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Old Roman nomen gentile, derived from the prename Marcus. Tradition knows of a patrician branch with the (mythical) king Ancus M. [I 3] and Cn. M. Coriolanus as its most important members. The younger members of the family (from the 3rd cent.) were plebeian without a link to the patrician Marcii being evident. Important families included the Rutili, later also the Censorini, Tremuli, Reges and Rallae. In the Late Republic the family claimed descent from the kings Ancus M. and Numa Pompilius (therefore the cognomen Rex, see M. [I 5]; RRC 346; 425; Suet. Iul. 6,1; [4. 154]) as wel…

Name of a widely-branched Roman plebeian family who became well known from the beginning of the 2nd cent. BC on, but only achieved the consulate for the first time at the end of the cent. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] R. Lupus, P. Consul in 90 BC Praetor no later than 93 BC; consul in 90. During the Social War [3], he received the command of the northern army; against the advice of his legate C. Marius [I 1], he was lured into an ambush by the Marsi and was killed in the valley of the Tolnus (modern Turano; Liv. Per. 73; App. B Civ. 1,191-194; Oros. 5,18,11 f.). MRR 2,25. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig…

Plebeian nomen (Schulze 266; 424), attested historically from the beginning of the 2nd cent. BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] F.M. f., C. Rom. senator and historian, partaker in the storming of Carthage Roman senator and historian (in Cic. Brut. 99 falsely differentiated from a relative). F. distinguished himself in 146 BC with Ti. Gracchus at the storming of Carthage (Plut. Gracchi 4,6), fought in 141 as tribunus militum in Spain (App. Ib. 287), was the son-in-law of C.  Laelius and heard  Panaetius (Cic. Brut. 100f.). In…

[German version] (originally pro praetore, 'in place of a praetor ', e.g. ILLRP 342; SC in Cic. Fam. 8,8,8; Greek ἀντιστράτηγος/ antistrátēgos) was at Rome the term for an official with the responsibilities and competencies of a praetor without him formally being one. Originally, a magistrate was made propraetor either through extension ( prorogatio ) of a praetorian command (first evidence for this practice from 241 BC: InscrIt XIII 1, p. 76 f.; often from the 2nd Punic War) or by investing a citizen without office ( privatus ) with praetorian imperium (Liv. 23,34,…

(liter. 'Twenty(-Six) Men') [German version] I. Annual magistrates Viginti(sex)viri at Rome was a general term covering six collegia of junior magistrates ( magistratus minores: Cic. Leg. 3,6) which had developed since the 3rd cent. BC (without differentiation Pomp. Dig. 1,2,29 f.) and which in the late Republic were filled by election under the chairmanship of the praetors (attested for IIIviri capitales: Fest. p. 468) in the tribal assemblies (Comitia) (Gell. NA 13,15,4): these were the tresviri [4] monetales (also IIIviri a.a.a.f.f.), tresviri [1] capitales , decemviri [2] s…

[German version] From the time of the 2nd Samnite War (327-304 BC), Rome countered the shortage of senior civil servants by formally extending the imperium of individual consuls or praetors for areas outside the city (sole exception: Frontin. Aq. 1,7), beyond the regular term in office by way of prorogatio, which included a restriction of time or of a material nature. Initially, the prorogatio was decided by the people's assembly acting on a proposal by the Senate (Liv. 8,23,12; 10,22,9 et passim), whereas later it was generally handled by the Senate alone as a matter of rou…

[German version] As annalists one designates particularly the authors of earlier Roman works of history, which as a rule begin their representation with early times (exception:  Claudius Quadrigarius) and continue until the present. They organized at least the more recent events strictly according to the chronology of the official years and maintained within those years a schematic organization [1]. Gellius (5,18,1 ff.) acknowledges two ancient suggestions for distinguishing annales and historia(e): 1. historiae treat contemporary, annales by contrast older history. T…

[German version] A. Term Although imago essentially means any image, frequently even portrait busts of various materials, imagines maiorum (often just imagines) primarily designates the wax images (thus also cerae: Ov. Am. 1,8,65; Juv. 8,19) of the  ancestors, which were kept in the  atrium of distinguished Roman homes. An interpretation of Cicero (Verr. 2,5,36 ius imaginis ad memoriam posteritatemque prodendae) with Mommsen [7. 442-4] that such images only existed for curule magistrates is not certain (critical [3. 108; 9. 32f.]). The custom was consid…

[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…

Name of a plebeian family that gained prominence during the Second Punic War (Schulze, 266). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] C., L. Antiquarian author, 1st cent. BC? Antiquarian author probably of the late Republican period (1st cent. BC; since [6] differentiated from the historian L.C.Alimentus). Seven works of grammarian, antiquarian and legal content are known from quotes in Festus, Gellius and others (fragments: [1. 1,252ff.; 2. 71ff.]): De verbis priscis, De fastis, De comitiis, De consulum potestate, De officio iurisconsulti (at least two vols.), De re …

(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 …

Family name of Oscan origin. [I 184]. The family was prominent in Capua (M. [I 3], cf. Cic. Pis. 24) and M.'s [I 5] sons were the first to be admitted to the Senate in the 1st cent. BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] Grandfather of the poet Vergilius on his mother's side Grandfather of the poet Vergilius on his mother's side; was allegedly an official messenger ( viator ; Donat. Vita Vergilii 1). Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) [German version] [I 2] M., Cn. Governor of Numidia AD 256-258. From Larinum in Samnium, died about 88 BC; heir of his (half…

[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…

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] [1] A formal resolution of the Roman Senate (SC; sometimes senatus sententia: ILS 18; 35a; 8208; informally also senatus decretum, e.g. Cic. Mil. 87; Cic. Sest. 32, or in archaic form senati decretum: Sall. Cat. 30,3 and passim). The formal resolution by which the Roman Senate pronounced advice or instructions at the request ( consulere) of magistrates; while not binding legally, it was in practice: in the Imperial Period, to some extent it even acquired force of law (Gai. Inst. 1,4; Pompon. Dig. 1,2,12; cf. [3. 432]). An SC that was…

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] A. General After a person's death the treatment and taking of his body to a particular place called grave ( Funerary architecture), mostly connected with death rituals. Burial customs varied depending on the society's religious concepts and particularly the concepts of  afterlife and the (social) status of the deceased or those organizing the burial. The main types of burial are inhumation or cremation (ash burial). There is also evidence of individual cases from the Neolithic Peri…