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Plebeian family name, attested since the 1st cent. BC; also occurred in Praeneste (ThlL, Onom. 354f); the family is politically insignificant [2]. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] C. Architect in the late republican period Architect of the pons Cestius between the right bank of the Tiber and Tiber Island, probably during the late republican period; otherwise unknown. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 2] C., C. Praetor (?) 44 BC Praetor (?) 44 BC; probably proscribed by Antonius in 43. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 3] C., L. Praetor and …

[German version] I. Republican period Italic family name (ThlL, Onom. 2, 543); from the 2nd cent. BC its bearers belonged to the Roman equestrian class, and during the imperial period occasionally acceded to the Senate. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 1] C., P. Roman eques from Spoletium, 1st half of the 1st cent. BC Roman knight from Spoletium, and an acquaintance of Cicero; in 74 BC with his brother C.C. unsuccessfully accused L. Aelius Staienus (Cic. Clu. 100), and in 66 and 65 the people's tribune C. Cornelius [I 2], defended by Cicero, for maiestas (Ascon. 59-62C; Ci…

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 inheritance lawsuit in 44 BC (Cic. Att. 7,1,8). His son is probably S. [II 7]. Fündli…

[German version] Roman gentilicium M., legate of Cicero in Cilicia 51-50 BC (Cic. Fam. 13,55 and passim; MRR 2,244). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] [1] King of the Istri, defeated cos. A. Manlius Vulso in 178 AD Name (probably Roman nickname ‘the feaster’) of the king of the Istri ( rex E. Enn. Ann. 408 SK.; rex Aepulo Liv. 41,11,1, Apulo Flor. 1,26 [1]). In 178 he defeated consul A.  Manlius Vulso (MRR 1,395), but was ejected again from the captured Roman camp, where the victors were enjoying their supplies ( rex accubans epulari coepit, Liv. 41,2,12; 41,4,7). In 177 he was besieged in Nesactium, and killed himself after the capture of the city (41,11,6; a different account in Flor. 1,26). E. …

[German version] Roman surname (Schulze, 161). F., private secretary ( scriba, γραμματεύς; grammateús) of Caesar; identical to the F. mentioned frequently by Cicero in spring 45 BC who had been given a loan by Cicero, the repayment of which involved irregularities that only Atticus could rectify (Cic. Att. 12-15). After the murder of Caesar, F. helped M. Antonius [I 9] to falsify the decrees of the dictator (App. B. Civ. 3,16; Cic. Att. 14,18,1). He probably died shortly afterwards. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography H. P. Benöhr, Fabianum negotium, in: ZRG 106, 1986, …

[German version] Cognomen (‘runner, courier’) in the gens Papiria. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina 361.

[German version] Roman cognomen (‘the ulcer’) of the most important plebeian branches of the  Papirii in the 2nd and 1st cents. BC (Cic. Fam. 9,21,3). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography ThlL, Onom. 183f. Kajanto, Cognomina, 341 Schulze, 314.

Roman family name (Schulze, 168, 276, A.7; ThlL, Onom. 2, 587), related to copo ‘innkeeper’ in popular etymology (Mart. 3,59), attested since the 1st cent. BC. [German version] [1] C., C. Praetor under Pompey 49 BC Cicero praised him and his brother T.C. as adulescentes in 56 BC (Balb. 53; Cael. 24). In 53 BC, he was praefectus in Syria, in 49 BC, praetor and mint master under Pompey (RRC 444), and in 48, as propraetor, he lost his fleet in a storm at sea. He is probably identical to the C. who was proscribed in 43 and who owed his life to his wife's …

Roman patrician family name, probably derived from Etruscan fapi [1. 162]. According to ancient etymology, however, either from faba ‘(broad)bean’ (‘legume grower’: Plin. HN 18,10; [2]) or from the original ‘Fodius’, ‘Fovius’ (‘wolf pit hunter’: Plut. Fabius 1,2; Fest. 77 L.) because the Fabii with the Quinctii originally appointed the priesthood of the Luperci; the  Lupercalia were also the family celebration of the Fabii (Ov. Fast. 193ff.). Early Imperial pseudogenealogy, which perhaps arose in the literary ci…

[German version] Cognomen of P. Sulpicius Q. ( cos. 12 AD). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] Nickname (‘lower leg’) referring to a peculiarity of the legs; cognomen in the family of the Cornelii ( Cornelius [I 50]) Lentuli. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography A. Hug, s.v. Spitznamen, RE 3A, 1828 Kajanto, Cognomina 225.

