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[German version] A. Lament In addition to other kinds of song (magic songs: Hor. Epod. 17,29; Ov. Ars am. 2,102; childrens' verses: Hor. Epist. 1,1,63; general songs: Hor. Carm. 3,28,16), in Rome nenia is a technical term for a dirge sung to the flute in praise of a dead person in their funeral procession (Fest. 154/5 L.; Quint. Inst. 8,2,8; cf. Cic. Leg. 2,62). The origin and derivation of the presumably onomatopoeic (cf.   [1. 386]) word has not been explained: a Greek origin (owing to Cic. Leg. 2,62) is accepted by  [2], rejected by [3. 221]. According to Varro (De vita populi Romani …

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[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.),…

[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, annal…

[German version] A. Term Although imago essentially means any image, frequently even portrait busts of various materials, imagines maiorum (often just imagines) primar…

[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 after the completion of their year of office in the city (e.g. P. Sestius in 62 BC to Macedonia: Cic. Fam. 5,6), or they were left in office there as proquaestor (L. Antonius [I 4] in 50 BC in Asia: Cic. Fam. 2,18; P. Cornelius [I 55] Lentulus in 43 BC in Asia: Cic. Fam. 12,15), sometimes for several years (e.g. C. Cassius [I 10] Longinus 53-51 in Syria) and in the capacity of governor ( proquaestor pro praetore: abbreviated Cic. Fam. 12,15; RRC 517,4-6; Greek: ILS 8775; Jos. Ant. Iu…

(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 …

(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 ac…

(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…

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[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

[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] [1] Wife of Marcius Coriolanus According to a much-related story about Marcius Coriolanus (in which V. plays only a subordinate role, however), when he and a Volsci army are outside Rome, the pleas of his wife V. and his mother Veturia cause him to refrain from attacking his home city (the story in e.g. Liv. 2,39,1-2,40,11; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 8,40-54; Val. Max. 5,2,1; 5,4,1; Plut. Coriolanus 33,1-36,6, but there, it is not his wife but his mother who bears the name V.). Müller, Christian (Bochum) [German version] [2] Pantomime actress, 1st cent. BC Freedwoman (and lover:…

[German version] [1] Roman historian, 2nd cent. BC Roman historian of the late 2nd cent. BC (in Cic. Leg. 1,6 ordered after C. Fannius [I 1]); nothing is known of him as a person. His presumably annalistic work (Annalists) began with stories of the founding of Rome and the period of the kings (Origo gentis Romanae 20,1; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,15,1), but its scope and end point are unknown. Cicero felt the need of it in 46 BC in his literary work in Tusculum (Cic. Att. 12,3,1). Fr. in HRR I2 142 and [1]. Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) Bibliography 1 M. Chassignet (ed.), L'annalistique romain…

Roman cognomen perhaps of Etruscan origin [1. 310, 315, 418], in conjunction with catus (‘astute’, ‘crafty’ [2; 3. 250]. In Republican times widespread in the families of the Hostilii and Valerii, prominent among the Porcii, according to whose model C. is used now and again as a synonym for a conservative Roman; quite rarely also as gentilicium [1. 303].  Porcius Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Porcius C., M. Cato the Elder, 234-149 BC (234-149 BC), ‘Cato the Elder’, ‘Censorius’, energetic politician and founder of Roman prose literature, is the b…

[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…