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Roman nomen gentile, in its older form, Papisius (Cic. Fam. 9,21,3), from which one of the 16 old rural tribes ( tribus ) took its name. The patrician gens formed several branches at an early time (5th/4th cents. BC: Crassi, Cursores, Mugillani, 3rd cent.: Masones) who played a significant role in the military successes of the Republic, but became either extinct no later than the 2nd cent. BC or politically insignificant. The younger plebeian branch of the Carbones rose in the 2nd half of the 2nd cent. and gained notoriety…

Name of a Roman family (also often given as Vetusius; on the origin of the gens Veturia [1. 284]), for which the tribus Voturia was named [2. 42]. The Veturii played a prominent political role in various phases of the Republic: from the beginning of the Republic to the leges Liciniae Sextiae (367 BC) with the Veturii [I 3-6] Cicurini, in the time between 334 and 321 with V. [I 1], and in the time of the 2nd Punic War with the Veturii [I 7-8] Philones. While the patrician status of the Cicurini and Philones can be regarded as certain (but cf. [3.…

(in Greek usually Μάλλιος/ Mállios, often confused in MSS with Mallius and Manilius). Name of a Roman patrician family, probably of Etruscan origin [1. 227]. It attained an early political zenith in the 5th and 4th cents. BC with the Vulsones and Capitolini branches (continued by the Torquati). Sources connect the family's history primarily with the repelling of the Celts ( M. [I 8] and [I 12]. Stemmata, details of which are uncertain: [2. 1157f., 1166]). A period of decline ended in about 260 BC wi…

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…

(Πύθων/ Pýthōn). [German version] [1] Dragon killed by Apollo near Delphi An enormous dragon killed by Apollo near Delphi with his arrows. The oldest version of the story is offered by H. Hom. 3,300-374: Apollo overcomes a female dragon who perpetrates her mischief in the vicinity of Delphi and into whose care Hera had given her son Typhon (Typhoeus, Typhon). The town and the god receive the nickname Pythṓ (cf. also the name of the female seer at Delphi, Pythía [1]) from its decaying (πύθεσθαι/ pýthesthai) corpse. According to Eur. IT 1245-1252, the dragon is male and guards the…

Roman gens name, probably of Latin origin with Etruscan parallels (the patrician gens in Dion Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,29,7 is invented), historically attested no earlier than the 3rd century BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] Between 220-219 BC Creator of a lex Metilia In 220-219 BC, at the instigation of the censors C. Flaminius [1] and L. Aemilius [I 27] Papus, a l ex Metilia was passed on the professional status of fullers ( fullones) (Plin. HN. 35,197; MRR 1, 236). Its exact purpose, its creator and his office remain…

Widely occurring Roman nomen gentile derived from the numeral praenomen Octavus ('one born in the eighth month', which disappeared later, still surviving in Octavus Mamilius [2]). Of political importance in Rome from the 2nd cent. BC is only the older line which consecutively produced five consuls (O. [I 4-8]; preferred praenomen: Cn.; regarding the family relationships [1. 405-407]); the members of the related younger line (resident in Velitrae), on the other hand, from which the later princeps Augustus originated, did not rise above equestri…

Roman patrician gentilic name (from the praenomen Postumus ), found in the highest offices from the 5th cent. BC on and politically significant until the 2nd cent. BC. As dictator in 499 or 496 BC, an A. P. is supposed to have decided the battle at Lacus Regillus (Liv. 2,19-20). The Albi or Albini (Regillenses), who withdrew from politics with P. [I 9]'s military failure in the Jugurthine War at the end of the 2nd cent. BC, are his descendants. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] P., C. Etruscan haruspex, even consulted by Sulla Etruscan haruspex ( haruspices …

Three bearers  of the Italic gens name S. are known from the late Republic. [German version] [1] S., L. Held a pro-consular imperium over Hispania Ulterior By popular vote a pro-consular imperium over Hispania Ulterior was transferred to him for 199 BC (Liv. 31,50,10-11 and [1]), and he returned in 196 with such great booty that he was able to have three arches built in Rome (Liv. 33,27,3-4); In 196 he was a member of a commission to re-organize Greece (Pol. 18,48,2 and [2]). Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] S., C. Praetor of Sardinia in 188 BC Praetor of Sardinia in 188 BC …

