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[German version] [1] Emperor, 3rd cent. AD Imp. Caes. M.O. (Antoninus) Diadumenianus, son of the emperor M.O. Macrinus, born on 14 or 19 September 208 AD (Cass. Dio 78,34,2; SHA Diad. 5,5). At the beginning of 217 he was given the title of clarissimus puer (CIL XV 7505), shortly afterwards he was also princeps iuventutis and nobilissimus Caesar (Cass. Dio 78,17,1; 19,1; Herodian. 5,4,12; Aur. Vict. Caes. 22,1; AE 1953,54; 1954,8; 1960,36; RIC IV, 2,22). In May 218, after the beginning of the mutiny of troops in Raphanaea in Syria, Macrinus made him Au…

(Ἡράκλειτος; Hērákleitos). [German version] [1] H. of Ephesus Ionian philosopher, c. 500 BC Son of Bloson, outstanding personality within Ionian philosophy. Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) [German version] A. The person H.'s main period of activity is estimated to have been about 503-500 BC (Diog. Laert. 9,1). He belonged to a leading family in the public life of Ephesus. The doxographic tradition records several anecdotes of H.'s arrogance and contempt for his fellow citizens and humanity in general, which are mostly based on fragments of H. Betegh, Gábor (Budapest) [German version] B. La…

(Μαικήνας; Maikḗnas). Etruscan family name (cf. mehnate, mehnati and similar); the family is recorded in inscriptions for Perusia (modern Perugia) and was probably originally settled there. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Friend and counsellor of Octavian (Augustus), 1st cent. BC Father of M. [2], mentioned as early as 44 BC among the friends and counsellors of Octavian ( Augustus) (Nicolaus of Damascus, Vita Caesaris 31,133). Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) [German version] [2] Patron of literature, 1st cent. BC M., less often - with the family name of the…

Name of an old patrician family, probably connected with the name of the god  Jupiter [1. 281; 2. 729]. The gens was one of the so-called ‘Trojan families’, who were said to have moved from Alba Longa to Rome under king Tullus Hostilius [I 4] (see below). The Iulii were prominent in the 5th and 4th cents. BC. Their connection to the family branch of the Caesares, which rose to prominence from the 3rd cent. and whose outstanding member was the dictator  Caesar (with family tree), is unclear. Caesar's adoptive son,…

[German version] [1] Roman emperor AD 251-253 Imp. Caes. C. Vibius Afinius Gallus Veldumnianus V. P. F. Invictus Aug. (RIC 4,3, 173-189). Roman emperor from the middle of AD 251 until the middle of 253. Born c. 230 in Perusia (?), the son of Trebonianus Gallus and Afinia Gemina Baebiana. After the battle of Abritus against the Goths and the death of Decius [II 1], the legions proclaimed him and his father emperor in June 251 (Eutr. 9,5; Zon. 12,21 D.); at the same time, he was appointed Caesar by his father (Aur. Vict. Caes. 30)…

[German version] I. Greek (Μαρκελλῖνος; Markellînos). [German version] [I 1] Greek author of a treatise on pulses, 2nd cent. AD?, [1] Greek author of a treatise on pulses. His reference to followers of Archigenes suggests the late 1st or 2nd cent. AD as the earliest date of its composition. A more precise dating would be possible if he were the author of a recipe quoted by Galen (De compositione medicamentorum secundum locos 7,5 = 13,90 K.) from Andromachus [5] the Younger, but the identification is uncertain. M.'s …

[German version] C. Valens H. Messius Quintus was the younger son of emperor  Decius [II 1] and Herennia Etruscilla. In September AD 250, he was named Caesar and Princeps Iuventutis (AE 1942/43, 55; ILS 518) and, after the death of his father in June 251, adopted by  Trebonianus Gallus and raised to Augustus (Zos. 1,25,1; RIC 4,3, 143ff.), probably to distract from the complicity of Trebonianus in the deaths of his father and brother. Shortly after, he died in Rome of the plague (Aur. Vict. Caes. 30,1; [Aur. Vict.] epit. Ca…