Name of a Roman plebeian family probably deriving from the Italic praenomen Pompo, tracing back, like the Aemilii, Calpurnii and Pinarii, to one of the sons of Numa Pompilius (Plut. Numa 21,2; cf. Nep. Att. 1,1). In the 3rd century BC the Mathones (cf. P. [I 7-9]) achieved consulship, but later the family was insignificant. The most prominent member was a friend of Cicero, T. P. [I 5] Atticus. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] P., Cn. People's tribune in 90 BC People's tribune in 90 BC, killed in the Civil War in 82; Cicero quite often heard him in his youth; his j…

Name of a plebeian gens (cf. Tac. Ann. 6,15,1), the representatives of whom have been known historically since the middle of the 3rd cent. BC. The most important family, especially in the 1st cent. BC, are the Cassii Longini. A patrician C. (around 500 BC, C. I 19) is rare. I. Republican age [German version] [I 1] C., C. Governor of Asia 89-88 BC Praetor 90 BC (?), in 89-88 governor of the province of Asia whence he, with M'. Aquillius [I 4], induced Nicomedes of Bithynia to attack  Mithridates (MRR 2,34). He then had to retreat from the victorious Mithridat…

Roman family name, variant of Venilius (Schulze, 378; 458). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] L. V. Apronianus Octavius Priscus Son of V. [4]. Cos. ord. in AD 123; procos. of Asia 138/9, SEG 36, 987. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography Scheid, Collège, 338-342. [German version] [2] L. V. Apronianus Octavius Priscus Senator. Son of V. [1]. Although a Patrician, after a praetorship he took on command of the Legio I Italica in Moesia Inferior. Cos. suff. under Antoninus [1] Pius; also a consular legate in Hispania Tarraconensis. Cos. ord. II in AD 168. Eck, Werner (Cologne) B…

[German version] Cognomen of Fabia [6] O. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] Rare Italic nomen gentile. C. V. from Asculum was one of the rebelling Italici in the Social Wars [3] 91-89 BC (App. Civ. 1,181). He was in action initially in Picenum, then in Bruttium; in the winter of 90/89 he breached the siege of Cn. Pompeius [I 8] Strabo around Asculum, but committed suicide there because of the hopeless situation (App. Civ. 1,207-209; Oros. 5,18,21). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] Roman cognomen (‘Potter’), attested to in the fasti of the Republican period for the family of the Marcii and the writer P.  Nigidius Figulus. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina 322.

Plebeian family name, documented in Rome since the 1st cent. BC (on the derivation of asinus [1], on Etruscan parallels [2]). The family, whose most famous name-bearer was Asinus Pollio, originally came from Teate Marrucinorum (modern Chieti), was a member of the patrician class since the Augustan period and was particularly prominent in the 1st cent. AD. I. Republic [German version] [I 1] A. Senator (mid-1st cent. BC) Senator, supporter of Antony at Mutina in 43 BC (Cic. Phil. 13, 28). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography 1 A. Hug, s.v. Spitznamen, RE 3 A, 1829 2 Schulze, 129. …

[German version] Roman cognomen, from residence on the Mons Quirinalis, first appeared in the Imperial era. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Degrassi, FCIR, 265 2 Kajanto, Cognomina, 184.

