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Querolus sive Aulularia

(284 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Latin comedy by an author of the early 5th cent. AD who came from Gaul, if the addressee Rutilius is identical with Rutilius Namatianus, which is also in keeping with the latent anti-Christian tendency of the play. Intended for recitation at a banquet, the Querolus , which is written in rhythmic prose, implies an understanding of Plautus and Terentius as prose authors. The Plautine comedy Aulularia, to which the prologue alludes, is the basis of the Querolus down to the same characters and names. The episode of the hidden treasure, however, is modelled qu…

Flavius

(4,130 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
Roman plebeian gentile name, derived from the individual cognomen Flavus (‘the blond one’) through the suffix of affiliation -ius, abbreviated form Fl. The bearers of the name that was already common in the Republican period were initially politically unimportant; F. [I 5] was the first one to attain to Roman nobility. In the Imperial period the name was spread further in the Roman empire as a result of the granting of citizenship by the Flavian Emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian (AD 68-96). In Late Antiquity (4th-6th cents.) F. was initially gentilicium of the family of  Consta…

Fabullus

(151 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Friend of  Catullus, recipient of the poem of invitation of Catull. 13, mostly mentioned together with Veranius: from Hispania Citerior they send Catullus a serviette (Catull. 12,14ff., cf. Catull. 9); about the time of his journey to Bithynia (57/6 BC) they are part of the cohors of a governor Piso (probably L. Calpurnius [I 19] Piso Caesoninus) and are disappointed, just as Catullus, in their financial expectations (Catull. 28 and 47). So this probably concerns two different jou…

Marcomannus

(141 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Author of a commentary - based, among others, on Hermagoras [1] (of Temnus) - on Cicero's rhetorical works, from which Marius [II 21] Victorinus quotes, in part polemically [1. 173, l. 25ff.; 299, l.13ff.]. It is also used in the rhetoric of Consultus Fortunatianus [1. p. 98,26f.] and Sulpicius Victor [1. p. 339,2ff.; 340,14-341,28], as well as (according to title and subscription) of Iulius [IV 24] Victor, works which in part still belong to the 4th cent. Since Victorinus seems t…

Pomponius

(5,501 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg) | Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) | Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) | Eder, Walter (Berlin) | Et al.
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…

Glossography

(1,631 words)

Author(s): Tosi, Renzo (Bologna) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
I. Greek [German version] A. The ancient concept of ‘Glosses’ Glosses (γλῶσσαι; glôssai) are words that are rare and difficult to explain. The Greeks' interest in such words dates back to the earliest periods: even in works of archaic and classical poets, glosses were accompanied by more common synonyms (‘glossarial synonymity’); this kind of ‘self-exegesis’ is perhaps already evident in the first two verses of the Odyssey (Hom. Od. 1.1-2).  Antisthenes [1] and the Sophists saw the exact interpretation of words as the root of all teaching (παίδευσις, paídeusis). For that reason, gl…

Asinius

(1,625 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Degani, Enzo (Bologna) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
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. …

Lucillus

(404 words)

Author(s): Hoesch, Nicola (Munich) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Baumbach, Manuel (Zürich)
[German version] [2] Roman wall painter, late 4th cent. AD Roman wall painter of late antiquity from the end of the 4th cent. AD. He decorated the house of the aristocratic orator and philosopher Q. Aurelius Symmachus, which the latter mentioned with praise in various letters (Symmachus, Ep. 2,2; 8,21; 9,50b). The nature and appearance of this painting may have resembled that of contemporary catacombs or mosaics from late Imperial villas. Hoesch, Nicola (Munich) Bibliography L. Guerrini, s.v. L., EAA 4, 721 S. Roda, Commento Storico al Libro 9 dell'Epistolario di Q. Aurelio Si…

Persius

(1,141 words)