Roman praenomen ( P. Iulius, a contemporary of Romulus [1]), and secondarily a cognomen. Depending on the form, a diminutive (older * prokelo-) of the stem * proko- (~ classical procus 'wooer, suitor'), it originally perhaps meant 'the one who demands or claims (the inheritance?)'. Proca (King of Alba Longa) can also be regarded as etymologically connected. The praenomen, which had already become rare at an early time, survived in derivatives, the gentilician names Procilius and Proculeius. Steinbauer, Dieter (Regensburg) [German version] [1] Roman jurist, 1st cent. The jurist fro…

[German version] The fictitious author Trebellius Pollio uses the term triginta tyranni (TT) in the Historia Augusta to refer to 32 usurpers from all parts of the empire supposedly in the period of the emperors Valerianus [2] and Gallienus (253-268) in order to expose their rule as particularly week and bad. He increased the number that was first planned to be 20 (SHA Gall. 21,1) to 30 as an allusion to the Athenian Thirty Tyrants ( triákonta ) (SHA Trig. tyr. 2-31), among them esp. derisively (31,7) two women, Zenobia from Palmyra (30) and Victoria in…

[German version] Term applied to a group of Roman rulers whose feature in common was the fact that they came from Illyrian territory, more broadly the area between the Adriatic and the lower Danube. The sequence already begins with  Decius [II 1] (AD 249-251) but essentially includes the emperors  Claudius [III 2] Gothicus,  Aurelianus [2],  Probus,  Diocletianus,  Maximianus, and  Constantinus [1] I. Even in antiquity these rulers were credited with having little education but they were acknowled…

Common Italian proper name (associated with the praenomen Herennus that is often confused with H.), which however is not documented as a surname among the Roman upper class until the 1st cent. BC. It frequently appears with epithets showing place of origin ( Etruscus, Gallus, Picens, Siculus). In the Imperial period it is the name of Caesar Q.H. [II 3] Etruscus, son of emperor  Decius [II 1], of the historian H.  Dexippus [2], and of the jurist H.  Modestinus. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I Republican Period [German version] [I 1] H. Centurio and murderer of Cicero Centurio, who at the…

[German version] [1] Rival emperor to Gallienus, 3rd cent. AD As proconsul of Achaia, V. had himself proclaimed rival emperor to Gallienus in AD 261 in Macedonia. Although he defeated Piso, who was sent there against him (PIR2 C 298), he was soon murdered by his own troops (Aur. Vict. Epit. Caes. 32,4; Amm. Marc. 21,16,10; SHA Tyr. Trig. 19; 21; SHA Gall. 2,2 f.). Franke, Thomas (Bochum) Bibliography Kienast 2 227  PIR V 7  PLRE 1, 929 f. [German version] [2] Flavius Valens Eastern Roman emperor AD 364-378. Born in 321 in Cibalae (Illyria), of lowly origins and without a prof…

[German version] Imp. Caes. C. Vibius T. Gallus Augustus (CIL XI 1927), Roman emperor from June AD 251 to August (?) AD 253. Born about 206 in Perusia, from a noble family (Aur. Vict. Epit. Caes. 31,1), Senator, cos. suff. c. AD 245 (Dexippus FGrH 100 F 22), governor of the province of Moesia inferior AD 250/1 [1. 103 f.]. At Novae[1], he successfully opposed the Goths (Goti) under their king Kniva (Iord. Get. 101 f.). Emperor Decius [II 1] escaped to him after being defeated by the Goths at Beroea[2]. Together they intended to cut off the Germans'…

Name of an ancient Roman patrician lineage (on inscriptions also Fourios), derived from the praenomen Fusus and also occurring occasionally in the original form Fusius in the literary tradition; the family perhaps came from Tusculum (cf. the family grave of the Furii ILLRP 895-903). The numerous members of the gens from the early Republic in the 5th/4th cents. BC are scarcely tangible as historical persons, and their history is in part later annalistic invention. Most well known is the ‘Saviour of Rome’ after the catas…

