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Name of probably the most important Roman plebeian family. The similarity to the Etruscan name lecne and the links between the gens and Etruria in historical times (L. [I 7]) suggest an origin in that region [1. 108, n. 3]; the name may, however, also be of Latin origin ( Licinus). The spelling with a double ‘n’ occurs not only in the Greek form Λικίννιος ( Likínnios), but also in Latin inscriptions [1. 108, n. 1]. In the annalistic historical records dealing with the early Republic, members of the family appear among the earliest people's tribunes, reaching their polit…

[German version] From the 4th cent. BC at the latest (going back too far: Cic. De or. 2,52) to the period of P. Mucius [I 5] Scaevola (from 130 BC), the pontifex maximus published notes about current events - the type and length of which are contested - in front of the regia on a white-washed wooden plate ( album: Cic. De or. 2,52; tabula dealbata: Serv. Auct. Aen. 1,373): along with price increases (due to bad harvests) and solar or lunar eclipses (Cato Orig. fr. 77 P.; cf. Cic. Rep. 1,25) probably prodigies, vota, temple consecrations and other items of re…

[German version] (Latin rogus, also, esp. poetic, the Greek loan-word pyra, e.g. Verg. Aen. 6,215; Ov. Fast. 2,534). At Rome, term for the funeral pyre for the burning of corpses. It was made of pieces of wood and small items piled up at a specially determined site ( ustrina) close to the place of interment. In shape it resembled a square altar (Serv. Aen. 6,177; therefore poetically referred to as ara: Ov. Tr. 3,13,21 et passim). Originally unadorned (the Tabulae duodecim forbade smoothing the logs with an axe, Cic. Leg. 2,59), the rogus was later made more elaborate according to the …

[German version] Term for the Roman funeral banquet (< cena fu>nebris, Fest. p. 376 L.; convivium funebre, Non. P. 48,5 M.) which, like the Greek perídeipnon (identified in CGL II 183,58), was celebrated by the next of kin immediately after the interment of the deceased at the grave, according to "ancient custom" (Varro, Sat. Men. 303, cited in Non. P. 48,6-9 M.). The idea behind it (shared by many peoples: [1. 23 f.]) was probably that the deceased took part in the meal (Donat. in Ter. Ad. 587: cena quae infertur dis manibus; implicitly in Tert. Apol. 13,7). The etymology of the w…

[German version] I. Life L. Cornelius S., from a senatorial family probably of Etruscan origin, born no later than 118 BC, performed military service in the Social Wars (probably under Cornelius [I 90] Sulla). It is unclear whether in the 80s he was in Rome (as [2] believes) or in the East with Sulla [3. 215]. Praetor in 78 [7. 22] and after that probably governor of Sicily (Cic. Verr. 2,2,110: MRR 2, 90); in 70 BC, he was involved in the defence of Verres (Cic. Verr. 2,4,43); as legate of Cn. Pompe…

Roman nomen gentile, which can almost certainly be traced back to the praenomen G. attested from the beginning of the 3rd cent. BC. There is evidence of the bearers of the name in the political life of Rome from the 2nd cent. BC. [German version] [1] Stepbrother of L. Marcius Philippus (Cos. 56 BC) Stepbrother of L. Marcius Philippus ( cos. 56 BC), otherwise unknown supporter of P. Clodius [I 4] from the equestrian class, defamed by Cicero as ‘the wet-nurse of all revolutionaries’ (Cic. Vatin. 4; Cic. Sest. 110-112). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [2] G., Cn. Rom. historia…

Roman nomen gentile of Sabine origin. Its members begin to appear in the sources late in the 3rd cent. BC. Politically the most important branch was that of the Terentii Varrones which attained the ranks of the nobility with T. [I 14] Varro, consul in 216 BC. From the mid-2nd cent., several families of this branch were in simultaneous and unconnected existence. Cognomina showing geographical origins are widespread among the Terentii (Afer, Lucanus, Massaliota). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] As people's tribune in 54 BC, T. prevented…

Plebeian gentilicium, also Coilius, in surviving manuscripts often confused with Caelius (Schulze 155; ThlL, Onom. 2, 523-525). Bearers of this name are documented since the 2nd cent. BC, usually belonging to the Tribus Aemilia. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] C. Antipater, L. Historiographer, late 2nd cent. BC Possibly the brother of the senator C. Coelius C.f. [1; 2. 16], a highly educated scholar of law and rhetoric (Cic. Brut. 102; Dig. 1,2,2,40), considered the teacher and friend of L. Licinius Crassu…