Author(s): Rüpke, Jörg (Erfurt) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] [1] P., C. Roman teacher of rhetoric and orator, 2nd cent. BC A Roman distinguished by his education (Lucil. 592-596 Marx; Cic. Fin. 1,7; Plin. HN pr. 7), who was believed by some contemporaries to have written the speech De sociis et nomine latino (against C. Sempronius Gracchus' policies concerning the allies) for C. Fannius [I 1] in 122 BC, a speech which far outshone Fannius' other speeches in terms of rhetoric (Cic. Brut. 99: 'from the Elders'). More likely one of the first teachers of rhetoric at Rome than a senator.…

Gavius

(1,035 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Walde, Christine (Basle) | Rüpke, Jörg (Erfurt)
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…

Gargonius

(76 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Rhetoric teacher of the Augustan period, student of Buteo [1. 156f.], then his successor, who is perhaps identical with the example of lacking hygiene cited in Hor. Sat. 1,2,27 (= 1,4,92). His voice was rough and aggressive (Sen. Controv. 1,7,18). The older Seneca always connects the quotes form G. that illustrate his Colores with harsh reproach ( stultitia contr. 10,5,25; cacozelia 9,1,15, insaniens Suas. 2,16). Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) Bibliography 1 H. Bornecque, Les Déclamations, 1902, 168.

Phocas (Focas)

(324 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Roman grammarian probably of the early 5th cent. AD. His Ars de nomine et verbo (Regula) represents the type of rule-based grammar that came increasingly into use in the later 4th cent., and that makes the learning of correct Latin easier by means of numerous paradigms of declensions and conjugations. The text grew out of language teaching experience; the author intends to replace the grammars of his predecessors that were in part too short and in part too detailed (the greater danger) with a b…

Arusianus Messius

(108 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Teacher of rhetoric in late antiquity, author of an alphabetical phraseology of model idiomatic expressions published in 395 ( Exempla elocutionum). The excerpts from  Vergilius and  Sallustius,  Terentius and  Cicero form a quartet -- as a classicist stretto of the canon -- which from time to time in late antiquity was considered to be the quintessence of pagan culture ( quadriga Messii). There is evidence of only two Carolingian codices; a Bobiensis text discovered in 1493 and copied by G. Galbiati (today in Naples IV.A.11) was preserved. Schmidt, Peter L. (Const…

Neoteric poets

(295 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Modern term (from νεώτεροι/neṓteroi /‘the youngsters’ or poetae novi/ ‘new poets’ found in Cicero) for the poets’ community around the grammarian P. Valerius Cato (too sceptical: [6]), with Catullus [1], Licinius [I 31] Calvus, Helvius [I 3] Cinna, Furius [I 9] Bibaculus and Ticidas as its most prominent members ( c. mid-1st cent. BC). Their poetry focuses on mythological epyllia ( Epyllion) and collections of short poems dealing prevalently with personal and social relationships (friendship, love, political polemics). Traditio…

Iohannes

(7,268 words)

Author(s): Frey, Jörg (Stuttgart) | Domhardt, Yvonne (Zürich) | Markschies, Christoph (Berlin) | Rist, Josef (Würzburg) | Redies, Michael (Berlin) | Et al.
(Ἰωάννης; Iōánnēs). Well-known persons i.a.: I. [1] the Evangelist, I. [4] Chrysostomos, bishop of Constantinople and Homilet, I. [18] Malalas, author of the world chronicle, I. [25] of Gaza, rhetor and poet, I. [33] of Damascus, the theologian, I. [39] Baptistes. [1] I. the Evangelist [German version] A. Tradition and criticism According to the inscriptions, the author of a  Gospel (Jo), of three letters and the Apocalypse in the NT is called I. (= J.; the name appears only in Apc. 1:1; 1:4; 1:9; 22:8). Since the end of the 2nd cent. (Iren. adv…

Saleius Bassus

(56 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Renowned Latin epic poet (Quint. Inst. 10,1,90) of the late 1st cent. AD (Tac. Dial. 9,2-5; 10,2; Juv. 7,80 f.), friend of Iulius [IV 21] Secundus ( ibid. 5,2 f.). Works do not survive; the attribution of the Laus Pisonis to him is not justified. Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) Bibliography Schanz/Hosius, vol. 2, 545.

