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Roman nomen gentile, sometimes confused with Sextius. The family surfaced as patrician with S. [1] and [5] in the mid 5th cent. BC. In the late Republic, it had only (politically insignificant) plebeian members. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] S., L. In order to illustrate the just administration of the first collegium of decemviri , especially the justice of C. Iulius [I 13] Iullus, Livy (3,33,9 f.) and Cicero (Rep. 2,61) tell the anecdote that after a corpse was found buried in the house of S., Iulius - who,…

(in Greek usually Μάλλιος/ Mállios, often confused in MSS with Mallius and Manilius). Name of a Roman patrician family, probably of Etruscan origin [1. 227]. It attained an early political zenith in the 5th and 4th cents. BC with the Vulsones and Capitolini branches (continued by the Torquati). Sources connect the family's history primarily with the repelling of the Celts ( M. [I 8] and [I 12]. Stemmata, details of which are uncertain: [2. 1157f., 1166]). A period of decline ended in about 260 BC wi…

Plebeian family, which produced a succession of important representatives in the 4th cent. BC (family tree in [1]). [German version] [1] P., Q. Decemvir in 450 BC As a member of the second collegium of the decemviri in 450 BC (MRR 1, 46f.) he is said to have been sent into battle against an incursion by the Sabines (Liv. 3,41,9; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 11,23,1). Müller, Christian (Bochum) [German version] [2] P. Libo, M. Consul 314 BC As consul in 314 BC, P. achieved a victory with his counterpart Sulpicius Longus against the Samnites (Liv. 9,24-26; Diod. Sic. 19,76,1-5). Ac…

Roman-Italian family name, etymologically presumably from the praenomen Maius [1. 185]; light defacement of the name in the MSS handed down, in Livy (2,58,2): L. Mecilius as member of the first people's tribune council in 471 BC (presumably subsequently added to the list). [German version] [1] M., Sp. People's tribune in 416 BC According to Livy (4,48), M. proposed an agricultural law as tr. pl. IV in 416 BC, which made provisions for distributing the land conquered by Rome and occupied by the nobility ‘man for man’ ( viritim), but it failed by a veto of six people's tribunes, won …

Roman family, probably of Etruscan origin, that played an outstanding role, through the Verginii Tricosti branch (genealogy of the V. Tricosti in [1. 1519]), in Roman politics esp. in the 5th cent. BC. Characteristic of the V. Tricosti are the additional cognomina Caelimontanus, Esquilinus and Rutilus. The political importance of the family steadily declined from around the middle of the 5th cent., becoming altogether insignificant around the middle of the 4th cent. BC. If nothing else, however,…

Roman patrician gentilic name (from the praenomen Postumus ), found in the highest offices from the 5th cent. BC on and politically significant until the 2nd cent. BC. As dictator in 499 or 496 BC, an A. P. is supposed to have decided the battle at Lacus Regillus (Liv. 2,19-20). The Albi or Albini (Regillenses), who withdrew from politics with P. [I 9]'s military failure in the Jugurthine War at the end of the 2nd cent. BC, are his descendants. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] P., C. Etruscan haruspex, even consulted by Sulla Etruscan haruspex ( haruspices …

Name of a Roman patrician family (epigraphically also Serveilius), said to have migrated to Rome from Alba Longa under king Tullus Hostilius [4] (Liv. 1,30,2; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,29,7). The oldest branches are the Ahalae and Fidenates in the 5th and 4th cents. BC; the Caepiones and Gemini, from whom the Vatiae (Isaurici) descended, appear in the 3rd cent. The last prominent member of the Servilii Caepiones was the murderer of Caesar, M. Iunius [I 10] Brutus, son of Servilia [1], and himself adopted into the family. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] A fleet commander in the B…

Roman nomen gentile, also confused with Sestius . According to tradition, the family achieved prominence in the 4th cent. BC with S. [I 6] who obtained access to the consulate for plebeians. The family was unimportant under the Republic, with the exception of S. [1 3]; the branch which was best known into the 3rd cent. AD originated with Caesar's follower S. [I 2], but it made spurious claims to be descended from the first plebeian consul S. [I 6] (hence the epithets Africanus and Laterensis). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] S., Q. Founder of t…

Name of a patrician Roman family, derived from the praenomen Quintus (comparable to Sextus/ Sextius, etc.), often also Quintius in inscriptions and MSS. The origin of the family is unknown; its great age is suggested by its connection with the festival of the Lupercalia (Ov. Fast. 2,378 has Quintilii) and the unusual praenomen of the family, Kaeso, encountered in this context ( v. Q. [I 1]). Livy counts them among the families that migrated to Rome from Alba with King Tullius Hostilius (1,32,2; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,29,7 mentions the Quinctilii). The Quinctii are mentioned many tim…

Old Roman nomen gentile, derived from the prename Marcus. Tradition knows of a patrician branch with the (mythical) king Ancus M. [I 3] and Cn. M. Coriolanus as its most important members. The younger members of the family (from the 3rd cent.) were plebeian without a link to the patrician Marcii being evident. Important families included the Rutili, later also the Censorini, Tremuli, Reges and Rallae. In the Late Republic the family claimed descent from the kings Ancus M. and Numa Pompilius (therefore the cognomen Rex, see M. [I 5]; RRC 346; 425; Suet. Iul. 6,1; [4. 154]) as wel…