(plur. quaestores, from quaerere, ‘to ask’, ‘examine’; the etymological meaning is not related to the official responsibility as a treasury official, cf. mastroí ). Lowest stage of the cursus honorum . [German version] I. Quaestores parricidii Q. parricidii (mentioned in the Twelve Tables/ tabulae duodecim : Pomponius Dig. 1,2,2,23) were concerned with the investigation of capital offences in early Rome (Paul. Fest., s. v. parricidi q., p. 247 L.) and were almost certainly not a permanent institution of criminal prosecution by the state but probably acted as …

(Greek κλῆρος/ klêros , Lat. sors). I. Political [German version] A. Greece The lot was used especially in democracies, but not only in such, as a means to distribute office among those who were equally eligible, rather than appointing the best candidate under the circumstances. For Athens, the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia states that Solon introduced the selection of the archons by lot from a short list of pre-selected candidates ([Aristot.] Ath. pol. 8,1; but differing: Aristot. Pol. 2,1273b 35-1274a 3; 1274a 16-17; 3,1281b 25-34). In the…

[German version] (originally also pollictor: Plaut. Poen. 63; Varro Sat. Men. 222,2) is what in the classical Roman period a slave (Dig. 14,3,5,8) or free employee of an undertaker ( L ibitinarii ) was called; he prepared corpses for the wake and burial (Non. 157,21: “pollinctores sunt qui mortuos curant”; similarly, but with erroneous etymology: Fulg. p. 112 Helm) by washing them (Serv. Aen. 9,485), embalming them with substances that prevented decay (esp. salt, cedar oil, myrrh: [1. 484, esp. note 7]), and…

Common given name of Oscan or Umbrian origin not used by the Roman upper class (abbreviated in inscriptions as Sa. or Sal.), later appears as a nomen gentile; also a slave name. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Era [German version] [I 1] Slave leader (Slave leader) see Tryphon [2]. Bartels, Jens (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] Centurion named only by Plutarch as one of Pompeius' murderers Centurion named only in Plut. Pompeius 78,1 and 79,4 as one of Pompey's murderers. Bartels, Jens (Bonn) [German version] [I 3] Freedman and probable agent of Caesar Freedman probably active as …

[German version] (περίδειπνον; perídeipnon) was the name given in Greece (until the 4th cent. BC at the latest: Dem. Or. 18,288; Men. Aspis 233 Sandbach; Men. Fr. 309) to the funeral banquet which was probably originally celebrated at the graveside (wrongly dismissed in [1. 175]), but from as early as the Archaic Period had usually taken place in the home of the next-of-kin of the deceased (Dem. Or. 18,288). As at other banquets, the garland (Wreath, garland) (Cic. Leg. 2,63) was worn at the perideipnon, which took place immediately after the burial ( ekphorá ) (cf. e…

(originally pro consule, 'instead of the consul(es) ': attested in inscriptions from ILS 5945, i.e. 135 BC, on; in literature, e.g., Cic. Phil. 10,26; Liv. 8,23,12; for linguistic use cf. [1]; Greek ἀνθύπατος/ anthýpatos) was a state official in Rome who in the sphere of his office outside the city exercised full consular authority ( imperium ), but was not authorized to consult the auspicia (see  augures ) (Cic. Div. 2,76). [German version] I. Republican Period When there were insufficient magistrates with imperium, the Senate and the people extended imperium beyond the regular per…

Name of a Roman plebeian family. Bearers of the name, recorded from the 3rd cent. BC, not of urban Roman origin, emerged as business people from the 2nd cent. (ILLRP 723b; 747; 1025) and received Roman citizenship perhaps only after the Social War [3]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] L., L. Proscribed in 82 BC Read his name on one of Sulla's lists of proscribed persons in 82 BC and was thereupon immediately killed on leaving the Forum (Oros. 5,21,4f.). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] L., L. Pompey's legate against the pirates in 67 BC Pompey'…

(in the Imperial period also called funus censorium, Tac. Ann. 4,15,2 and passim) refers to a  burial whose costs and organization was covered by the state or the community, to honour the deceased. [German version] 1. Rome In early times, foreign delegates (Plut. Quaest. Rom. 43) as well as royalty imprisoned by Rome ( Syphax;  Perseus, cf. Val. Max. 5,1,1) were buried publice (‘at public expense’). The funus publicum (FP) which became typical of prominent citizens probably did not emerge until the late Republic (certain documentation exists for L.  Sulla…

