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Name of a Roman family, which died out at the beginning of the 3rd cent. BC. Of the two Republican namesakes who held offices, N. [1] was of plebeian origin, while N. [2] must have been a patrician. Considering the questionable historicity of the latter, there were perhaps only plebeian Numicii, although this question cannot be definitively settled (on this topic [1. 20]). [German version] [1] N., T. Guarantor of the Caudinian agreement, handed over to the Samnites in 320 BC As one of the guarantors of the Caudine treaty, he was handed over to the Samnites in 320 BC (Cic. O…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, documented with certainty only from the 1st cent. BC on (T. [I 2] might be unhistorical). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] T., C. Son of an ill-reputed (Cic. Phil. 13,23; the same as in Hor. Sat. 1,4,114?) Roman equestrian. In 58 BC [1], T. worked as quaestor urbanus against P. Clodius' [I 4] switch to the plebs . As tribune of the people in 55, he introduced laws that gave M. Licinius [I 11] Crassus and Cn. Pompeius [I 3] provincial terms of five years and exte…

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 political zenith in 367 BC with the initiator of the Licinian-Sextian laws, L. [I 43]; the…

[German version] V. Fictor, M. Ancient tradition, scarcely historically accurate and in itself inconclusive (see [1]) attributes, with individual variations, to V. a people's tribuneship in the years 461 to 457 BC (MRR 1, 37-41) and links him with a lawsuit against Kaeso Quinctius [I 1], who V. accused of having mortally wounded his brother. Initially…

Name of a Roman patrician family, probably originally from Cameria (hence the cognomen Camerinus); documented in the fasti from c. 500 BC. The otherwise rare praenomen Servius appears comparatively frequently and at times is even used in place of the nomen gentile (Tac. Hist. 2,48; Plut. Galba 3,1). The number of cognomina within the gens is high, but it has been impossible to identify clear branches. The link between the S. from the 3rd to the 2nd and 1st cent. BC is unclear. In the 2nd cent. BC, the most important branch of the family was that of…

Name of a patrician family, but plebe…

Roman family name derived from the praenomen Tullus; oldest traditional bearer of the name is the sixth king of Rome, Servius T. [I 4]; until the time…

[German version] (Τιμασίθεος/ Timasítheos). As a high official of Lipara in 393 BC he brought about the freeing of a Roman legation, captured with their ship, which was taking a tenth of the Veii plunder to Delphi as votive gifts. This deed e…

Roman nomen gentile of Sabine origin. Its members begin to appear in the sources late in the 3rd cent. BC. Politically the most important branch was that of the Terentii Varrones which attained the ranks of the nobility with T. [I 14] Varro, consul in 216 BC. From the mid-2nd cent., several families of this branch were in simultaneous and unconnected existence. Cognomina showing geographical origins are widespread among the Terentii (Afer, Lucanus, Massaliota). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] As people's tribune in 54 BC, T. prevented further investigation of the candidates C. Memmius [I 3] and Cn. Domitius [I 10] Calvinus for alleged bribery in connection with the consular elections (Cic. Att. 4,17,3). Bartels, Jens (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] T., Cn. According to the version based on Cassius Hemina (fr. 37 HRR = fr. 40 Beck/Walter; cf. Aug. Civ. 7,34; but cf. Liv. 40,29) of the 181 BC discovery of writings supposedly by Numa Pompilius, these were found by T. in Numa's sarcophagus, which he unearthed while digging up his field. The praetor Petillius [I 1] had them burned (on the internal political, cultural and religious background see [1; 2.…

Roman plebeian nomen gentile, often confused with Siccius; members of the family frequently appear as people's tribunes in the 5th cent. BC, but the family is otherwise insignificant. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] S., C. Tradition links S. with the origins and early development of the people's tribunate ( tribunus plebis…

[German version] [1] T. mons According to Varro (Ling. 5,41), term for the Capitolium, cf. Tarpeium Saxum. Zimmermann, Sylvia [German version] [2] Epithet of Iuppiter as lord of the Capitolium Epithet of Iuppiter as lord of the Capitolium, where the rock was from which traitors were thrown to their deaths in accordance with a law written by T. [4] (e.g. Ov. Fast. 6,34; Ov. Met. 15,866; Prop. 4,1,7). Zimmermann, Sylvia [German version] [3] T., Sp. Father of Tarpeia Father of Tarpeia, commander of the Capitoline fortress under Romulus [1] during the attack of the Sabine kin…

Roman family name (Etruscan Latini), a derivation from the ethnicon Latinus. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] L., T. According to the legend, Jupiter told L. during the Latin War to instruct the consuls to have the Ludi Romani repeated According to Livy (2,36,2-8), who sets t…

Name of a Plebeian family (connection with the Campanian city of Pompeii is unclear). The family acquired political significance with P. [I 1]; he is the origin of the Rufi branch. With P. [I 8] a related branch attained consulship and with his son Cn. P. [I 3] Magnus supplied the most significant member of the gens. Both lineages c…

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 individ…

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[German version] Patrician family. According to tradition, the P. provided for a cult of Hercules on the Ara Maxima in Rome - together with the Pinarii (Pinarius), with respect to whom they took precedence. Supposedly at an extremely early time Hercules himself or Evander [1] had entrusted the cult to them. In 312 BC, the censor Appius Claudius [I 2] Caecus converted it into a state cult (Verg. Aen. 8,268-72 with Serv. Aen. ad loc.; Liv. 1,7,8-15; 9,29,9-11; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,40,1-5; Val. Max…

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Name of a plebeian family, that probably already died out in the 4th cent. BC, according to the tradition known for its anti-patrician stance (Liv. 4,54,4). [German version] [1] I., L. People's tribune 456, 455 and 449 BC People's tribune in 456, 455, 449 BC (MRR 1,42; 48). In 456 he is said to have carried through the lex de Aventino publicando, which allocated the Aventine to the plebs (Liv. 3,31,1; 32,7; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 10,31,2-32,5); as the fiancé of  Verginia he bravely resisted the despotism of the decemvir Appius Claudius [I 5] (Liv. 3,44,3; 45,4-46,…

[German version] According to traditional legend, found in literature most notably in Livy's dramatic rendering (3:44-48; cf. Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 11:28-32), V. was the daughter of Verginius [I 3] and played a role in the demise of the Decemvirate ( decemviri [1]). Recognizing that he had no chance to win her, the decemvir Appius Claudius [I 5] induced one of his clients to claim V., asserting that she was originally his slave and that Verginius had merely been led to believe that she was his child. Not surprisingly, she was awarded to the client in the subsequent court proceedings, over which…

Oscan praenomen and Oscan/Lat. gentilic. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] Pontius, Gavius Samnite general, delivered Rome its defeat 321 BC at Caudium Samnite general who in 321 BC famously defeated the Romans at Caudium and sent them 'under the yoke' (Liv. 9,2,6-6,4). The fact that the Samnite leader in the Social War (Social Wars [3]), P. [I 4], had the same name is no proof that P.' name entered the tradition only later. The annalistic tradition (in Liv. 9, 15,8), however, of P.'…