Iuventius

(1,470 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Will, Wolfgang (Bonn) | Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Et al.
Roman cognomen [1. 281; 482; 2. 735]. The gens belonged to the municipal nobility of Tusculum, came into Roman politics around 200 BC and with I. [I 6] achieved the sole consulate in the middle of the 2nd cent. BC, to which they referred to also later (Cic. Planc. 12, 15; 18f. and others; cf. Catull. 24,1-3). The most important families were the Thalnae (also Talnae in inscriptions) and the Laterenses. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] Alleged first curule aedile of the plebs, 4th cent. BC According to fictitious family tradition, the first curule aedile of the plebs at the end …

Croesus

(1,028 words)

Author(s): Högemann, Peter (Tübingen) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
(Κροῖσος; Kroîsos, Latin Croesus). [German version] A. Historic person Lydian king ( c. 560-547 BC), last of the Mermnad dynasty ( Mermnadae). The most important source remains  Herodotus' Lydian Logos (Hdt. 1,6-94), even though he preserved little that is Ancient Anatolian. C.'s mother was Carian ( Caria), that of his brother Pantaleon Ionian (Hdt. 1,92). A queen is never mentioned. As prince Croesus was the mercenary captain and governor in  Adramyttium (FGrH 90 F 65), later perhaps co-regent at the side of his father  Alyattes and finally his succes…

Rabirius

(614 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Fündling, Jörg (Bonn)
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 A…

Pollius Felix

(158 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] From Puteoli (modern Pozzuoli), magistrate and patron of Puteoli and Neapolis [2], landowner in Tibur (modern Tivoli), Puteoli (cf. ILS 5798) and Tarentum (Taras). His wife was called Polla; their daughter was the wife of Iulius Menecrates; he is congratulated on the birth of his third grandchild by Statius (Silv. 4,8; for a son of P. cf. Stat. Silv. 4,8,12). P., himself a poet, was en Campanie, le protecteur attitré ([1. 3235]) of the poet Statius, who described his villa at Surrentum (Silv. 2,2) and a statue of Hercules dedicated on its shores (S…

Carminius

(326 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] [1] (M. Ulpius) C. Athenagoras Official, 2nd cent. AD Proconsul of Lycia-Pamphylia, cos. suff. possibly under Commodus [1. 151]. The family came from Attuda (for his relatives: EOS 2, 633). Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [1a] C. C. Gallus Suffect consul AD 120 Suffect consul AD 120 [1]. Probably to be identified with the proconsular legate of the same name. PIR2 A 1065. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography 1 W. Eck, P. Weiß, Hadrianische Suffektconsuln: Neue Zeugnisse aus Militärdiplomen, in: Chiron 32, 2002 (in print). [German version] [2] L.C. Lusitan…

Kaisergeschichte

(239 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] A portrayal of the Roman Imperial period in short biographies, to be dated between AD 337 and 361, the date of the first user (Aurelius Victor), and extending to the death of Constantinus. The establishment of its date by A. Enmann [1], who explains the relationship (linguistic and structural properties, factual errors) of Victor, Eutropius, the Historia Augusta and the Epitome de Caesaribus (Aurelius Victor) has, in contrast to the Epitome of Livy, withstood the test of time. The literary standard appears to have been higher than that of t…

Porcius

(3,528 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg) | Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) | Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Suerbaum, Werner (Munich) | Et al.
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…

Naevius

(1,767 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Schmitt, Tassilo (Bielefeld) | Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
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…

