Author(s):
Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)
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Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg)
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Frigo, Thomas (Bonn)
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Müller, Christian (Bochum)
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Walde, Christine (Basle)
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Et al.
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 political zenith in 367 BC with the initiator of the Licinian-Sextian laws, L. [I 43]; the late Republican annalist L. [I 30] Macer probably emphasized the importance of the family in the early period. Its rise began at the end of the 3rd cent. BC. At first, the most important branch of the family were the Crassi (L. [I 8-20]; see stemma, details uncertain; on the
cognomen see Crassus); the other
cognomen of Dives (‘the rich’) was only borne by their older line (not, therefore, the triumvir L. [I 11]), which was, however, politically irrelevant in the 1st cent. BC. The Luculli (L. [I 23-29]) appeared in the 2nd cent. BC, and in the 1st cent. the Murenae (L. [I 32-35]). - L. was an element of the names of the emperors Valerianus and Gallienus. A kind of olive,
olea Liciniana (Cato Agr. 6,2), and a road station, the Forum Licinii near the modern Como, were both named after the L. [I 10].