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Latin family name (Schulze 424), possibly originally denoting descent from a Gallus. [German version] [1] G., M. Supporter of M. Antonius 43 BC Praetor in 44 BC or earlier, served under M. Antonius at Mutina in 43 [I 9] and also fought against Octavian; in his will he adopted the later emperor Tiberius (Cic. Phil. 13,26; Suet. Tib. 6,3). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [2] G., Q. Defended by Cicero for bribing voters Aedilis plebis in 67 BC, held magnificent games in 66, as praetor he chaired the trial against C. Cornelius [I 2] in 65 and was probably s…

[German version] [1] C. Gaia Wife of Tarquinius Priscus Wife of  Tarquinius Priscus (Fest. p. 276); in Plin. HN 8,194 and Paul. Fest. s.v. G.C. p. 85 L., her name is  Tanaquil (refer [1]). Her name links her to the goddess Gaia and thus with wedding rites. For the connection with the ager Tarquiniorum cf. Liv. 2,5; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 5,13,2-4, with the river god Tiber [2. 378-83]. For the name C. [2. 382]. Strothmann, Meret (Bochum) Bibliography 1 R. Thomsen, King Servius Tullius, 1980, Index s.v. Tanaquil 2 A. Momigliano, Roma Arcaica, 1989, 371-83 (with all sources). …

Italian family name, connected to Bruttium, Greek Βρύττιος ( Brýttios), varied also as Brittius, Brettius, and similar. Very common in southern Italy ([1]; ThlL 2,2214). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republic [German version] [I 1] B. Sura, Q.  Braetius Eck, Werner (Cologne) II. Imperial Age [German version] [II 1] B. Crispinus, L. Consul ord. 224 AD Son of B. [II 8], cos. ord. AD 224 [1. no. 969]. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography 1 G. Barbieri, L'albo senatorio da Settimio Severo a Carino (193-285), 1952. [German version] [II 2] B. Maximus, L. Procos. Cypri in AD 80 procos. Cypri i…

[German version] Cognomen, maybe of Etruscan origin and probably initially a praenomen (Schulze, 158, 519; Kajanto, Cognomina 178). Nickname of one of the oldest branches of the Cornelii ( Cornelius [I 20-22]). Meaning as the nickname ‘woodworm’ is uncertain [1], in the early imperial period also a praenomen of some Cornelii Lentuli (Cornelius [II 26-27]). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Walde/Hofmann 1,281

Name of a Plebeian family from Tusculum. In the belief that the family had been pig-breeders, in antiquity their name was derived from porcus  (Varro Rust. 2,1,10 etc.). From the middle of the 3rd century BC, the Catones and Licinii branches belonged to Rome's leading class and at the beginning of the 2nd century, they attained the consulship with  Cato [1] (Censorius) and P. [I 13]. The exact blood relationship between the most prominent bearer of the name, Cato [1], and his great-grandson, P. [I 7] Cato (Uticensis), is not completely clarified. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republic…

Italic personal name, perhaps derived from the praenomen Gnaivos ( Gnaeus, Cn.); popular etymology derives it from naevus, ‘birthmark’ (Arnob. 3,14). The antiquity of this name in Rome, which is also widely attested in inscriptions, is suggested by the name of porta Naevia in the Servian city wall (Varro, Ling. 5,163; cf. Liv. 2,11,8). However, the family emerged politically only in the 2nd cent. BC. The most important bearer of the name is the poet N. [I 1]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] N., Cn. Dramatist and epic poet, 3rd cent. BC Roman drama…

[II] Widespread Roman praenomen (probably connected with the Latin family name Gavius, but not related to gaudere), abbreviated as C., more rarely G.; in late Greek inscriptions also Γα ( Ga). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Physician of the school of Herophilus Physician of the school of Herophilus, probably 1st cent. BC or AD, wrote about hydrophobia (Caelius Aurelianus morb. ac. 3,113-4). He explained that this disease affected the brain as well as the meninges, because the nerves surrounding the stomach and responsi…

Proper name of Italic origin. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] R., P. Cos. 132 BC Praetor in 135 BC at the latest; as cos. of 132 BC together with P. Popillius [I 8] Laenas, oversaw the sentencing of Ti. Sempronius [I 15] Gracc(h)us' followers (Cic. Lael. 37). R. put an end to the major slave revolt in Sicily and imposed order to the province with the aid of a senatorial commission ( lex Rupilia, Cic. Verr. 2,2, passim; 2,3; 2,125; Val. Max. 6,9,8; Liv. Per. 59 et passim; MRR 1,497 f.). He died soon after, allegedly from grief, after his brother failed to be elected cons…

[German version] Widespread Roman cognomen in the families Afranius, Calpurnius, Cassius, Cestius, Claudius, Cornelius, Domitius, Egnatius, Nummius, Pomponius, Subrius, Turpilius. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] [1] Young Roman woman, example of female bravery Young woman who was hostage of the Etruscan king  Porsenna (508 BC). She escaped, swam across the Tiber (or rode across it on horseback) and reached Rome safely with a group of young girls; she had to be returned to the king but, in recognition of her bravery, he released her and a number of the hostages. After the peace treaty the Romans honoured her with a statue on horseback at the Velia on the Sacra Via (Liv. 2,13,6-11; Flor. Epit. 1,4,7). She remained one of the most widespread examples of female bravery (Boccaccio, De claris m…

