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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,…

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…

[German version] According to a legendary tradition of the early Republic, V. prevented her son Marcius Coriolanus from conquering his home city Rome with a Volscian army (Volsci). The best-known version of this often revisited subject matter is that of Livius [III 2] (2,40,1-12; cf. e.g. Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 8,39-54; Val. Max. 5,4,1; Plut. Coriolanus 33-36, but there, V. is called Volumnia [1]), who simultaneously provides an aetiology for the foundation of the temple of Fortuna Muliebris. Prototypes in Greek tragedy (e.g. Eur. Phoen.; Eur. Hec.) are unmistakable. A po…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, perhaps of Etruscan origin [1. 185; 187]. The most important bearer of the name is M. [I 3]; the family is politically unimportant in the 1st cent. BC. Lex Maenia is the title of a Menippean satire of Varro (Varro Men. 153-155). The law concerned the power of the paternal head of the house; content and dating are contested [3. 1085 - 1121]. A further lex Maenia probably passed before 290 BC directed that the ‘agreement of the Senate’ ( auctoritas patrum) for elections be obtained before proclaiming the election results (Cic. Brut. 55). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Boch…

[German version] [1] Vestal vergin, buried alive in 483 BC Vestal virgin, buried alive for unchastity in 483 BC. Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 8,89,4 calls her O., but her name is given differently elsewhere (e.g. Liv. 2,42,11); the name was probably established by ancient authors through associations between the vestal concerned, not known by name, and others whose names were recorded (perhaps O. [2]). Müller, Christian (Bochum) [German version] [2] Vestal virgin, buried alive in 216 BC As a Vestal virgin, she was convicted for unchastity and buried alive in 216 BC (Plut. Fabius…

[German version] [1] T. mons According to Varro (Ling. 5,41), term for the Capitolium, cf. Tarpeium Saxum. Zimmermann, Sylvia [German version] [2] Epithet of Iuppiter as lord of the Capitolium Epithet of Iuppiter as lord of the Capitolium, where the rock was from which traitors were thrown to their deaths in accordance with a law written by T. [4] (e.g. Ov. Fast. 6,34; Ov. Met. 15,866; Prop. 4,1,7). Zimmermann, Sylvia [German version] [3] T., Sp. Father of Tarpeia Father of Tarpeia, commander of the Capitoline fortress under Romulus [1] during the attack of the Sabine kin…

Roman family name (Etruscan Latini), a derivation from the ethnicon Latinus. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] L., T. According to the legend, Jupiter told L. during the Latin War to instruct the consuls to have the Ludi Romani repeated According to Livy (2,36,2-8), who sets the legend that was originally probably not fixed in time in 491 BC, Jupiter told L. in a dream during the Latin War that he should instruct the consuls to have the ludi Romani ( ludi ) repeated; L. finally obeyed these instructions after initially ignoring them twice and…

Name of a Plebeian family (connection with the Campanian city of Pompeii is unclear). The family acquired political significance with P. [I 1]; he is the origin of the Rufi branch. With P. [I 8] a related branch attained consulship and with his son Cn. P. [I 3] Magnus supplied the most significant member of the gens. Both lineages continue until the early Imperial period (family trees: [1; 2; 3]). I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] P., Q. Consul 141 BC A homo novus and popular orator (Cic. Brut. 96), he became consul in 141 BC, despite resistance from the nobility a…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, in the late Republic also often spelt Plotius, with no clear difference in use (cf. Claudius/Clodius). The earliest epigraphic evidence comes from Praeneste (among it the maker of the Ficoronian Cista, Novios Plautios, CIL I2 561), while the family in Rome achieved political eminence after 367 BC (Münzer therefore considers them to have migrated from Praeneste [1. 42; 44f.; 412]), providing seven consuls between 358 and 318; their migration may explain their interest in integrating Latini (cf. P. [I 5]…