[German version] Roman cognomen (‘the Beard’) of the  Cassii,  Lucretii,  Sulpicii and other families (ThlL 2,1727f.). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

Hereditary cognomen in the younger line of the Claudii family (Claudius; from the 2nd half of the 3rd cent. BC); according to ancient etymology of Sabine origin, meaning ‘brave’ (Suet. Tib. 1.2; Gell. NA 13.23.7f., etc.). With Livia's children [2] from her first marriage with Ti. Claudius [I 19] Nero - the later princeps Tiberius and N. Claudius [II 24] Drusus (the Elder) - the name passed into the Julio-Claudian imperial house (stemma: Augustus). Whereas Tiberius retained N. as an epithet, his brother bore it as praenomen, as did their sons Drusus [II 1] (the Younger) and…

(Ἡρῴδης; Hērṓidēs). [German version] [1] H. I.; Herod the Great. Born in c. 73 BC, son of  Antipater [4] and the Arabian woman Cyprus. In 47 appointed strategos of Galilaea, he came into conflict with the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem because of the execution on his own authority of persons involved in a revolt. The Roman governor of Syria Sex.  Iulius [I 11] Caesar made him the strategos of Coilesyria and Samaria. In 43 he proved himself to be indispensable to one of the murderers of Caesar, C.  Cassius [I 10], in the exploitation of the land, likewise in 41 after …

[German version] Rare Latin praenomen of unknown origin (in the sources commonly confused with Hostius),  Hostilius [3] and H. Lucretius Tricipitinus (consul in 429 BC) Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Salomies, 30f.

[German version] Probably originally a Roman personal name, recorded as a cognomen ('left-handed') e.g. in the Iunii Bruti (Iunius [I 17]) family. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Kajanto, Cognomina, 17; 105; 243 2 Schulze, 419.

(also frequently Popilius). Name of a Plebeian gens attested from the 4th cent. BC. The family maintained a joint funeral cult (Cic. Leg. 2,55). Its most famous branch was the Laenates (with regard to the cognomen Laenas); insignificant from the early Imperial period onwards. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] P. Laenas Augur, in 44 BC adviser of the murderers of Caesar Augur (Cic. Att. 12,13,2), in 44 BC was the adviser of the murderers of Caesar and may perhaps have been tempted to betray them to the dictator (App. B Civ. 2,484; 487). Fündling, Jörg (B…

[German version] Cognomen (originally the epithet of a victor) in the family of the Caecilii Metelli ( Caecilius [I 23] and [II 16]) and of Mark Antony [I 8] C. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] Wife in her second marriage of C. Calpurnius [I 9] Piso (consul 180 BC), condemned for allegedly poisoning her husband in office in order to help to the consulate a son of her first marriage, Q. Fulvius [I 11] Flaccus (Liv. 40,37,5-7). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] C., senator before 60 BC, father-in-law of P. Sestius (Cic. Sest. 6; MRR 2,487 [1]) Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography 1 D. R. Shackleton Bailey, Two studies in Roman nomenclature, 21991, 5.

Name of an originally Etruscan plebeian family (Etruscan form Velimna) that was significant in the early Republic. The Volumnii of the 1st cent. BC are not its descendants. The tomb of the V. in Perusia (modern Perugia) with bilingual inscriptions (CIL XI 1963 - CIE 3763) was used from the 2nd cent. onwards. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] V., P. Fought in 42 BC as a friend of M. Iunius [I 10] Brutus in the battle of Philippi, and wrote about it in a now lost work (Plut. Brutus 48; 51). Possibly identical to V. [4]? Bartels, Jens (Bonn) [German version] [2] V. Amintinus Gallus…

Plebeian family name (on coins also Cornuficius, RRC 509); in origin probably the name of a trade (Schulze, 417), historically attested from the 1st cent. BC. [German version] [1] C., L. People's tribune 43 BC, follower of Octavian Son of C. [2], follower of Octavian ( Augustus) in 43 BC, as people's tribune, he accused M. Iunius Brutus of the murder of Caesar (Plut. Brut. 272), in 38 and 36 fought as legate (?) against S.  Pompeius in the Adriatic and in Sicily (App. B Civ. 5,339f.; 360ff; 462ff.; Vell. Pat. 2,79,4). In 35 he was c…

[German version] Roman cognomen (possibly from silus, 'snub-nosed'; according to the ancient interpretation from silanus, a gargoyle in the form of a head of Silenus), in the Republican period hereditary in the family of the Iunii (Iunius [I 28-35; II 29-41]); in the Imperial period also in other families. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Degrassi, FCap., 148  Kajanto, Cognomina, 237.

