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Italian nomen gentile, with many bearers in Ameria (CIL XI 4507-16) and Lanuvium (CIL XIV 3225-7). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] R., L. Roman envoy killed in 438 BC by the Fidenati A Roman envoy killed in 438 BC together with his three colleagues by the Fidenati (Fidenae); because of this all three were honoured with statues on the Rostra (Cic. Phil. 9,4; Liv. 4,17,2-6). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 2] R., Sex. Father and son; the latter was defended by Cicero in 80 BC against the accusation of patricide and embezzlement …

Name of a Roman plebeian family, documented since the first cent. BC (the name in Liv. 4,54,3 is probably a later invention). Under Augustus the family attained the consulate, but it disappeared at the end of the first cent. AD. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] S., P. Praetor c. 58 or 52 BC, as propraetor of Bithynia et Pontus 51-50 BC addressee of laudatory letters from Cicero (Cic. Fam. 13,47; 61-65; cf. 7,21). S., who was regarded as an authority on Asia Minor, brought an inherita…

Uncommon Latin praenomen , abbreviation V. The etymology of the name is unknown. Like the identical nomen gentilicium, it derives from the Osco-Umbrian Vībie/o-. Related nomina gentilicia were Vibidius, Vibuleius, Vibulenus. The praenomen and its feminine equivalent Vībia- were loaned into Etruscan as Vipie and Vipia respectively. The nomen gentilicium formed from that, Vipi(e)na, appears in Latinized form as Vibenna . Steinbauer, Dieter (Regensburg) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] V. Curius Prefect of Caesar, to whom troops of L. Manlius [I 18] Torquatus and P. Rutilius [I 2] Lupus defected in 49 BC (Caes. B Civ. 1,24,3). The V. Curius who was a contemporary of Cicero's (Quint. Inst. 6,3,73), was probably an older relative. Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] V. Pansa Caetronianus, C. (cf. ILS 8890). Leading Caesarian, wealthy (v. [2]) son of a senator, Caetronius, who was pr…

Praenomen of Oscan origin, particularly widespread in Upper Italy (cf. S. Gellius [3], S. Abbius Oppianicus); later also occurring as nomen gentile with many variants [1. 37, 237, 469]. I. Republican Period [German version] …

Roman family name (also Offellius, Offillius etc.), probably from the Oscan praenomen Of(f)ellus, which also appears as a cognomen (a landowner in Venusia: Hor. Sat. 2,2,2f.; 53f.; 112ff.). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] O. Tribunus militum, 36 BC Tribunus militum in 36 BC, mocked rewards handed out by Octavian (Augustus) as paltry…

Latin nomen gentile. [German version] [1] R., C. Took part in the murder of the tribune of the people Appuleius [I 11] in 100 BC, accused of this crime in 63 and defended by Cicero Wealthy Roman equestrian with estates in Apulia and Campania. In 100 BC, he took part in the murder of the tribune of the people L. Appuleius [I 11] Saturninus, for which he was probably later rewarded with a seat in the Senate; in 89, he was on the staff of Cn. Pompeius [I 8] Strabo (ILLRP 515). Attacked on numerous occasions by the populares as a supporter of the Senate, in 63 he was accused of the murder of Appuleius. The judicial procedure chosen was an archaic one applied in cases when the accusation was of high treason ( …

Roman nomen gentile, also confused with Sestius . According to tradition, the family achieved prominence in the 4th cent. BC with S. [I 6] who obtained access to the consulate for plebeians. The family was unimportant under the Republic, with the exception of S. [1 3]; the branch which was best known into the 3rd cent. AD originated with Caesar's follower S. [I 2], but it made spurious claims to be descended from the first plebeian consul S. [I 6] (hence the epithets …

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, and pointedly ripped up the documents. There was probably no trial, and …

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, …

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,…

Italian nomen gentile, see also Salustius. I. Republican Period [German version] …

(also Mithradates; Μιθριδάτης/ Mithridátēs, Μιθραδάτης/ Mithradátēs ). The personal name Μιθραδάτης is Persian - coins [4. 10-17] attest to the original spelling. Inscriptions, (Syll.3 709 passim; 741,14,23; 742,4; 12) sporadically give Μιθριδάτης, even contemporary ones (Greek ILS 37,8, Latin ILS 38,28; 60,5; 9), which is the form found in most later documents (Syll.3 785,10) and manuscripts. The change α/ι is due to weakening of vowels at the morpheme boundary, demonstrable from the 5th century onward and appearing in the spoken language, being adopted only gradu…

Roman family name, derived from the praenomen Titus II., recorded only in the 1st cent. BC; the bearers of the name are usually not related to each other. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period…

(also frequently Popilius). Name of a Plebeian gens attested from the 4th cent. BC. The family maintained a joint funeral cult (Cic. Leg. 2…

Roman gens name, probably taken from the forename Manius, which in mss is frequently confused with Mallius, Manilius, Manlius. The family was significant in the 2nd cent. BC through M. [I 3] and [I 4]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] M. (or Manlius?), L. Writer, senator AD 97, [I 1] M. (or Manlius?), L.…

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;…

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-?)brother N. Aurius. M.'s own heir was the son of his sister Magia, Abbius Oppianicus (Cic. Clu. 21; 33). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [I 3] M., Decius Led the Roman faction in Capua in 216 BC Led the Roman faction in Capua in 216 BC. Sent by Hannibal [4] to Carthage, but landed in…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, perhaps of Etruscan origin [1. 185; 187]. The most important bearer of the name is M. [I 3]; the family is politically unimportant in the 1st cent. BC. Lex Maenia is the title of a Menippean satire of Varro (Varro Men. 153-155). The law concerned the power of the paternal head of the house; content and dating are contested [3. 1085 - 1121]. A further lex Maenia probably passed before 290 BC directed that the ‘agreement of the Senate’ ( auctoritas patrum) for elections be obtained before proclaiming the election results (Cic. Brut. 55).…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, in the late Republic also often spelt Plotius, with no clear difference in use (cf. Claudius/Clodius). The earliest epigraphic evidence comes from Praeneste (among it the maker of the Ficoronian Cista, Novios Plautios, CIL I2 561), while the family in Rome achieved political eminence after 367 BC (Münzer therefore considers them to have migrated from Praeneste [1. 42; 44f.; 412]), providing seven consuls between 358 and 318; their migration may explain their interest in integrating Latini (cf. P. [I 5]). The cognomina Proculus and Venox were initially individually assigned, but then inherited; the cognomen Decianus suggests a connection with the Decii (Decius). In the 3rd cent. BC, the family lost its importance, ap…

Italian surname (on its Etruscan connection cf. [1. 182f.]). In the 5th and 4th cents. BC we encounter the patrician family of the Lucretii Tricipitini (among others with the rare praenomen Hostus) which later died out; from the 3rd cent. BC onwards several plebeian families are known (Gallus, Ofella, Trio, Vespillo). The most important…