[German version] [1] Comedy writer, end of the 3rd / beginning of the 2nd cent. BC Roman comedy writer, in the general opinion of scholars a contemporary of Plautus (second half of the 3rd/beginning of the 2nd cent. BC), according to [7], however, from the late 2nd cent. BC. In the latter case, it is not T. but Afranius [4] who would have been the archegetes of the Roman national comedy ( fabula togata ); T. would have been responsible for its flourishing. In 15 plays proved to be his he distinguished himself, according to Varro [2] (in Char. 315…

[German version] (οἰκουμένη/ oikoumén ē, Lat. oecumene) is a participle originally referring to gê (γῆ, 'earth') and designating 'the inhabited part of the earth' in contrast to the uninhabited portion. The oldest preserved evidence (Xenophan. fr. 41 DK) already links the word to the collective subject 'we' ( sc. human beings) and thus relates oikoumene to a 'humankind' that is not further specified. Accordingly, the oikoumene is not only a geographic entity, but first of all a social realm established by its inhabitants' ability, at least in principle, to fo…

[German version] [1] T., M. As a curule aedile in 192 BC he conducted many cases against profiteers and used the fines to lavishly decorate public buildings (Liv. 35,41,9-10). As praetor in 190 he was allotted Apulia et Bruttii as his area of responsibility and this office was twice extended (Liv. 37,2,1; 37,50,13; 38,36,1). In 186 he was one of the tresviri at the renewal of the colonies of Sipontum and Buxentum (Liv. 39,23,3-4). Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] T. Cerialis See M. Tullius [II 1] Cerialis. Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld)

Name of a Roman patrician family (epigraphically also Serveilius), said to have migrated to Rome from Alba Longa under king Tullus Hostilius [4] (Liv. 1,30,2; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,29,7). The oldest branches are the Ahalae and Fidenates in the 5th and 4th cents. BC; the Caepiones and Gemini, from whom the Vatiae (Isaurici) descended, appear in the 3rd cent. The last prominent member of the Servilii Caepiones was the murderer of Caesar, M. Iunius [I 10] Brutus, son of Servilia [1], and himself adopted into the family. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] A fleet commander in the B…

Name of a patrician Roman family, derived from the praenomen Quintus (comparable to Sextus/ Sextius, etc.), often also Quintius in inscriptions and MSS. The origin of the family is unknown; its great age is suggested by its connection with the festival of the Lupercalia (Ov. Fast. 2,378 has Quintilii) and the unusual praenomen of the family, Kaeso, encountered in this context ( v. Q. [I 1]). Livy counts them among the families that migrated to Rome from Alba with King Tullius Hostilius (1,32,2; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,29,7 mentions the Quinctilii). The Quinctii are mentioned many tim…

Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) [German version] A. The Fundamental Argument of the Querelle (CT) In the European history of ideas, several ages have tried to explain what is specifically different about them by means of a direct confrontation with the Antiquity (i.e. as they conceive it). It was even more common in certain areas for what was considered 'modern' in a period to be directly set against and apart from what was considered 'ancient' . A particular focus in historical research has been on the  Querelle des Anciens et des Modernes (QAM). In a poem dedicated to the 'Siècle de…

Roman nomen gentile (in the MSS very frequently Tremellius), attested from the 2nd. cent. BC onwards. The six generations of praetorian ancestors on whom T. [3] prided himself (Varro, Rust. 2,4,2) are quite believable. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] T., Cn. As tribune of the people, he successfully interceded in 168 BC against an extension of the term served by the censors (Liv. 45,15,9) who had passed him over in the lectio senatus . As praetor in 159 BC, he insulted the pontifex maximus who gave him a penalty ( multa ). A people's court confir…

(Ὠκεανός/ Ōkeanós, Latin Oceanus). [German version] I. Myth Divine representative of the world river, later world sea, that flows in a ring around the earth. In Homer's Iliad O. lives with his wife Tethys on the boundaries of the earth (Hom. Il. 14,200ff.) and is the only god who does not take part in the meeting on Olympus (ibid. 20,7). He is the origin of the gods and of absolutely everything (ibid. 14,201 = 302; 246); from him flow the seas, the rivers, the springs and the wells (ibid. 21,195ff.). Nevertheless he is subordinate to the power of Zeus (ibid. 14,244-248; 21,198f.). Hera's tale of…

Name of a Roman plebeian family (also Petilius), known at Rome from the 2nd cent. BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] P., Q. Two people's tribunes of 187 BC was the name of two related (cousins?) people's tribunes of the year 187 BC. They accused (at the instigation of Cato [1]?) L. Cornelius [I 72] Scipio before the Senate of the misappropriation of state funds ( peculatus) during the war against Antiochus [5] III and demanded an explanation. L.'s brother P. Cornelius [I 71] Scipio declared the accusations to be absurd, an…

