Search

[German version] From the 4th cent. BC at the latest (going back too far: Cic. De or. 2,52) to the period of P. Mucius [I 5] Scaevola (from 130 BC), the pontifex maximus published notes about current events - the type and length of which are contested - in front of the regia on a white-washed wooden plate ( album: Cic. De or. 2,52; tabula dealbata: Serv. Auct. Aen. 1,373): along with price increases (due to bad harvests) and solar or lunar eclipses (Cato Orig. fr. 77 P.; cf. Cic. Rep. 1,25) probably prodigies, vota, temple consecrations and other items of re…

[German version] (Latin rogus, also, esp. poetic, the Greek loan-word pyra, e.g. Verg. Aen. 6,215; Ov. Fast. 2,534). At Rome, term for the funeral pyre for the burning of corpses. It was made of pieces of wood and small items piled up at a specially determined site ( ustrina) close to the place of interment. In shape it resembled a square altar (Serv. Aen. 6,177; therefore poetically referred to as ara: Ov. Tr. 3,13,21 et passim). Originally unadorned (the Tabulae duodecim forbade smoothing the logs with an axe, Cic. Leg. 2,59), the rogus was later made more elaborate according to the …

[German version] Term for the Roman funeral banquet (< cena fu>nebris, Fest. p. 376 L.; convivium funebre, Non. P. 48,5 M.) which, like the Greek perídeipnon (identified in CGL II 183,58), was celebrated by the next of kin immediately after the interment of the deceased at the grave, according to "ancient custom" (Varro, Sat. Men. 303, cited in Non. P. 48,6-9 M.). The idea behind it (shared by many peoples: [1. 23 f.]) was probably that the deceased took part in the meal (Donat. in Ter. Ad. 587: cena quae infertur dis manibus; implicitly in Tert. Apol. 13,7). The etymology of the w…

[German version] I. Life L. Cornelius S., from a senatorial family probably of Etruscan origin, born no later than 118 BC, performed military service in the Social Wars (probably under Cornelius [I 90] Sulla). It is unclear whether in the 80s he was in Rome (as [2] believes) or in the East with Sulla [3. 215]. Praetor in 78 [7. 22] and after that probably governor of Sicily (Cic. Verr. 2,2,110: MRR 2, 90); in 70 BC, he was involved in the defence of Verres (Cic. Verr. 2,4,43); as legate of Cn. Pompe…

(plur. quaestores, from quaerere, ‘to ask’, ‘examine’; the etymological meaning is not related to the official responsibility as a treasury official, cf. mastroí ). Lowest stage of the cursus honorum . [German version] I. Quaestores parricidii Q. parricidii (mentioned in the Twelve Tables/ tabulae duodecim : Pomponius Dig. 1,2,2,23) were concerned with the investigation of capital offences in early Rome (Paul. Fest., s. v. parricidi q., p. 247 L.) and were almost certainly not a permanent institution of criminal prosecution by the state but probably acted as …

[German version] (originally pro quaestore, 'in place of a quaestor '; Greek ἀντιταμίας/ antitamías) was the term for the promagistrate who took on administrative duties in place of the elected quaestor in Roman provinces of the late Republic: 1) If the quaestor died or resigned from office prematurely, the governor named a member of his staff (usually a legatus ) as proquaestor; C. Verres, e.g., was appointed by Cn. Cornelius [I 25] Dolabella in 80 BC (Cic. Verr. 2,1,41; 2,1,90). 2) Because of the shortage of quaestores they were not infrequently sent as proquaestores to a province aft…

(the Roman Senate). [German version] I. Age of kings According to Roman tradition, the senatus existed as an advisory body for governing the state from the age of the kings onwards. Romulus [1] was said to have established a council of 100 members (Liv. 1,8,7; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,12,1; Fest. s.v. patres, p. 288; Ov. Fast. 3,127) which was later expanded to 300. The individual pieces of information about this are probably later constructions. It is plausible that a council of older men ( senatus is related to senex: [1.513 f.]; cf. the appellation patres, 'fathers') existed early on, c…

(Latinized form of the Etruscan lau χ ume and similar [1. 827]). [German version] A. Official title Lucumones were the kings (Serv. Aen. 2,278; 8,475) who, in archaic times, ruled over the twelve Etruscan populi and exercized the highest power as commanders, judges, and priests [4. 296-299]; one of them is said to have acted as chairman in the Etruscan league of towns. With the end of the kingship, the title probably designated the bearer of a high priestly office in the manner of the rex sacrorum [2. 64; 4. 297]; cf. [5. 145f.]. In Mantua, the heads of the twelve curiae are said to have been called L…

(older praitor, ILS 3141; the etymological explanation from qui praeiret exercitui 'he who walks before the army' in Varro, Ling. 5,87; cf. Cic. Leg. 3,8 is probably correct; Greek equivalent στρατηγός/ stratēgós). I. Rome [German version] A. Republican period At Rome, praetores were originally the eponymous senior officials (later consul : Liv. 3,55,12; Paul. Fest. s. v. praetoria porta, 249 L.). Contentions that there were already praetores in the monarchical period and that the supreme authority in the early Republic was triple (e.g. [2. 428]) have no secur…

[German version] in Rome served, primarily as assistants ( apparitores ), to all senatorial officials, the princeps and the holders of tribunicia potestas , but also to several collegia of viginti(sex)viri (ILS 1898; 1911; 1929) and many collegia of priests (ILS 1899; 1931; 4978; 4979; Collegium ). Their duties overlapped to some extent with those of the lictores, particularly for officials (e.g. tribunus [7] plebis ) with no assigned lictor . The viatores functioned as messengers, they called senators (Cic. Cato 56) and judges (Cic. Cluent. 74) to sessions, summone…