Plebeian nomen gentile, documented in the literary tradition since the 5th cent.; the most important family were the Decii Mures (D. [I 1-3]), possibly from Campania [1], whose self-sacrifice (partly unhistorical) in battle made them much quoted examples in the tradition. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] D. Mus, P. (Origin of the cognomen not known), in 352 BC, committee member dealing with a debt crisis in Rome (Liv. 7,21,6); as war tribune in 343, he is said to have saved the army of the consul A. Cornelius [I 22] Cossus Arvina from…

[German version] Fictitious Roman cognomen, affectionate form of Rufinus (as in Hor. Sat. 1,2,26 f.; cf. 1,4,92 for an overbred dandy). Rufilla was the name of an alleged lover of Octavianus (Augustus) (Suet. Aug. 69,2). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina, 27; 229.

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…

[German version] Roman cognomen; according to ancient tradition a reference to a ‘ flatfoot’ (Plaut. Merc. 640; Plin. HN 11,254; Quint. Inst. 1,4,25); very common in the Imperial period. Its most famous bearer was C. Vibius Pansa ( cos. in 43 BC); the addressee of Cato's [1] speech In Pansam is not known (ORF I4, fr. 205). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Degrassi, FCIR, 261  Degrassi, FCap 147  Kajanto, Cognomina, 105; 241  H. Rix, Das etruskische Cognomen, 1963, 249f.  Schulze, 242; 365.

(or Quintillianus, rarely Quinctil[l]ianus). Roman cognomen, derived from the praenomen Quintus, widespread in the Imperial Period. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Professor of and author on rhetoric, late 1st cent. Latin teacher of oratory of the last third of the 1st cent. AD; first professor of rhetoric to receive a public salary at Rome. Dingel, Joachim (Hamburg) [German version] I. Biography M. Fabius Q. was from Calagurris [2] (modern Calahorra) in northern Spain. His father was at least conversant with rhetoric (Quint. Inst. 9,3,73…

Roman cognomen, indicating adoption by the gens Octavia (Octavius), in the Imperial period also a family name. [German version] [1] First Roman emperor (Augustus) In academic literature, the name O. is often used to denote the first Roman emperor, Augustus, in the period between his testamentary adoption by Caesar in 44 BC and his assuming the epithet Augustus in 27 BC. Born C. Octavius, in 44 he first took the name of his adoptive father C. Iulius Caesar, but never used his other epithet O., as it would only have draw…

Common Roman cognomen ('venerable') . Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Greek grammarian (Πρεῖσκος/ Preîskos). The 3rd cent. AD PTurner 39 (PIenensis inv. 267), a book catalogue from a private library, presents at line 4 'a commentary on epic verses by P.' [2], who is identified as one of the two Prisci mentioned in Ov. Pont. 4,16,10 ( Priscus uter); he may be identical to Clutorius Priscus, the Roman equestrian and poet mentioned in Tac. Ann. 3,49 and Cass. Dio 57,20,3-4. Fornaro, Sotera (Sassari) Bibliography 1 SH 710 A 2 R. Otranto, Antiche liste di libri su papi…

[German version] Influential freedman of Sulla (therefore his full name L. Cornelius C.), who enriched himself significantly during the Proscriptions. He had Sex. Roscius retroactively placed on the Proscription list for the purpose of acquiring his property for little money. According to Cicero that is why he backed the patricide trial of the victim's son, Sex.  Roscius in 80 BC (Cic. Rosc. Am. passim). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

Plebeian gentile name probably of Etruscan origin [1], inscriptions recorded up to the Imperial period (ThLL 2,294). [German version] [1] L. Legate 215 BC Legate 215 BC (Liv. 23,18,9; 11). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [2] P. Envoy 161 BC In 161 BC delegate to Ptolemy VII Physcon together with Cn.  Cornelius Lentulus (Pol. 31,20,4). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [3] Fullo, L. Cos. 226 BC cos. 226 BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [4] Fullo, L. Praetor urbanus 196 BC Probably son of no. 3, aedile in 201 BC, in 200 legate in Macedonia, 196 prae…

Relatively rare Roman family name (for derivation: Varro, Rust. 2,1,10). [German version] [1] E., L. Represented himself as son of Ti. Sempronius Gracchus Adventurer of uncertain origins, who in 102 BC represented himself as the son of the people's tribune Ti.  Sempronius Gracchus, killed in 133. He was acknowledged neither by the censor, Q. Caecilius [I 30] Metellus Numidicus, nor by the sister of Gracchus. As a follower of L. Ap(p)uleius [I 11] Saturninus, in 100 he stood for the post of people's tribune for 99, but was himself killed during the unrest that led to the death of Appuleius. E…