Roman cognomen, which originally designated bodily size or birth order (‘the Elder’), as in the Republican period in the case of Sp. Postumius Albinus M. ( cos. 148 BC) and T. Roscius M. (Cic. Rosc. Am. 17) [1. 275; 3. 47]. As an assumption of the epithet of Alexander [4] ‘the Great’ (ὁ μέγας/ ho mégas, in the sense of great historical importance), first taken by Cn. Pompeius ( cos. 70 and 55) in the 1st cent. BC, then inherited by his sons Cn. and Sex. Pompeius and their descendants. Sex. Pompeius used M. also as a praenomen resp. nomen gentile [4. 364f.]. In the Imperial period, more frequen…

Roman family name, frequently attested in inscriptions, also in the form Cavius [1. 76f.]; in the Republican period its bearers are still politically insignificant; also a Faliscan praenomen [2. 103]. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] G., P. Crucified as a spy of Spartacus 72 BC from Compsa (Lower Italy), was captured and crucified in Sicily in 72 BC by C.  Verres as an alleged spy of the slave leader  Spartacus (Cic. Verr. 2,5,158-170). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [I 2] G. Bassus Roman grammarian and antiquarian of the late Republic Roman grammarian and…

[German version] Syrian prophetess who came to Rome in 105 BC. Although M. had been banned from practising her art by the Senate, she gained access to members of the high nobility by correctly predicting the outcome of gladiatorial fights. In 102, Iulia [1] sent her to her husband C. Marius [I 1] in Gallia where she helped to lift the morale of the Roman troops who were fighting the Teutons (Plut. Marius 17,2-5 after Posidonius). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] [1] In 88 BC, F. hid the ostracized C. Marius in her house in Minturnae In 88 BC, F. hid the ostracized C. Marius in her house in Minturnae, after he had helped her to win back her dowry in a divorce case in 100 BC against C. Titinius (Val. Max. 8,2,3; Plut. Marius 38,3-9). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [2] Daughter of Clodius [II 15] Full name perhaps Clodia F. Daughter of the senator and Stoic Clodius [II 15] Thrasea Paetus and of Arria [2]. Wife of Helvidius Priscus, whom she accompanied into exile under Nero and Vespasian. He…

[German version] Roman cognomen (describing origin: 'from Sicily', and epithet of victors; cf. Cloelius [4-7]; Herennius [I 10]). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina, 52; 193.

Widespread plebeian gentilicium, verifiable since the 5th cent. BC, alternative form Ateilius, Greek Ἀτείλος, Ἀτίλλιος ( Ateílos, Atíllios; Schulze 151; 440; ThlL 2,1172f.). A M.A. under Tarquinius Priscus (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,62,4) is fictional. The most important families are in the 3rd cent. BC the Atilii Reguli, in the 2nd and 1st cents. the Sarani (in the newer form Serrani). In the imperial era the significance of the bearers of this name declines in public life.   Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republic [German version] [I 1] Author of  palliata, 2nd cent. BC Author of  palli…

Roman nomen gentile, in its older form, Papisius (Cic. Fam. 9,21,3), from which one of the 16 old rural tribes ( tribus ) took its name. The patrician gens formed several branches at an early time (5th/4th cents. BC: Crassi, Cursores, Mugillani, 3rd cent.: Masones) who played a significant role in the military successes of the Republic, but became either extinct no later than the 2nd cent. BC or politically insignificant. The younger plebeian branch of the Carbones rose in the 2nd half of the 2nd cent. and gained notoriety…

[German version] [1] Greek geographer and historian, Augustan Period (Στράβων/ Strábōn). Greek geographer and historian, Augustan Period. [German version] I. Life Our only source is S.'s own work. The years of his birth and death are not established, but S. describes as 'my time' the period beginning with Pompeius' [I 3] re-organization of Asia Minor (62 BC) [1]; the latest event mentioned by S. is the death of Juba [2] II (probably AD 23/4; 17,3,7 = C 828,32 ff.; 17,3,9 = C 829,28 f.; 17,3,25 = C 840,15 f.; referen…

[German version] Modern term (e.g. [1. 28]) for the Roman professional armies of the late Imperial period ( Roma I. D.), which had an especially close relationship to their commander and thus let themselves be detailed as his clientela ( cliens ) for his goals interior politics. This ‘militarization of home politics’ began with C. Marius [I 1] and L. Cornelius [I 90] Sulla, who used the professional army created by Marius to further their own power claims in the civil war of 88-81 BC. They had to promise the soldiers…