Opillus, D. (?) Aurelius

(188 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Scholar from the Republican period, Italic, freedman of an Epicurean and hence a teacher of philosophy at first, and later of rhetoric and grammar. In 92/91 BC he followed the exile Rutilius Rufus to Smyrna where he lived to a ripe old age; for his life as a whole, see Suet. Gram. 6 (cf. in this respect [5]), who calls him an antiquarian Buntschriftsteller. Of his works ( Musae/'Muses'; Pinax/'Tablet'), only grammatical fragments (explanations of words, etymologies) have attained a position in the glossographic tradition via the filter of Varro. O.…

Festus

(1,041 words)

Author(s): Portmann, Werner (Berlin) | Eigler, Ulrich (Zürich) | Johne, Klaus-Peter (Berlin) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] [1] see Marcius Festus see  Marcius Festus Portmann, Werner (Berlin) [German version] [2] Iulius F. Hymetius Rom. official, proconsul Africae AD 366-368 served around AD 350 as corrector Tusciae et Umbriae, later as praetor urbanus and consularis Campaniae cum Samnio (before 355). In 362, he became vicarius urbis Romae (Cod. Theod. 11,30,29), and from 366 to 368 proconsul Africae (Cod. Theod. 9,19,3; his entire career: ILS 1256). As proconsul, he helped to alleviate a famine in Carthage, and in this context was sentenced to a fine as a result of b…

Musa

(99 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] [1] Roman cognomen Roman cognomen (‘Muse’) of the family of the Pomponii (Pomponius). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina, 53; 216. [German version] [2] Roman rhetor of the Augustan-Tiberian period Roman rhetor of the Augustan-Tiberian period. His contemporary Seneca the Elder (Contr. 10, pr. 9f.) characterised him as talented but tasteless, since he had a tendency towards unnatural bombast (cf. also Sen. Contr. 7,5,13; Sen. Suas. 1,13). However, M. appears to have found the approval of Seneca's sons (Sen. Contr. 10, pr. 9). Schmidt, Pet…

Luscius

(369 words)

Author(s): Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
Rare Italic surname, derived from luscus, ‘one-eyed, squinting’ (early examples: CIL I2 182-184; AE 1992, 586). I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] L., L. Centorio under Sulla Centurion under Sulla, enriched himself during the Proscriptions in 82 BC and was condemned in 64 for triple murder (Ascon. 90 C). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] L. Lanuvinus Writer of fabula palliata, rival of Terentius As a writer of palliata , a rival of Terentius (Donat. Andria 7), author of a Phasma (‘The Ghost’; according to Menander) and of a Thesaurus (‘The Treasure’; content in Don…

Laevius

(374 words)

Author(s): Prescendi, Francesca (Geneva) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] [1] L. (Baebius or Manius), dictator Latinus L. (Baebius or Manius) Egerius [2] had the sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis (Cato fr. 58 Peter) dedicated in his capacity as dictator Latinus. Prescendi, Francesca (Geneva) Bibliography C. Ampolo, Ricerche sulla lega latina, II. La dedica di Egerius Baebius, in: PdP 212, 1983, 321-326. [German version] [2] Probably the first lyric love poet of Rome, 2nd or early 1st cent. BC Probably the first lyric love poet of Rome, 2nd (cf. [8]) or early 1st cent. BC (for example, according to [2. 118]), and in the latt…

Marullus

(237 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] [1] Roman teacher of rhetoric from Cordoba, 1st cent. BC 1st-century BC Roman teacher of rhetoric from Cordoba, teacher of Seneca the Elder (Sen. Controv. 1, praef. 22-24) and his friend M. Porcius Latro (ibid., praef. 24; 2,2,7; 7,2,11). His method of instruction consisted of isolated practice in individual areas of inventio and elocutio (see ibid. praef. 23; partes orationis ). While Latro esteemed M.'s sententiae (ibid. 1,2,17), Seneca, citing a range of sententiae and colores, characterises him as a ‘dry fellow, who offers little that is attractive b…

Iustinus

(1,495 words)

