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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,…

Name of a Roman family, which died out at the beginning of the 3rd cent. BC. Of the two Republican namesakes who held offices, N. [1] was of plebeian origin, while N. [2] must have been a patrician. Considering the questionable historicity of the latter, there were perhaps only plebeian Numicii, although this question cannot be definitively settled (on this topic [1. 20]). [German version] [1] N., T. Guarantor of the Caudinian agreement, handed over to the Samnites in 320 BC As one of the guarantors of the Caudine treaty, he was handed over to the Samnites in 320 BC (Cic. O…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, documented with certainty only from the 1st cent. BC on (T. [I 2] might be unhistorical). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] T., C. Son of an ill-reputed (Cic. Phil. 13,23; the same as in Hor. Sat. 1,4,114?) Roman equestrian. In 58 BC [1], T. worked as quaestor urbanus against P. Clodius' [I 4] switch to the plebs . As tribune of the people in 55, he introduced laws that gave M. Licinius [I 11] Crassus and Cn. Pompeius [I 3] provincial terms of five years and exte…

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] V. Fictor, M. Ancient tradition, scarcely historically accurate and in itself inconclusive (see [1]) attributes, with individual variations, to V. a people's tribuneship in the years 461 to 457 BC (MRR 1, 37-41) and links him with a lawsuit against Kaeso Quinctius [I 1], who V. accused of having mortally wounded his brother. Initially accused, but unsuccessfully because of the intercession of his fellow tribunes, of false witness (cf. V.'s cognomen Fictor, 'Inventor') in 459 BC by Kaeso's father Quinctius [I 7] Cincinnatus, in 458 he was convicted …

Name of a Roman patrician family, probably originally from Cameria (hence the cognomen Camerinus); documented in the fasti from c. 500 BC. The otherwise rare praenomen Servius appears comparatively frequently and at times is even used in place of the nomen gentile (Tac. Hist. 2,48; Plut. Galba 3,1). The number of cognomina within the gens is high, but it has been impossible to identify clear branches. The link between the S. from the 3rd to the 2nd and 1st cent. BC is unclear. In the 2nd cent. BC, the most important branch of the family was that of…

Name of a patrician family, but plebeian bearers of this name are also in evidence (attested for M. [2]). This gens gave its name to the tribus Menenia. In the 5th cent. BC, it produced a number of high-ranking officials, but died out during the 4th. cent. BC. Noteworthy is the use of the praenomen Agrippa, which later only appeared as a cognomen [1. 19f.]. [German version] [1] M., Agrippa Triumvir coloniae deducendae 442 BC, probably identical with the consul of 439 BC In 442 BC, in the position of a triumvir coloniae deducendae (MRR I 54), M. led a colonia to Ardea. According to Livy (4,11,5…

Roman family name derived from the praenomen Tullus; oldest traditional bearer of the name is the sixth king of Rome, Servius T. [I 4]; until the time of Cicero and his family, other bearers are only rarely recorded. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] T., Attius As 'by far the first man of the Volsci at the time' (Liv. 2,35,7), tradition connected him with the story of Coriolanus, in which T. supported the latter in his plans out of an old hate for the Romans (Liv. 2,37,1-8; 2,38,1-5; 2,39,1; 2,40,12). Hi…

[German version] (Τιμασίθεος/ Timasítheos). As a high official of Lipara in 393 BC he brought about the freeing of a Roman legation, captured with their ship, which was taking a tenth of the Veii plunder to Delphi as votive gifts. This deed earned treatment as an honoured guest of the Roman people for T. himself and privileges for his descendants when Lipara came under Roman rule in 252 BC (Diod. 14,93,4 f.; Liv. 5,28,3-5; Val. Max. 1,1 exteri 4; Plut. Camillus 8,3-8). Müller, Christian (Bochum)

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…

Roman plebeian nomen gentile, often confused with Siccius; members of the family frequently appear as people's tribunes in the 5th cent. BC, but the family is otherwise insignificant. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] S., C. Tradition links S. with the origins and early development of the people's tribunate ( tribunus plebis ): S. was firstly the initiator of the secessio plebis of 494 BC and then one of the people's tribunes, subsequently elected for the first time (Liv. 2,32,2; 2,33,2; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 6,45,2; 6,8…

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…

Roman surname, derived from the name of the goddess Iuno [1. 470; 2. 731]. The gens was plebeian; the idea that this family originated from the patrician founder of the Republic L. I. [I 4] Brutus (Cic. Att. 13,40,1), which was particularly propagated by the murderers of Caesar, M. and D. I. Brutus [I 10 and 12], was already a matter of controversy in ancient times (Plut. Brutus 1,6-8). T.  Pomponius Atticus (Nep. Att. 18,3) composed a family history at the request of M. Brutus. This gens became politically im…

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 …