[German version] is the term (since [1]) given to the extensive remains (CIL VI 1527; VI 37053; AE 1951, 2) of a municipal Roman epitaph from the Augustan period (at the latest 9 BC: [2. 42]); it presents the text of the funerary oration for a woman of the Roman upper class who - because of similarities to Val. Max. 6,7,2 - was hypothetically identified with Turia, the wife of Q. Lucretius Vespillo (cos. in 19 BC). The eulogizer, who masters at least the basics of rhetoric [2. 124; 3], praises (c…

Gentilicium of a plebeian gens, verifiable from the 3rd cent. BC. The most important branches are the Aviolae (imperial era), Balbi and especially the Glabriones, who are documented from the 3rd cent. BC to the end of the 5th cent. AD [1]. In Rome there was a compitum Acilium, on which the first Greek doctor in Rome was settled in 219 (Plin. HN 29,12 [2. 98]), on the Pincio the horti Aciliorum, in the imperial era the most famous gardens of Rome [2. 195 f.; 3. 488 ff.]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican era [German version] [I 1] Soldier in Caesar's tenth legion Brave soldier in Ca…

Name of a plebeian gens in Rome, probably of Etruscan origin (ThlL, Onom. 101-104) [1. 138]; attested from the 3rd cent. BC. The most important family into the 1st cent. AD was that of the Calpurnii Pisones (I 13ff.). Family connections and the identification of individual members in the Republican period have not been completely clarified. Late Republican pseudo-genealogy declared Calpus, one of the sons of king Numa, the progenitor of the gens (Hor. Ars P. 292; Laus. Pis. 3f.; 14f.; Plut. Numa 21,2 et al.; portraits of Numa on coins of the Calpurnii). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Repu…

Name of an old patrician family, which was said to have immigrated to Rome under King T. Tatius with V. [I 10] (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,46). The name, derived from the old personal name Valesus/ Valerus, was originally Valesios (cf. V. [I 7]; CIL XII p. 298g: Valesies; Fest. 22; Varro, Rerum divinarum fr. 66 Cardauns [4; 5]); the censor App. Claudius [I 2] introduced the new spelling in 312 BC (cf. Dig. 1,2, 2,36). Because in Antiquity the name was derived (etymologically correctly) from valere, 'to be strong', it was considered to be a good omen ( boni ominis nomen, Cic. Div. 1,102; Cic. Sca…

Italian surname (on its Etruscan connection cf. [1. 182f.]). In the 5th and 4th cents. BC we encounter the patrician family of the Lucretii Tricipitini (among others with the rare praenomen Hostus) which later died out; from the 3rd cent. BC onwards several plebeian families are known (Gallus, Ofella, Trio, Vespillo). The most important bearers of the name are Lucretia [2] from early Roman history and the poet L. [III 1]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] L. Prosecutor of M. Livius Drusus [I 5] Claudianus In 54 BC he prosecuted M. Livius Drusus …

[German version] [1] Wife of Marcius Coriolanus According to a much-related story about Marcius Coriolanus (in which V. plays only a subordinate role, however), when he and a Volsci army are outside Rome, the pleas of his wife V. and his mother Veturia cause him to refrain from attacking his home city (the story in e.g. Liv. 2,39,1-2,40,11; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 8,40-54; Val. Max. 5,2,1; 5,4,1; Plut. Coriolanus 33,1-36,6, but there, it is not his wife but his mother who bears the name V.). Müller, Christian (Bochum) [German version] [2] Pantomime actress, 1st cent. BC Freedwoman (and lover:…

[German version] Synonymous with annalespontificum maximorum (Cic. Leg. 1,6). Annales maximi is what the Romans called a chronicle-like work of history, which is based on the records of the pontifex maximus (Paul. Fest. p. 113 L; Macrob. Sat. 3,2,17; Serv. Aen. 1,373; implicitly already in Cic. De or. 2,52). The content was apparently identical to that of the tabula apud pontificem maximum (Cato orig. fr. 77 HRR), which in addition to details about dearths and eclipses surely also contained reports about prodigies ( pace [3]), temple dedications, additions to the priestly coll…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Knowledge of one's own progenitors in the ancient Near East legitimized one's status and material and immaterial rights in the individual and societal spheres. Such knowledge was based on patriarchal relationships of kinship. Evidence for this comes, for example, from lineage lists (Genealogies; OT: Gn 5; 11:10-32; 22:20-24; 25:1-9; Judges 4:18-22: progenitors of David [1]; 1 Sam 9:1-2: progenitors of Saul; Mt 1:1-17: progenitors of Jesus), the Assyrian Kings' Lis…