[German version] (ἐκφορά; ekphorá) From Aeschylus (Sept. 1024; clearly terminologically in Thuc. 2,34,3), ekphora denotes the funeral procession which takes the body from the place where it was laid out to cremation or burial. Detailed descriptions can be found first in Hom. Il. 23,131-139. As indicated by representations on late geometrical funeral receptacles [1. fig. 53-55], the ekphora was performed by wealthy families in the older Athens with great splendour (deathbed on a wagon, cf. clay model of the hearse from Attica [3. fig. 22]) and a large …

[German version] (‘Custom of the fathers’, sometimes also mos patrius: Cic. Rep. 5,1; Cic. Cato 37; vetus mos: Cic. Rep. 5,1; Tac. Ann. 14,42,2; mos antiquus: Varro Sat. Men. fr. 303; Tac. Dial. 28,2; interpretational paraphrase e.g. Liv. 27,11,10: mos traditus a patribus) is the core concept of Roman traditionalism. As little in Rome was regulated by positive law, in all areas of life people in many respects followed custom ( mos; sometimes connected with disciplina, e.g. Cic. Flacc. 15; with consuetudo, e.g. Gell. 15,11,2; with institutum, Cic. Mur. 1; Cic. Dom. 56) and traditi…

[German version] A. General  Mourning and consolation are basic elements of the human condition. Should anyone encounter misfortune from the death of a friend or family member, banishment, loss of health, of property or of freedom, then friends and relations try to alleviate sorrow or improve morale by offering comfort and encouragement. Therefore, consolatory scenes and motives occur already in older Greek poetry (e.g. Hom. Il. 5,381─402; Archil. fr. 13 W.; Eur. Alc. 416─419). What is specifically meant by consolatio as a literary genre, though, are writings of a philosop…

In Rome, scribae (plural) were professional literates with higher qualifications; they were thus not simple copiers ( librarii) but secretaries and accountants, in the early period even authors (Fest. p. 446). Scribae worked in both private and public spheres. [German version] I. Scribae in private households Slaves who assisted their masters in writing tasks were generally called (servi) librarii (Plin. HN 7,91; ILS 7398; 7401) or amanuenses (Suet. Nero 44,1; ILS 7395). The expression s. librarius is only rarely attested (CIL VI 8881). Secretaries entrusted with more …

[German version] Synonymous with annalespontificum maximorum (Cic. Leg. 1,6). Annales maximi is what the Romans called a chronicle-like work of history, which is based on the records of the pontifex maximus (Paul. Fest. p. 113 L; Macrob. Sat. 3,2,17; Serv. Aen. 1,373; implicitly already in Cic. De or. 2,52). The content was apparently identical to that of the tabula apud pontificem maximum (Cato orig. fr. 77 HRR), which in addition to details about dearths and eclipses surely also contained reports about prodigies ( pace [3]), temple dedications, additions to the priestly coll…

[German version] Roman historian of the early Imperial period. The exact dates of his life are uncertain: according to Jerome he died at the age of 70 in AD 19 (Chron. p. 172 Helm), according to Pliny only ‘late in the reign of Tiberius’ ( novissimo Tiberii Caesaris principatu; HN 33,146). F. wrote an annalistic history in more than 22 books (Fr. 21 Peter from book 22 [= HRR 2, 85f.] relates to 57 BC) that extended from the early Roman period to the late Republic and perhaps even included the Augustan period (Fr. 24 Peter [= HRR 2, 86]). The …

[German version] (πρόθεσις/ próthesis, first [1. 22B], 6th century BC; first in literature Pl. Leg. 947b 3; 959e 5). Term for the laying out of a corpse, which was an indispensable part of every burial in Greece from the earliest times. The dead person was laid on a klínē , usually covered by a pall (φᾶρος/ phâros), and was lamented and mourned both by family members and unrelated mourners. Prothesis scenes are described in the Homeric epics (esp. Hom. Il. 18,352-355; 24,719-776). Ritual gestures of grief are often depicted, particularly on Attic pottery (cf. [6…

[German version] An old element in Roman mortuary customs: when the eyes of the deceased were closed the attending relatives repeatedly called his name (Serv. Aen. 6,218; Luc. 2,23; Sen. Dial. 9,11,7; with the same meaning Ov. Tr. 3,3,43 clamor supremus ; Ps.-Quint. Decl. mai. 8,10 conclamata suprema). Since this word also describes the ordinary death lament (e.g., Tac. Ann. 3,2,2; Oratio imperatoris Hadriani in CIL 14, 3579, 19; Sen. Ep. 52,13 and passim), a lot of evidence cannot be clearly attributed. This custom, which was obviously no longer understood in the hi…

[German version] (the cognomen only in Suet. Iul. 9,2). Roman historian of the Late Republic of whose life nothing is known. It is also unclear whether his work, which (because of Plut. Caesar 22,3) was not finished until after 55 BC and contained accounts hostile to Caesar (especially fr. 1 P. = HRR 2, p. 50: on the 'conspiracy' of 66 BC), was an account of contemporary events only [1. 327] or whether it was organised as an annalistic comprehensive history (as in [2. 265]; annales in Sen. Ep. 93,11). According to Seneca, the work was voluminous and 'ponderous' ( ponderosi); he may have been…

[German version] was the name the Romans gave to undertakers because of their seat in the sacred grove of Libitina ( qui libitinam faciunt, ILS 6085,94). On behalf of the affected families (or the state: Sen. Dial. 9,11,10), they organized the burials and supplied the necessary implements as well as the personnel (partly slaves: Ulp. Dig. 14,3,5,8), e.g. pollinctores , bearers, musicians (cf. Petron. Sat. 78,6), specialists for burning the corpses ( ustores). The funeral practices in the Roman cities of Italy were apparently similarly organized (ILS 6726 attests a bu…