. (around 500 BC, C. I 19) is rare. I. Republican age [German version] [I 1] C., C. Governor of Asia 89-88 BC Praetor 90 BC (?), in 89-88 governor of the province of Asia whence he, with M'. Aquillius [I 4], induced Nicomedes of Bithynia to attack  Mithridates (MRR 2,34). He then had to retreat from the victorious Mithridat…

[German version] [1] Roman emperor, born AD 51 Roman emperor; original name T. Flavius Domitianus = Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] A. Up to the death of Titus Born on 24 Oct. AD 51 in Rome; his parents were T. Flavius  Vespasianus and Flavia Domitilla. D. spent his childhood in Rome; he did not accompany his father Vespasian to Judaea. His life was first threatened in the 2nd half of 69 during the reign of Vitellius, when D.'s father had already been proclaimed emperor, and fightin…