Name of a Roman plebeian family of little political significance except for L. M. [I 3], the destroyer of Corinth. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] Author of Atellan farces, propably Augustan According to Pomponius Bononiensis and Novius [I 1], who presumably lived about 90 BC, M. revived the atellan farces, which had laid dormant for some time (Macrob. Sat. 1,10,3). His Old Latin metre (use of iambic shortening) and language (abl. testu) suggest that he probably did not write later than the Augustan period, during which other …

[German version] Roman historian of the early Imperial period. The exact dates of his life are uncertain: according to Jerome he died at the age of 70 in AD 19 (Chron. p. 172 Helm), according to Pliny only ‘late in the reign of Tiberius’ ( novissimo Tiberii Caesaris principatu; HN 33,146). F. wrote an annalistic history in more than 22 books (Fr. 21 Peter from book 22 [= HRR 2, 85f.] relates to 57 BC) that extended from the early Roman period to the late Republic and perhaps even included the Augustan period (Fr. 24 Peter [= HRR 2, 86]). The …

[German version] [1] Roman historian, 2nd cent. BC Roman historian of the late 2nd cent. BC (in Cic. Leg. 1,6 ordered after C. Fannius [I 1]); nothing is known of him as a person. His presumably annalistic work (Annalists) began with stories of the founding of Rome and the period of the kings (Origo gentis Romanae 20,1; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,15,1), but its scope and end point are unknown. Cicero felt the need of it in 46 BC in his literary work in Tusculum (Cic. Att. 12,3,1). Fr. in HRR I2 142 and [1]. Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) Bibliography 1 M. Chassignet (ed.), L'annalistique romain…

Roman cognomen perhaps of Etruscan origin [1. 310, 315, 418], in conjunction with catus (‘astute’, ‘crafty’ [2; 3. 250]. In Republican times widespread in the families of the Hostilii and Valerii, prominent among the Porcii, according to whose model C. is used now and again as a synonym for a conservative Roman; quite rarely also as gentilicium [1. 303].  Porcius Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Porcius C., M. Cato the Elder, 234-149 BC (234-149 BC), ‘Cato the Elder’, ‘Censorius’, energetic politician and founder of Roman prose literature, is the b…

Name of a Roman family. According to tradition, its members of the 5th cent. BC (Atratini, S. [I 3-8]) are supposed to have been patricians and champions of patrician privileges (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 10,41,5; 10,42,3), an assumption that may have been a retrospective invention (the Sempronii only became patricians under Caesar or Augustus); in the historical period, we know only of plebeian branches of the family during the Republic (Asellio, Blaesus, Gracchus, Longus, Tuditanus) who played an important role in the 3rd and 2nd cents. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period …

[German version] (πρόθεσις/ próthesis, first [1. 22B], 6th century BC; first in literature Pl. Leg. 947b 3; 959e 5). Term for the laying out of a corpse, which was an indispensable part of every burial in Greece from the earliest times. The dead person was laid on a klínē , usually covered by a pall (φᾶρος/ phâros), and was lamented and mourned both by family members and unrelated mourners. Prothesis scenes are described in the Homeric epics (esp. Hom. Il. 18,352-355; 24,719-776). Ritual gestures of grief are often depicted, particularly on Attic pottery (cf. [6…

[German version] An old element in Roman mortuary customs: when the eyes of the deceased were closed the attending relatives repeatedly called his name (Serv. Aen. 6,218; Luc. 2,23; Sen. Dial. 9,11,7; with the same meaning Ov. Tr. 3,3,43 clamor supremus ; Ps.-Quint. Decl. mai. 8,10 conclamata suprema). Since this word also describes the ordinary death lament (e.g., Tac. Ann. 3,2,2; Oratio imperatoris Hadriani in CIL 14, 3579, 19; Sen. Ep. 52,13 and passim), a lot of evidence cannot be clearly attributed. This custom, which was obviously no longer understood in the hi…

Roman patrician family name, probably derived from Etruscan fapi [1. 162]. According to ancient etymology, however, either from faba ‘(broad)bean’ (‘legume grower’: Plin. HN 18,10; [2]) or from the original ‘Fodius’, ‘Fovius’ (‘wolf pit hunter’: Plut. Fabius 1,2; Fest. 77 L.) because the Fabii with the Quinctii originally appointed the priesthood of the Luperci; the  Lupercalia were also the family celebration of the Fabii (Ov. Fast. 193ff.). Early Imperial pseudogenealogy, which perhaps arose in the literary ci…