Author(s): Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Rist, Josef (Würzburg) | Holzhausen, Jens (Bamberg)
[German version] [1] I. I Eastern Roman general AD 518-527 (AD 518-527), emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, born a farmer's son around 450 in Bederiana (like  Iustinianus [1] I.), he came to Constantinople with  Leo I and was soon a member of the palace guard; under  Anastasius I he was comes rei militaris and from 515 comes excubitorum. In the dispute over the succession to Anastasius, who died without an heir, a majority in the Senate supported his candidacy and eventually he was also acclaimed by the army and the people, and was crowned on 10 Jul…

Aetna

(665 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | di Mattia, Margherita (Rome)
(Αἴτνη; Aítnē). [German version] [3] Latin  didactic poem to explain volcanism, most likely from Neronian times, perhaps by Seneca's penfriend Lucilius (cf. Sen. Epist. 79). The author distances himself not only from the (mythological) epic (vv. 9-23), but also in his own genre -- with polemics against  Manilius -- from cosmological and astrological speculation (vv. 228-250). Among his informants,  Posidonius stands out (transmitted partially via Sen. Nat. 6?). Ascribed doubtfully to Virgil in the 2n…

Labienus

(862 words)

Author(s): Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) | Will, Wolfgang (Bonn) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
Nomen gentile of Etruscan origin; the family, which belonged to Rome's equestrian class, came from northern Picenum (Cic. Rab. perd. 22; Caes. B Civ. 1,15,2). [German version] [1] L., Q. Slain in the Curia c. 100 BC Uncle of L. [3], supported L. Ap(p)uleius [I 11] Saturninus in 100 BC and was slain at his side in the Curia on the Forum Romanum (Cic. Rab. perd. 14; 18; 20-22; Oros. 5,17,9). Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) [German version] [2] L. (Parthicus), Q. Commander in Asia Minor and Armenia c. 40 BC Son of L. [3]. At the end of 43 BC he undertook treaty negotiations at the behest of the m…

Lactantius

(1,240 words)

Author(s): Heck, Eberhard (Tübingen) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[1] Christian Theologist and apologist, c. 250-325 [German version] A. Life L. Caelius Firmianus qui et L., Christian Latin writer, born in Africa around 250, probably died in Gaul in 325. Diocletian summoned him to teach rhetoric at Nicomedia in Bithynia where he converted, and after the outbreak of the Great Persecution of Christians in 303 he became an apologist ( Apologists). Around 315, Constantine [1] brought him to Gaul, probably to Trier, to be the teacher of his son Crispus. Heck, Eberhard (Tübingen) [German version] B. Works De opificio dei (‘On the Workmanship of God’; 303…

Quinctius

(3,960 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Müller, Christian (Bochum) | Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg) | Et al.
Name of a patrician Roman family, derived from the praenomen Quintus (comparable to Sextus/ Sextius, etc.), often also Quintius in inscriptions and MSS. The origin of the family is unknown; its great age is suggested by its connection with the festival of the Lupercalia (Ov. Fast. 2,378 has Quintilii) and the unusual praenomen of the family, Kaeso, encountered in this context ( v. Q. [I 1]). Livy counts them among the families that migrated to Rome from Alba with King Tullius Hostilius (1,32,2; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,29,7 mentions the Quinctilii). The Quinctii are mentioned many tim…

Dirae

(220 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Bucolic poem of the early Imperial period, in which the poet puts a curse on his expropriated land. The link with Verg. Ecl. 1 and 9 resulted even before the Vergil biographies of Donatus (based on Suetonius) (§ 17) to its attribution to  Vergilius (but cf.[3]). Maintaining the topic, v. 104 begins a new poem without a topical break (cf. v. 41. 89. 95 with 107), known as Lydia, but without ancient evidence regarding that title, probably written by the same author (cf. [5]). It is an elegiac lament of a lover separated from his Lydia. Both piece…