[German version] [1] Vitruvius Vaccus, Marcus According to Livy (8,19,4-8,20,10), V. was an influential citizen of Fundi (Fondi) who led the revolt against Rome that was undertaken by Privernum (Piperno) with the support of Fondi in 330/329 BC.  After the failed insurrection he was executed in Rome.  It is difficult to explain V's role in this revolt, given that he was clearly not an unimportant figure in Rome and owned a house there, which was then destroyed by decree of the Senate (Cic. Dom. 101 sti…

Roman gens of the early Republic, to which R. [1] - if historical - and R. [2] may be attributed; however, the tradition in Dion. Hal. (R. [1]: tr. pl., R. [2]: patrician) is contradictory. If one considers R. [1] unhistorical as does [1. 29] it becomes likely to view the gens Rabuleia as patrician, but a plebeian origin cannot be excluded. [German version] [1] People's tribune in 486 BC, sought to mediate in the dispute over the agrarian law According to Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 8,72,1 ff., R. attempted to mediate as tr. pl. in 486 BC in the dispute between Cassius [I 19] and his co-consul…

Name of a patrician gens, whose last known representative N. ( tr. mil. 258 BC) is placed by tradition in the middle of the 3rd cent. BC. According to Varro (HRR II p. 9 = Serv. Aen. 2,166; cf. 3,407; 5,704) the ancestor of the gens was a companion of Aeneas by the name of Nautes, to whom Diomedes [1] surrendered the Palladion of Troy, which had been plundered by the Greeks, and this was the origin of a gentile cult for Minerva observed among the Nautii (cf. Fest. 164 L.; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 6,69,1). [German version] [1] N., Sp. Legate of the consul L. Papieius Cursor, contributed considera…

I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] P. Relative of Cicero's second wife Publilia A close relative (brother?) of Cicero's second wife Publilia; for this reason, he is frequently mentioned in Cicero's letters to T. Pomponius [I 5] Atticus. Bartels, Jens (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] P., Volero People's tribune in 472 and 471 BC People's tribune in 472 and 471 BC (MRR 1, 29 f.). P. is said to have introduced a bill in 472 to have the election of the tribunes of the plebs take place not in the comitia curiata, which were dominated by patricians and their clients, but in the comitia tributa (Co…

[German version] [1] Nomen gentile The name T. is the Latinized form of an Ancient Etruscan nomen gentile * tarq/χ u-na, from which the Latin name was derived by means of the -i̯o suffix inherited from the indo-European basic form. In Etruscan itself, the name in the form tarq/χ una is not attested; instances of a basic form * tarq/χ-  from the Archaic period are rare (cf. perhaps tarχ umenaia [1. 251, Cl 2.8], tarχ elnas [1. 86, Vs 1.2]). Inherited forms occur in Late Etruscan in the nomina gentilia tarcna/tarχ na ( cf. tarcnai, tar χ nas from the Tomba delle Iscrizioni, Caere, CIE 5907-5974; t…

Name of a patrician gens which had already died out in the 5th cent. BC. Later bearers of the name owe it to the provenance from the eponymous tribus. [German version] [1] Horatii Member of the Horatius gens (Royal period). According to legend (Liv. 1,24-26; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,13,4-22,10), under King Tullus  Hostilius [I 4], the conflict between Rome and  Alba Longa was decided by a fight between the Horatii triplets and the Curiatii triplets rather than a battle. After two brothers had fallen, the last H. overcame his opponent…

[German version] Tiburtine, sent in Vergil's Aeneid by Turnus [1] to seek help from Diomedes [1] against Aeneas [1], but fails in this mission and shortly afterwards falls in a cavalry battle (Verg. Aen. 8,9; 11,241-295; 11,741-758; Serv. Aen. 8,9; 11,757). Linguistically it is debatable whether the origin of the name V. is Celtic or Illyrian. Müller, Christian (Bochum) Bibliography C. Feroni, s. v. Venulo, EV 5.1, 1990, 498 f.

[German version] T. Harsa, C. According to Livius (3,9,1-10,3; on the historicity of the account see [1. 411-413; 2. 93-95]), as tr. pl. in 462 BC he proposed establishing a five-man college to legally limit the powers of the consuls. Although he later withdrew the proposal, it unleashed long-lasting controversies, which ultimately led to an ambassadorship to Greece (to study law) in 454 and to the establishment of the Decemviri [1] in 451. Müller, Christian (Bochum) Bibliography 1 R. M. Ogilvie, A Commentary on Livy Books 1-5, 1965 2 D. Flach, Die Gesetze der frühen römisch…

Rare Roman family name, attested in historical traditions only in the 5th and 4th cents. BC. [German version] [1] M., Q. People's tribune 320 BC, gave up his office Jointly responsible for the Caudine treaty, M. gave up his office as tr. pl. 320 BC and was turned over to the Samnites (Liv. 9,8,13-10,2; Cic. Off. 3,109). Müller, Christian (Bochum) [German version] [2] Aspired to the kingly rule of Rome 440/39 BC According to Liv. 4,12,6-16,1 and Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 12,1-4 M., a rich plebeian, gained a broad following in a famine 440/39 BC by buying grain and selling…

Oscan praenomen, later a widespread nomen gentile; literary refs. at Rome from as early as the 5th cent. BC (O. [I 5]), but historical evidence only from the 2nd cent. The Tusculan Opiter O., who is said to have given his name to the Mons O. at Rome, is an invention (Varro in Fest. 476 L.). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] O., C. Author of a law of 215 BC to limit displays of wealth Restricted the opportunities for women to display wealth by his law of 215 BC (Liv. 34,1,1-3 et alibi; MRR 1, 255). In 195, this legislation was repealed despite the res…