Name of a Roman plebeian family probably deriving from the Italic praenomen Pompo, tracing back, like the Aemilii, Calpurnii and Pinarii, to one of the sons of Numa Pompilius (Plut. Numa 21,2; cf. Nep. Att. 1,1). In the 3rd century BC the Mathones (cf. P. [I 7-9]) achieved consulship, but later the family was insignificant. The most prominent member was a friend of Cicero, T. P. [I 5] Atticus. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] P., Cn. People's tribune in 90 BC People's tribune in 90 BC, killed in the Civil War in 82; Cicero quite often heard him in his youth; his j…

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] (the cognomen only in Suet. Iul. 9,2). Roman historian of the Late Republic of whose life nothing is known. It is also unclear whether his work, which (because of Plut. Caesar 22,3) was not finished until after 55 BC and contained accounts hostile to Caesar (especially fr. 1 P. = HRR 2, p. 50: on the 'conspiracy' of 66 BC), was an account of contemporary events only [1. 327] or whether it was organised as an annalistic comprehensive history (as in [2. 265]; annales in Sen. Ep. 93,11). According to Seneca, the work was voluminous and 'ponderous' ( ponderosi); he may have been…

[German version] was the name the Romans gave to undertakers because of their seat in the sacred grove of Libitina ( qui libitinam faciunt, ILS 6085,94). On behalf of the affected families (or the state: Sen. Dial. 9,11,10), they organized the burials and supplied the necessary implements as well as the personnel (partly slaves: Ulp. Dig. 14,3,5,8), e.g. pollinctores , bearers, musicians (cf. Petron. Sat. 78,6), specialists for burning the corpses ( ustores). The funeral practices in the Roman cities of Italy were apparently similarly organized (ILS 6726 attests a bu…

[German version] A. General According to Roman linguistic usage, laudatio funebris (LF; Quint. Inst. 3,7,2; Gell. NA 13,20,17; mostly just laudatio: Cic. Mil. 33; Liv. 27,27,13; Tac. Ann. 13,3,1; explanatory laudatio pro rostris: Tac. Ann. 3,76,2 et passim) means the eulogy for the deceased, held in connection with the burial ( funus). At upper class funerals, the funeral procession stopped (probably from the end of the 4th cent. BC) at the forum, where a son or other close relative gave the speech from the rostrum ( pro rostris: Sen. Dial. 6,15,3; Tac. Ann. 3,5,1 et passim), which along …

Roman plebeian gens name, whose bearers may have originated from the territory of the Volscians and who rose to prominence (in several branches) during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. They rose to consular rank only with M. [I 4]. The descent of the gens from the Trojan Mnestheus (Verg. Aen. 5,117) is a late-Republican construction. An aedile called M. supposedly instituted the Cerealia (before 211 BC; RRC 427). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] M., C. Popular politician at the end of the 2nd cent. BC Popular politician at the end of the 2nd centur…

[German version] [1] Wife of Q. Lucretius [II 5] Vespillo, 1st cent. BC Wife of the senator Q. Lucretius [II 5] Vespillo, saved her husband by concealing him from the proscriptions of 43 BC (Val. Max. 6,7,2; App. B Civ. 4,189-192). Her long-standing traditional identification with the deceased addressed in an epigraphically preserved funerary oration from Rome (known as the Laudatio Turiae ) is uncertain but not ruled out (cf. [1. 10 f.], sceptical: [2. 1-8]). T. would then have died no later than 9 BC after 41 years of marriage. Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) Bibliography 1 A. E. Gor…

[German version] (also briefly praerogativa: e.g. Cic. Ad Q. Fr. 2,14,4; Cic. Phil. 2,82; Liv. 24,7,12) was the name in Rome of the centuria , determined by lot from the centuries of the first wealth class, which probably since the reform of the comitia centuriata (between 241 and 218 BC) had advance voting in elections (uncertain whether this also applied to legislative decisions). Since the result of the PCwas announced immediately (Liv. 24,7,12; Cic. Phil. 2,82), it had a considerable impact on further voting. This effect had probably been intended when creating the PC, to avoid a sp…