Maecenas

(1,274 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Franke, Thomas (Bochum)
(Μαικήνας; Maikḗnas). Etruscan family name (cf. mehnate, mehnati and similar); the family is recorded in inscriptions for Perusia (modern Perugia) and was probably originally settled there. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Friend and counsellor of Octavian (Augustus), 1st cent. BC Father of M. [2], mentioned as early as 44 BC among the friends and counsellors of Octavian ( Augustus) (Nicolaus of Damascus, Vita Caesaris 31,133). Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) [German version] [2] Patron of literature, 1st cent. BC M., less often - with the family name of the…

Iulius

(18,763 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Will, Wolfgang (Bonn) | Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg) | Liebermann, Wolf-Lüder (Bielefeld) | Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Et al.
Name of an old patrician family, probably connected with the name of the god  Jupiter [1. 281; 2. 729]. The gens was one of the so-called ‘Trojan families’, who were said to have moved from Alba Longa to Rome under king Tullus Hostilius [I 4] (see below). The Iulii were prominent in the 5th and 4th cents. BC. Their connection to the family branch of the Caesares, which rose to prominence from the 3rd cent. and whose outstanding member was the dictator  Caesar (with family tree), is unclear. Caesar's adoptive son,…

Literary activity

(5,619 words)

Author(s): Paulsen, Thomas (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
I. Greece [German version] A. Definition and general remarks Literary activity (LA) is defined as any form of interaction between authors or interpreters of their work (e.g. Rhapsodes, actors) and others participating in their processes of production or reception (e.g. patrons, audience, readers). Three types of occasions are characteristic of LA from the Homeric period (late 8th cent. BC) to the last phase of the Hellenistic period (1st cent. BC): symposia ( Banquet II. C., for an audience of invited g…

Laus Pisonis

(168 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Panegyricus ( Panegyrics) by an unknown author probably around AD 39/40 [3], to C. Calpurnius [II 13] Piso (Caesoninus) who then in 65 became a figurehead in the conspiracy against the emperor Nero. Therefore an attribution to Calpurnius [III 3] Siculus (last [2. 71-76]) or Lucanus (most recently [1. 139ff.]) cannot be taken into consideration. In 261 carefully constructed hexameters the author engagingly expresses his intention to be received into the circle of the addressee. …

Letter

(2,221 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Neumann, Hans (Berlin)
[German version] A. Types of letter In addition to the few texts on letter theory and letter writers ( Epistolography), the ancient genre of ‘letters’ comprises the following: 1. official letters (edicts) comparable to laws, 2. everyday official correspondence, 3. ‘open’ letters akin to oratory a) with one or several senders and multiple addressees (e.g. letters to the Christian community) or b) letters sent to a specific addressee that had a potentially broad public, and finally 4. letters of a priva…

Caecilius

(6,633 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Will, Wolfgang (Bonn) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Et al.
Name of a plebeian gens (probably derived from Caeculus, older form is Caicilios, Greek Καικίλιος, Κεκίλιος [ Kaikílios, Kekílios]; ThlL, Onom. 12-14), whose existence is documented since the 5th cent. (since C. [I 1]), but who only gained importance in the 2nd cent.; their most famous branch were the C. Metelli (I 10-32). A later explanation related the name back to Caeculus, the legendary founder of Praeneste, or Caecas, a companion of Aeneas (Fest. p. 38). I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] C., Q. Supposedly people's tribune in 439 BC Supposedly people's tribune in 439 BC …

Fronto

(1,010 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Eck, Werner (Cologne) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
Roman cognomen (‘wide-browed’), first attested in the Imperial period. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Rich patron of Martial A rich patron of Martial (1,55,2). He could be identical with Ti. Catius Caesius F., cos. suff. in AD 96. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [2] Praetorian governor of Galatia under Tiberius Praetorian governor of Galatia under Tiberius, perhaps AD 27-31. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography S. Mitchell, in: Chiron 16, 1986, 23ff. PIR2 F 485). [German version] [3] [...]us F. Cos. suff. AD 165 Cos. suff. in AD 165, (Vidman, FO2 52; there a…