[German version] Cognomen, first used as an epithet for abnormal tallness, occasionally with the implication of the figurative meanings ‘rough, uncouth, crude’, soon also used as a surname. In the republican period, the name was used by the Aquilii, Calpurnii, Canidii, Claudii, Licinii, Otacilii, Papirii, Veturii; in the imperial period by the Galerii, Iulii and Sulpicii. The most significant individuals of this name belonged to the Plebeian  Licinii Crassi (L. Licinius C., cos. 95 BC, the orator; M. Licinus C., cos. 70 and 55 BC, the triumvir). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliogra…

[German version] Rare Roman cognomen, derived from flamen and designating the son of a flamen, in the Republican period it became hereditary in a branch of the patrician family of the Quinctii. The most important bearer of the name is T.  Quinctius Flamininus ( cos. in 198 BC). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography H. Gundel, s.v. Quinctius, RE 24, 1038 J. Reichmuth, Die lat. Gentilicia, 1956, 74.

[German version] [1] King Rex (pl. reges; Indo-Germanic * rḗg̑-s, Old Indo-Aryan rā́j-, Celtic -rīx) in Latin denotes a king; in the Greek world, the Indo-Germanic term probably gave way in the Mycenaean period to the ruler designations anax ( wanax ) and basileús . The Imperial and Byzantine word ῥῆξ ( rhêx) was originally a mere Greek transliteration of the Latin rex and generally refers to tribal kings of foreign peoples. According to the root of the word * h3reg̑- ('to straighten', 'to stretch out'), the job of the rex was to 'rule', i.e. to keep the world 'upright' and perpendic…

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, whereupon according to Appian he vanished without trace (App. B Civ. 5,532f.). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [2] O., A. Roman jurist Jurist, see Ofilius Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [2a] O. Ferus, C. Campanian …

Rare Roman praenomen , principally used by the patrician families Aemilii, Sergii and Valerii and by the plebeian Acilii, most often in Upper Italy (rarely nomen gentile: ILS 6230 and M. [I 2] below), acronym: a five-stroked M (, , in print M'.). Two alternatives for the name's origin have been proposed since antiquity: derivation from mane ‘in the morning’ (Varro, Ling. 6,60; Fest. 135 L.; Liber de Praenominibus 5: ‘one born in the morning’) or from manus ‘good’ i.e. from the di manes , euphemistically the ‘good gods’ (Zos. 2,3,2). Neither of the two has yet been convincingly argued. Rix, H…

[German version] Cognomen (‘the ship's plank’) of Ap. Claudius C., cos. 264 BC; the original legend was passed down through Seneca (dial. 10,13,4). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

[German version] [1] Q., praetor 56 BC Q., 73 BC legate in Greece (Syll.3 748), 65 (?) proquaestor in Macedonia (IvOl 328). As tribune of the people, 59 he opposed the politics of the consul  Caesar together with his colleague Bibulus (Cic. Sest. 113; Vatin. 16; Cass. Dio 38,6,1: schol. Bob. 135, 146St.). After the praetorship of 56 followed the proconsulate in Maedonia (Cic. Fam. 13,40) Will, Wolfgang (Bonn) [German version] [2] C. Rufus (1st half of 1st cent. BC) C., Rufus from Fulginae, accuser (?) of L. Varenus c. 80 BC [1]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [3] Priscus (1st …

(Old Latin Loucios, Greek Λεύκιος/ Leúkios or Λούκιος/ Loúkios, abbreviation L., in the east of the empire also Lu.). Roman praenomen. Etymologically related to lux (‘light’) [4. 823], according to ancient derivation ‘the one born at first daylight’ (Varro, Ling. 5,60; Fest. 106; Liber de praenominibus 5). A late invention is the derivation of L. as ‘descendant of the Etruscan Lucumones’ (Liber de praen. op.cit.) to explain the first name of the Roman king L. Tarquinius Priscus, who was originally called Lucumo. L. i…

[German version] Roman cognomen (from tuber, 'swelling'), Aelius [I 12-18]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina, 119; 246.