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Nomen gentile of Etruscan origin; the family, which belonged to Rome's equestrian class, came from northern Picenum (Cic. Rab. perd. 22; Caes. B Civ. 1,15,2). [German version] [1] L., Q. Slain in the Curia c. 100 BC Uncle of L. [3], supported L. Ap(p)uleius [I 11] Saturninus in 100 BC and was slain at his side in the Curia on the Forum Romanum (Cic. Rab. perd. 14; 18; 20-22; Oros. 5,17,9). Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) [German version] [2] L. (Parthicus), Q. Commander in Asia Minor and Armenia c. 40 BC Son of L. [3]. At the end of 43 BC he undertook treaty negotiations at the behest of the m…

Roman gens, evident in the names of some individuals of the late Republican period, also in the Greak-speaking areas (CIL I2 2247). [German version] [1] M. Rufus, L. Quaestor 51 BC, assigned to Cicero in Cilicia In 51 BC, M was assigned as quaestor to the proconsul Cicero in Cilicia. Differences in their reports cast a shadow over their relations (Cic. Att. 6,3,1; 4,1; Cic. Fam. 5,20). Cicero attempted to cover up this resentment when he tried to win M. over as an adversary of Caesar (Cic. Fam. 5,21,1; 13,28,2). MRR 2,242. Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) Bibliography Schulze, 193, 272, 288.

Oscan praenomen, shortened to No., attested for N. Calavius [2], the maker of the Ficoronian cista Novios Plautios (ILS 8562), and in other inscriptions. Probably a particularly frequent gentilicium from the 3rd cent. BC onwards in Campania and spreading from there into the eastern Mediterranean. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] Representative of the literary Atellana, early 1st cent. BC As a representative of the literary atellana, N. appears to have been at work ahead of Pomponius (leading representative of the genr…

Roman gens name (probably Etruscan root), encountered in the late Republic and early Imperial period, it is however rather rare. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] L. Regulus, L. Acquaintance of Cicero, who probably shared Cicero's banishment to Greece in 58 BC Acquaintance of Cicero, of about the same age, who around 58 BC probably shared Cicero's banishment to Greece (Cic. Att. 3,17,1; Cic. Fam. 13,60,1). The year of his service as praetor, deduced from coinage of his son L. [I 2], remains unclear. MRR 2,464. Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] L. Regulus, L. Partici…

Uncommon Roman family name; a few gentiles are identifiable as merchants in Greece (Delos, Asia Minor) during the later Republican period, e.g. a M.M. who died in Elis (Cic. fam. 5,20,2; 20,8; 13,26,2; 28,2). [German version] [1] M. Marcellus, M. Officer of the fleet from 38 BC From Velitrae, the home of Octavian ( Augustus), whom M. probably knew from his youth (App. civ. 5,422). Speculated in property with the encouragement of Caesar (Cic. fam. 15,17,2). Under the latter's adoptive son Octavian, a career as officer of the fleet from 38 BC:…

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…

Gens name of Oscan origin. During the Republican period there is evidence of individuals bearing this name in Campania (e.g. ILS 5347) and in the Greek areas (IG XII 9,845). I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] M., C. Tribune of the plebs 57 BC, called for Cicero's return from exile In 57 BC as people's tribune, M. called for Cicero's return from exile (initially without success: Cic. P. red. in sen. 21). Partisan of Pompey (Cic. Att. 4,1,7; 8,11D,2). 55 (plebeian?) aedile (organizer of the Floralia : Val. Max. 2,10,8). In 54 subsequently discovered…

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] As military tribune of the consul C. Antonius [I 2] in 63 BC, he conspired with the Catilinarians ( Catilina) at Pisaurum (modern Pesaro). He was later attacked by the quaestor P. Sestius near Capua (Cic. Sest. 9; homonym: ILS 2994). Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) Bibliography MRR 2,170 Schulze, 215.

[German version] From Bruttium; in 36 BC, sent to Sicily with three legions by M. Vipsanius Agrippa [1] during the fighting against Sex. Pompeius to support Octavian, and afterwards acclaimed as imperator (CIL X 8041,18). Suffect consul in 33 with L. Vicinius (CIL I2 p. 66 = Fasti Venusini). Frigo, Thomas (Bonn)

Roman gens, originally from the Sabine area, from which only a few individuals can be identified, all of those in the troubles of the Civil War. [German version] [1] L., P. Partisan of Pompey, taken prisoner in 49 BC near Ilerda and pardoned when he promised neutrality, executed in 46 AD near Thapsus as he had broken his word Partisan of Pompey. Taken prisoner in 49 BC near Ilerda as an officer in the army of L. Afranius [1] and pardoned when he promised future neutrality. Again among Caesar's adversaries in Thessalia and Africa: Caesar had him, who had…