Pompilius

(148 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
Roman nomen gentile of Etruscan origin ( pumple). King Numa Pompilius was considered as the first ancestor of the family. The known bearers of the name are historically insignificant. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] P. Andronicus, M. Grammarian, 1st cent. BC According to Suet. Gram. 8, a 1st century BC grammarian and freedman from Syria; because of his Epicurean philosophical focus, he failed to establish himself in Rome and so moved to Cumae (Cyme [2]). His main work, a criticism of the Annales of Ennius [1] ( Annalium Enni Elenchi in 16 books), was published by …

Novius

(803 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
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…

Ravenna Annals

(297 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] ( Chronica Italica in [1], better Chronicon Constantinopolitanum (cf. [7; 8. 41-43]). Originally simply an informative chronicle in Latin, based on the calendar structure of the Consularia Constantinopolitana [1. 197-245], written or expanded in Constantinople in the 4th century AD for a ruling class, eager for knowledge, on the periphery of the court  (for the images contained cf. [2; 3; 4]). An early phase extending as far as AD 387 is transmitted in the Fasti Vindobonenses posteriores (Cod. Vindobonensis no. 3416, 15th century) and Fasti Vindobonenses priores

Rhetorica ad Herennium

(224 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] Latin textbook of rhetoric from the late Republican Period (dating to c. 50 BC compellingly argued in [5. 65 ff.]). It deals in 4 books with the canon of the officia oratoris ( officium [7]). Its source was a Latin textbook also used by Cicero for his De inventione ([4; 6];  [7. 271 ff.] newly adopted the old idea that Cicero used the Rhetorica ad Herennium). Attributed to Cicero from Late Antiquity on, the work is today - although with insufficient proof - often attributed to an author by the name of Cornificius named by Quint. Inst. 3,1,21 …

Asmonius

(185 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] ( Apthonius the communis opinio, but see Prisc. gramm. 3,420,1-7 and GL 6,80,30-81,3; [3. 62-68]). Aelius Festus Asmonius, Latin grammarian of the 4th cent. AD; author of a lost grammar dedicated to Constantius II (Prisc. gramm. 2,516,15-16) and of a comprehensive metrics in 4 books, which was already mutilated at the start as early as late antiquity and was combined with the beginning of the grammar of  Marius Victorinus (but cf. GL 6,173,32); furthermore A. may be the author of supp…

Ecloga

(320 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Makris, Georgios (Bochum)
(Ἐκλογή; eklogḗ, ‘excerpt’, ‘selection’). [German version] Ecloga [1] Varro (in Charisius, gramm. p. 154 B.) uses the foreign term in its literal meaning (‘selection’). It is unclear how the meaning has developed into the usage we encounter from the end of the 1st cent. AD on: Ecloga may refer to individual lyrical poems (Stat. Silv. 3, pr. 23 = 3,5; 4, pr. 21 = 4,8, later in a similar way Auson. 8 Peiper) and in the plural form Eclogae to the entire collection (Plin. Ep. 4,14,9). The term is used in particular for  Horatius (Suet. Vita: Epist. 2,1; Sid. Apoll. Epist. 9,1…

Priscianus

(740 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance)
[German version] The last important Latin grammarian, b. in Mauretanian Caesarea [1], pupil of Theoctistus, worked as professor of grammar at Constantinople into the first decades of the 6th cent. AD. On his circle, cf. [5]-[8]. His main work, the (1) Institutio de arte grammatica ('Textbook of Grammar'), consists (after an introductory epistle) of 18 books (1-7: De nomine; 8-10: De verbo; 11: De participio; 12-13 De pronomine; 14: De praepositione; 15: De adverbio et interiectione; 16: De coniunctione; 17-18: De constructione = 'syntax') and seems to have been written in se…
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