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[German version] A. (Roman) Name of a Roman plebeian family, of which the branch of the Planci acquired political significance in the 1st century BC. Its most prominent member is M. [I 4], cos. in 42 BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] M. Flaccus, L. Took part in an attempt on the life of Cassius Longinus in 48 BC From Hispania Baetica; he escaped after a failed attempt on the life of the Q. Cassius [I 16] Longinus, a follower of Caesar's, in Corduba in 48 BC (Bell. Alex. 52,3f.). In 46/5 as a follower of the younger…

During the Republican era, the praenomen Numerius (abbr. N.) was used in Roman aristocracy only by the Fabii (Fabius). They are said to have borrowed it from Samnium around 470 BC (Fest. 174 et passim). In fact, this praenomen is found most frequently during the Republican period in Oscan inscriptions: Niumsis, Νυμψισ, Νο(μ)ψισ < * Numesis (the Latin N. as well is most frequent in the former Oscan region); in addition there is the Umbrian Numesier (= Latin Nomesi; bilingual inscription [3. 9]). In Latin the original Oscan-Umbrian name was affected by rhotacism and was ass…

Roman plebeian gens name, whose bearers may have originated from the territory of the Volscians and who rose to prominence (in several branches) during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. They rose to consular rank only with M. [I 4]. The descent of the gens from the Trojan Mnestheus (Verg. Aen. 5,117) is a late-Republican construction. An aedile called M. supposedly instituted the Cerealia (before 211 BC; RRC 427). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] M., C. Popular politician at the end of the 2nd cent. BC Popular politician at the end of the 2nd centur…

Oscan praenomen, shortened to No., attested for N. Calavius [2], the maker of the Ficoronian cista Novios Plautios (ILS 8562), and in other inscriptions. Probably a particularly frequent gentilicium from the 3rd cent. BC onwards in Campania and spreading from there into the eastern Mediterranean. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] Representative of the literary Atellana, early 1st cent. BC As a representative of the literary atellana, N. appears to have been at work ahead of Pomponius (leading representative of the genr…

Common Italian proper name (associated with the praenomen Herennus that is often confused with H.), which however is not documented as a surname among the Roman upper class until the 1st cent. BC. It frequently appears with epithets showing place of origin ( Etruscus, Gallus, Picens, Siculus). In the Imperial period it is the name of Caesar Q.H. [II 3] Etruscus, son of emperor  Decius [II 1], of the historian H.  Dexippus [2], and of the jurist H.  Modestinus. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I Republican Period [German version] [I 1] H. Centurio and murderer of Cicero Centurio, who at the…

Old Latin family name, whose origin is unexplained; in inscriptions also Hostillius and Hostilus [1. 30; 175]. The great age of the name is shown by the third Roman king Tullus H. [4] and names such as Curia Hostilia, Lares Hostilii and the goddess Hostilina. In historical times, the family was Plebeian and, from the 2nd cent. BC, politically active, particularly in the Tubuli and Mancini branches; it died out at the end of the 1st cent. BC. [German version] [1] H. Praetor and people's tribune in the 2nd cent. BC Praetor or people's tribune in the 2nd cent. BC (?), had a lex Hostilia passed, w…

Name of a family which probably came from Campania. The military successes of L. [I 1] in the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) and the connection to the elder Scipio probably gained them Roman citizenship and the ascent into the nobility. A younger line ( praenomen D.) became consuls under Augustus (L. [II 1-3]. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] L., C. Consul 190 BC, elder contemporary of Scipio Africanus Born around 235 BC, died around 160; L. owed his political ascent to the close (and what has become a proverbial) connection to P. …

Name of a Roman gens. The patrician bearers of the name from the 5th and 4th cents. BC that have come down to us are of disputed historicity, in any case the early family history has been embellished in the late Republic.  It is these Minucii that later membesrs (from the 3rd century BC) trace themselves back to. A prominent cognomen is Augurinus (M. [I 1-3] and [I 5 and 6]), deriving from the first plebeian augur M. [I 7], applied only subsequently to the early Republican members. The political zen…

Italic personal name, perhaps derived from the praenomen Gnaivos ( Gnaeus, Cn.); popular etymology derives it from naevus, ‘birthmark’ (Arnob. 3,14). The antiquity of this name in Rome, which is also widely attested in inscriptions, is suggested by the name of porta Naevia in the Servian city wall (Varro, Ling. 5,163; cf. Liv. 2,11,8). However, the family emerged politically only in the 2nd cent. BC. The most important bearer of the name is the poet N. [I 1]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] N., Cn. Dramatist and epic poet, 3rd cent. BC Roman drama…

Name of a Roman gens (in inscriptions also Muucius, CIL I2, 584, Greek Μούκιος/ Moúkios). Tradition tells us of the legendary C.M. [I 2] Cordus Scaevola; the great age of the family is perhaps demonstrated by the name Mucia Prata of a place to the east of the Tiber [1]. In the historical period (from the 3rd century BC) the family was plebeian and provided a series of significant lawyers (M. [I 5; I 8-9]). One of M. [I 4]'s sons was adopted by a P. Licinius Crassus and as P. Licinius [I 19] Crassus Dives Mucianus founded the reputation of this branch of the family of Licinii Crassi. I. Republican …

(Νικίας; Nikías). [German version] [1] Important commander in the Peloponnesian War, c.470-413 BC Son of Niceratus of Athens, born c.470 BC, died 413; one of the most important commanders in the Peloponnesian War. After the death of Pericles, N. competed with Cleon [1] for influence in the popular assembly and the assignment of military commands. His policy was directed towards ending the aggressive Athenian politics of expansion and towards reconciliation with Sparta. From 427, N. was regularly elected stratēgós . He led expeditions against Minoa [4…

Name of a Plebeian family from Tusculum. In the belief that the family had been pig-breeders, in antiquity their name was derived from porcus  (Varro Rust. 2,1,10 etc.). From the middle of the 3rd century BC, the Catones and Licinii branches belonged to Rome's leading class and at the beginning of the 2nd century, they attained the consulship with  Cato [1] (Censorius) and P. [I 13]. The exact blood relationship between the most prominent bearer of the name, Cato [1], and his great-grandson, P. [I 7] Cato (Uticensis), is not completely clarified. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republic…

(Ἵππαρχος; Hípparchos). [German version] [1] Second son of Peisistratus, around 530 BC Second son of  Peisistratus and an Athenian woman. Together with his older brother  Hippias [1] and the younger Thessalus, H. assumed his inheritance (528/527 BC) after his father's death (Thuc. 6,55; [Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 18,1). In contrast to Hippias, H. exhibited no political profile. He dedicated himself to aristocratic social life and culture and invited, among others,  Anacreon [1] of Teos and  Simonides of Ceos to A…

(Μενεκράτης; Menekrátes). [German version] [1] Attic comic poet, 5th cent. BC Attic comic poet of the 5th cent. BC. Two titles of his plays have survived, Ἑρμιονεύς/ Hermioneús (or Ἑρμιόνη/ Hermiónē?) and Μανέκτωρ/ Manéktōr (probably ‘Manes as Hector) [1. test. 1], as well as an anapaestic tetrameter (fr. 1) from the latter. It is uncertain whether Menecrates was once victorious at the Dionysia [1. test. *2]. Nesselrath, Heinz-Günther (Göttingen) Bibliography 1 PCG VII, 1989, 1-2. [German version] [2] Tragic poet, 5th cent. BC Greek tragic poet, victor at the Great Dionysia in…

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 polit…