[German version] Funus imaginarium (FI) was the name given in Rome (ILS 7212 II 4-5, dated AD 136; SHA Pert. 15,1) to a special type of  burial: since the dead body was usually visible on the bier during the funeral procession, a replacement body made of  wax ( imago or effigies) was used when the body was not available, for instance in cases of death at sea or after cremation at war or in foreign countries. Tac. Ann. 3,5,2 correctly regards this custom as one of the ‘customs of old time’ ( veterum instituta; taken for granted already in the Lex XII tab. 10,5: [1. 80]).The FI received s…

(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…

[German version] As ancestors one identifies with a slightly antiquated expression, admittedly obligatory in particular word combinations (ancestor cult; ancestor portraits), the ancestors ( maiores), insomuch as these receive cultic honours within the family ( Parentalia;  Dead, cult of the, mostly until the second or third generation) and in aristocratic houses otherwise honouring memory ( Imagines). The term is unsuitable for the ancestors of a whole people, whose behaviour and institutions the descendants often used as models (  mos maiorum ). See also   maiores. Kierdorf,…

[German version] A. Lament In addition to other kinds of song (magic songs: Hor. Epod. 17,29; Ov. Ars am. 2,102; childrens' verses: Hor. Epist. 1,1,63; general songs: Hor. Carm. 3,28,16), in Rome nenia is a technical term for a dirge sung to the flute in praise of a dead person in their funeral procession (Fest. 154/5 L.; Quint. Inst. 8,2,8; cf. Cic. Leg. 2,62). The origin and derivation of the presumably onomatopoeic (cf.   [1. 386]) word has not been explained: a Greek origin (owing to Cic. Leg. 2,62) is accepted by  [2], rejected by [3. 221]. According to Varro (De vita populi Romani …

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 plebeian lineage, originally probably not from the city of Rome, which was raised to the nobility in the 3rd cent. BC with the brothers L. [1] and [5] (Families: Catuli and Cercones). The gens was very wealthy (Suet. Gram. 3) and owned a family grave on the right bank of the Tiber (Oros. 5,21,7; Val. Max. 9,2,1). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] L. Catulus, C. Consul 242 BC Elder brother of L. [5]. Was the first in his family to attain the consulate in 242 BC. Since his patrician colleague, the flamen dialis A. Postumius Albinus, was forbidden by the pontifex maximus L. C…

Roman gens name, probably taken from the forename Manius, which in mss is frequently confused with Mallius, Manilius, Manlius. The family was significant in the 2nd cent. BC through M. [I 3] and [I 4]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] M. (or Manlius?), L. Writer, senator AD 97, [I 1] M. (or Manlius?), L. Senator in 97 BC, wrote about the Phoenix (as first in Lat.: Plin. HN 10,4f.), about natural wonders and sacred law. Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) Bibliography Schanz/Hosius 1, 605f. [German version] [I 2] M., C. People's tribune in 66 AD People's tribune in …

(Λύγδαμις; Lýgdamis). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Naxos, 6th cent. BC Aristocrat from Naxos, assisted Peisistratus after the second exile ( c. 546 BC) in regaining rule in Athens from Eretria (Hdt.1,61,4; [Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 15,2). In appreciation, the latter subjected Naxos and installed L. as tyrant there (cf. Hdt. 1,64,1f.; [Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 15,3), who in turn supported Polycrates in seizing power in Samos in the 530s (Polyaenus, Strat. 1,23,2). L. was overthrown by the Spartans (Plut. Mor. 859d), probably c. 524 in the expedition against Samos. Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) B…

Name of a Roman lineage (Sabine Clausus, with the vernacular variant of   Clodius , esp. in the 1st cent. BC). The Claudii supposedly immigrated to Rome from the Sabine city of Regillum at the beginning of the republic in 504 BC under their ancestor Att(i)us Clausus ( Appius) and were immediately accepted into the circle of patrician families (Liv. 2,16,4-6), which explains why the early members received the invented epithets of Inregillensis C. [I 5-6] and Sabinus C. [I 31-32], [1. 155f.]. The praenomen Appius came to signify the family. Named after them was the Tribus Claudi…

Name of a Roman plebeian house (originally Ailius), verifiable from the 4th cent. BC until the late imperial era. The most important families are the Paeti (since the 4th cent. BC), Tuberones (since the 2nd cent. BC), and from the 1st cent. also the Galli and Lamiae. In the imperial era, especially since Hadrian, the most famous bearer of the name, the name Aelius is so widespread that it -- just like Flavius and Aurelius -- loses its character as nomen gentile. I. Republic [German version] [I 1] Ae. Unknown author of a lex Aelia, mid 2nd cent. BC unknown author of a lex Aelia (mostly mentioned t…