Name of a Roman gens (in inscriptions also Muucius, CIL I2, 584, Greek Μούκιος/ Moúkios). Tradition tells us of the legendary C.M. [I 2] Cordus Scaevola; the great age of the family is perhaps demonstrated by the name Mucia Prata of a place to the east of the Tiber [1]. In the historical period (from the 3rd century BC) the family was plebeian and provided a series of significant lawyers (M. [I 5; I 8-9]). One of M. [I 4]'s sons was adopted by a P. Licinius Crassus and as P. Licinius [I 19] Crassus Dives Mucianus founded the reputation of this branch of the family of Licinii Crassi. I. Republican …

[German version] A. (Roman) Name of a Roman plebeian family, of which the branch of the Planci acquired political significance in the 1st century BC. Its most prominent member is M. [I 4], cos. in 42 BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] M. Flaccus, L. Took part in an attempt on the life of Cassius Longinus in 48 BC From Hispania Baetica; he escaped after a failed attempt on the life of the Q. Cassius [I 16] Longinus, a follower of Caesar's, in Corduba in 48 BC (Bell. Alex. 52,3f.). In 46/5 as a follower of the younger…

Plebeian nomen gentile of Etruscan origin, more frequent references only towards the end of the Republic. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] L. Military tribune 258 BC Military tribune during the First Punic War, in 258 BC he secured the retreat of consul A. Atilius [I 14] Calatinus (Claudius Quadrigarius fr. 42 HRR) near Camarina. All 400 legionaries of L. were killed, he himself survived badly wounded, but nevertheless was celebrated as ‘The Leonidas of Rome’ (Gell. NA 3,7,21). Other war heroes mentioned are: Q.…

Name of a Roman gens. The patrician bearers of the name from the 5th and 4th cents. BC that have come down to us are of disputed historicity, in any case the early family history has been embellished in the late Republic.  It is these Minucii that later membesrs (from the 3rd century BC) trace themselves back to. A prominent cognomen is Augurinus (M. [I 1-3] and [I 5 and 6]), deriving from the first plebeian augur M. [I 7], applied only subsequently to the early Republican members. The political zen…

(Μενεκράτης; Menekrátes). [German version] [1] Attic comic poet, 5th cent. BC Attic comic poet of the 5th cent. BC. Two titles of his plays have survived, Ἑρμιονεύς/ Hermioneús (or Ἑρμιόνη/ Hermiónē?) and Μανέκτωρ/ Manéktōr (probably ‘Manes as Hector) [1. test. 1], as well as an anapaestic tetrameter (fr. 1) from the latter. It is uncertain whether Menecrates was once victorious at the Dionysia [1. test. *2]. Nesselrath, Heinz-Günther (Göttingen) Bibliography 1 PCG VII, 1989, 1-2. [German version] [2] Tragic poet, 5th cent. BC Greek tragic poet, victor at the Great Dionysia in…

[German version] The marathon as an agonistic discipline is an invention of the modern age. Longer foot races than the dólichos (max. 24 stadia = c. 4∙6 km) were not known to antiquity. Just as the dólichos was originally run in the context of the training of messengers ( hēmerodrómoi; dromokḗrykes), the marathon was ultimately part of (military) communication. The ancient tradition regarding the narration of the unique marathon after the Persian battle (490 BC) is scant: according to Plutarch (Mor. 347c) an Athenian hoplite in armour ( hoplitai ) ran from the bat…

During the Republican era, the praenomen Numerius (abbr. N.) was used in Roman aristocracy only by the Fabii (Fabius). They are said to have borrowed it from Samnium around 470 BC (Fest. 174 et passim). In fact, this praenomen is found most frequently during the Republican period in Oscan inscriptions: Niumsis, Νυμψισ, Νο(μ)ψισ < * Numesis (the Latin N. as well is most frequent in the former Oscan region); in addition there is the Umbrian Numesier (= Latin Nomesi; bilingual inscription [3. 9]). In Latin the original Oscan-Umbrian name was affected by rhotacism and was ass…

[German version] Ridiculed by Horace (Hor. Sat. 2,8) as the nouveau riche host of a dinner for Maecenas [2] and his poet friends that, for all its opulence and refinement, ends in banal mishap. (The nomen gentile is attested in only one other place, on an inscription from Cologne: CIL XIII 8270). Frigo, Thomas (Bonn)

Roman family name, probably derived from the Latin city of Norba [1] (‘man from Norba’). The family first attained Roman citizenship with N. [I 1], owing its advancement to Caesar and Augustus, and then disappeared. In the Imperial period N. was also a cognomen. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] N., C. Praetor 89 BC, homo novus Novus homo of non-Roman descent (the nomen gentile indicates origins from Norba [1]). As people's tribune in 103 BC and follower of L. Appuleius [I 11] Saturninus, he brought a case against C. Servilius Caepio ( cos. 106) over the defeat at Arausio in …