[German version] P. Helvius P., Roman Emperor 31 Dec. 192-28 Mar. 193. Born 1 Aug. AD 126 in Alba Pompeia in Liguria (SHA Pert. 1,2; 15,6; Cass. Dio 73,3,1), son of a freedman. After being educated as a grammaticus , he applied for a position as centurio with the assistance of L. Hedius Lollianus [4] Avitus (SHA Pert. 1,5; (Ps.-)Aur. Vict. Epit. Caes. 18). He received the rank of an eques ( equites Romani D) with the support of Claudius [II 54] Pompeianus, which allowed him to pursue an equestrian career. Around AD 160, still in the reign of Antoninus [1] Pius, he served as praefectus cohortis …

[German version] Imperator Caesar M. Opellius Severus M. Augustus. Roman Emperor AD 217-218. Born in 164 (Cass. Dio 78,40,3) or 166 (Chron. pasch. I p. 498 D.) in Caesarea Mauretania, of humble origins (Cass. Dio 78,11,1; SHA Opilius Macrinus (= Macr.) 2,1). M. initially worked as a lawyer, then as procurator of the praef. praet. Fulvius [II 10] Plautianus, whose deposal he survived unharmed thanks to the intervention of L. Fabius [II 6] Cilo (Cass. Dio 78,11,2). Septimius Severus appointed him praefectus vehiculorum per Flaminiam (Cass. Dio 78,11,3), and in c. 208 keeper of the impe…

[German version] [1] Roman praenomen Roman praenomen , like other numerical praenomina (Quintus) given to a child according to the order of his birth; the adjective postumus ('last') refers to the birth 'after the father's death' (cf. P. [2]). The use of the name as a praenomen is evident in Rome up to the 3rd cent. BC, after that only as a cognomen . The wider geographical spread of * Postumo- as an Italic personal name can be concluded from its Etruscan derivative, where it led to the formation of a nomen gentile, Pustmi-na- (CIE 8715), the equivalent to the Roman Postumius. Steinbauer, Dieter…

(πολίαρχος/ políarchos). [German version] [1] Senior official in Thessalian cities (3rd cent. BC) ('High city official'). In the 3rd cent. BC, the cities of Thessaly had councils of five políarchoi, cf. IG IX 2,459 (Crannon); IG IX 2,1233 (Larisa [1]). The etymology suggests that their duties probably encompassed the military and civil interests of the polis. The division of powers with the other city council, the tagoí, is unclear (cf. [2]). The archipolíarchos served as chair (IG IX 2,1233). Tagos; Thessalians, Thessalia Beck, Hans (Cologne) Bibliography 1 B. Helly, L'état Thess…

(Θεόδοτος; Theódotos). [German version] [1] Greek architect, c.370 BC Mentioned several times in the construction records for the temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus as its architect; his origins are as unknown as his subsequent whereabouts. T.’ salary during the project amounted to 365 drachmae per year, together with further payments of unknown object. It is uncertain whether he is the same person as the sculptor T. named in IG IV2 102 (B 1 line 97) as having, for 2,340 drachmae, fashioned the acroteria for the pediment; it is possible that the name T. has been in…

[German version] Imperator Caesar T. Fulvius Iunius Q. Pius Felix Augustus, younger son of Fulvius Macrianus [2], who served as a military tribune under Valerianus [2] (SHA Trig. Tyr. 12,10; Zon. 12,24 D.). Elevated together with his brother to Augustus by his father before 17 September, AD 260 (RIC 5,2,582 f.; SHA Gall. 1,3-5; SHA Tyr. Trig. 12,10-12), he stayed behind in the east with the praetorian prefect Ballista. After the defeat of his father and brother by Aureolus in Illyria, Q. was also captured in Emesa by its inhabitants in the autumn of AD 261 and killed there. Franke, Thomas (Bo…