Italic nomen gentile. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] A young friend of M. Porcius [I 7] Cato; in 46 BC he wanted to follow Cato into death, but allowed himself to be dissuaded by philosophical arguments (Plut. Cato Minor 65,10 f.; 66,6-8; 73,7). He then joined cause with M. Iunius [I 10] Brutus, who, because of S.' attitude towards tyrannicide, did not dare let him in on the plot against Caesar. S. was killed in 42 as a scout at Philippi (Plut. Brutus 51,6). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] S., L. Roman equestrian and leading follower of Catilina (Cic. Cat. 3,6…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, probably from Caudium (CIL I2 1744 f.) and attested from the time of the 2nd Punic War. The branch of the Libones (S. [I 5-7; II 4-7]) attained the consulship with S. [I 7] and was part of the Roman high nobility in the early Imperial period. The Curiones (S. [I 1-4]), prominent in the 2nd and 1st cents. BC, disappeared with the Republic. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] S. Curio, C. As aedile in 196 BC, he built the Temple of Faunus on the Tiber Island. Praetor urbanus in 183 and the second plebeian to be elected curio [2] maximus …

[German version] [1] Pacuvius and Sthenius N. Celer from a distinguished Campanian family seem to have offered Hannibal accomodation in Capua in 216 BC Pacuvius and Sthenius N. Celer belonged to a distinguished Campanian family. They seem to have offered Hannibal sumptuous accommodation in Capua in 216 BC (Liv. 23,8). Punic Wars Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) Bibliography J. von Ungern-Sternberg, Capua im 2. Punischen Krieg, 1975, 30-31. [German version] [2] N. Crassus Republican writer, translator of the Iliad in Latin Republican writer, who translated the ‘Iliad into Latin…

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…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, historically attested at Rome from the 3rd cent. BC. The name was a common one, but its bearers were politically insignificant. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] Legate of L. Licinius [I 26] Lucullus in 69 BC. Distinguished himself in the Armenian war (Plut. Lucullus 25,4-6; App. Mithr. 381-385), but fell into Parthian hands in 68 (Cass. Dio 36,3,2 f.). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] Praetor before 67 BC, together with his colleague Bellinus, he was kidnapped by pirates (Plut. Pompeius 24,6). Fündling,…

[German version] In 182 BC, O. proposed the first attested Roman lex sumptuaria (“law against luxury”). It limited the number of people who could attend a banquet (Macrob. Sat. 3,17,2). Like other laws of this period, this one too was meant to regulate the competition between political opponents. M. Porcius Cato [1] had to fight against mitigation of the law. (Fest. 280-82 L.). It was superseded in 161 BC by the tougher lex Fannia (see Fannius [I 6]; luxus ). Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) Bibliography E. Baltrusch, Regimen morum, 1989, 77-81.

Name of a Roman patrician family, derived from the praenomen Quintus; in inscriptions and MSS also Quintilius. In the annalistic tradition the family was one of Rome's oldest, supposed to have arrived in Rome under the king Tullus Hostilius (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,29,7; cf. Liv. 1,30,2, though he has Quinctii); of a consul recorded in 453 BC and a consular tribune in 403 nothing further is known. In the historical period, members of the family are known from the end of the 3rd cent. on (bearing the inherited cognomen Varus), but they achieved no lasting noble status. The most promin…

[German version] The designations 'Orient (Or.)' and 'Occident (Oc.)', as regions of the world, are based on the compass directions in which they are located. These in turn were named after sunrise (ἀνατολή/ anatolḗ, 'sunrise', cf. 'Anatolia'; Lat. sol oriens) and, by analogy with this, sunset (δύσις/ dýsis, Lat. sol occidens). Homer had already used these phenomena to determine a primary east-west axis for recording and describing the world (Od. 10,190-192), which differed from that used in Egypt that was based on the direction of the flow of …

Oscan/Italian praenomen (usual abbreviation in Lat. inscriptions Tr.), later also a Roman gens name, recorded from the 1st cent. BC onwards. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] T., Statius Supposed to have handed his home city of Compsa over to Hannibal [4] in 216 BC (Liv. 23,1,1-3; Zon. 9,2,7). Punic Wars (II) Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) Bibliography J. von Ungern-Sternberg, Capua im Zweiten Punischen Krieg, 1975, 69. [German version] [2] T. Gallus, M. Roman equestrian, Caesar's prefect or tribune in Gaul, who demanded grain from the Coriosolites (…