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[German version] [1] Emperor, 3rd cent. AD Imp. Caes. M.O. (Antoninus) Diadumenianus, son of the emperor M.O. Macrinus, born on 14 or 19 September 208 AD (Cass. Dio 78,34,2; SHA Diad. 5,5). At the beginning of 217 he was given the title of clarissimus puer (CIL XV 7505), shortly afterwards he was also princeps iuventutis and nobilissimus Caesar (Cass. Dio 78,17,1; 19,1; Herodian. 5,4,12; Aur. Vict. Caes. 2…

(Ἡράκλειτος; Hērákleitos). [German version] [1] H. of Ephesus Ionian philosopher, c. 500 BC…

(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, K…

Name of an old patrician family, probably connected with the name of the god  Jupiter [1. 281; 2. 729]. The …

[German version] [1] Roman emperor AD 251-253 Imp. Caes. C. Vibius Afinius Gallus Veldumnianus V. P. F. Invictus Aug. (RIC 4,3, 173-189). Roman emperor from the middle of AD 251 until the middle of 253. Born c. 230 in Perusia (?), the son of Trebonianus Gallus and Afinia Gemina Baebiana. After the battle of Abritus against the Goths and the death of Decius [II 1], the legions proclaimed him and his father emperor in June 251 (Eutr. 9,5; Zon. 12,21 D.); at the same time, he was appointed Caesar by his father (Aur. Vict. Caes. 30), proclaimed Augustus about two months later (e.g. ILS 524). When in the middle of 253, M. Aemilius Aemilianus [II 1] was elevated to emperor by the Moesian legions and marched …

[German version] I. Greek (Μαρκελλῖνος; Markellînos). [German version] [I 1] Greek author of a treatise on pulses, 2nd cent. AD?, [1] …

[German version] C. Valens H. Messius Quintus was the younger son of emperor  Decius [II 1] and Herennia Etruscilla. In September AD 250, he was named Caesar and Princeps Iuventutis (AE 1942/43, 55; ILS 518) and, after the death of his father in June 251, adopted by  Trebonianus Gallus and raised to Augustus (Zos. 1,25,1; RIC 4,3, 143ff.), probably to distract from the complicity of Trebonianus in the deaths of his father and…

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[German version] The fictitious author Trebellius Pollio uses the term triginta tyranni (TT) in the Historia Augusta to refer to 32 usurpers from all parts of the empire supposedly in the period of the emperors Valerianus [2] and Gallienus (253-268) in order to expose their rule as particularly week and bad. He increased the number that was first planned to be 20 (SHA Gall. 21,1) to 30 as an allusion to the Athenian Thirty Tyrants ( triákonta ) (SHA Trig. tyr. 2-31), among them esp. derisively (31,7) two women, Zenobia from Palmyra (30) and Victoria in…

[German version] Term applied to a group of Roman rulers whose feature in common was the fact that they came from Illyrian territory, more broadly the area between the Adriatic and the lo…

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 end of 43 BC murdered  Cicero near his villa at Formiae and - mutilated the body under instruction from M. Antonius [I 9] (Plut. Cicero 48,1f.). In Jer. Chron. Ol. 184,2 (= Suet. De oratoribus, p. 81 Reifferscheid) Popilius, according to Plutarch H.'s superior military tribune, is the main culprit. Frigo, Thomas (Bonn) [German version] [I 2] H., C. Patron of Marius until 116 BC In 116 BC, following the election of C.  Marius to the position of praetor, he refused to testify against Marius, who was accused of obtaining office by devious means, arguing that he was Marius' patron. Whereupon Marius declared that this relationship of cl…

[German version] [1] Rival emperor to Gallienus, 3rd cent. AD As proconsul of Achaia, V. had himself proclaimed rival emperor to Gallienus in AD 261 in Macedonia. Although he defeated Piso, who was sent there against him (PIR2 C 298), he was soon murder…

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Name of an ancient Roman patrician lineage (on inscriptions also Fourios), derived from the praenomen Fusus and also occurring occasionally in the original form Fusi…

[German version] P. Helvius P., Roman Emperor 31 Dec. 192-28 Mar. 193. Born 1 Aug. AD 126 in Alba Pompeia in Liguria (SHA Pert. 1,2; 15,6; Cass. Dio 73,3,1), son of a freedman. After being educated as a grammaticus , he applied for a position as centurio with the assistance of L. Hedius Lollianus [4] Avitus (SHA Pert. 1,5; (Ps.-)Aur. Vict. Epit. Caes. 18). He received the rank of an eques ( equites Romani D) with the support of Claudius [II 54] Pompeianus, which allowed him to pursue an equestrian career. Around AD 160, still in the reign of Antoninus [1] Pius, he served as praefectus cohortis VII Gallorum equitatae in Syria (SHA Pert. 1,6; AE 1963, 52), where he was corrected by the governor for unauthorized use of the cursus publicus . Honoured in the Parthian War of Marcus [2] Aurelius, P. transferred to Britain c. AD 165 as tribunus militum angusticlavius to the legio VI Victrix at Eboracum (York), (possibly also the XX Valeria Victrix at Deva (Chester); SHA Pert. 2,1; AE 1963, 52), thereafter in all probability receiving another command in the same province as praefectu…

[German version] Imperator Caesar M. Opellius Severus M. Augustus. Roman Emperor AD 217-218. Born in 164 (Cass. Dio 78,40,3) or 166 (Chron. pasch. I p. 498 D.) in Caesarea Mauretania, of humble origins (Cass. Dio 78,11,1; SHA Opilius Macrinus (= Macr.) 2,1). M. initially worked as a lawyer, then as procurator of the praef. praet. Fulvius [II 10] Plautianus, whose deposal he survived unharmed thanks to the intervention of L. Fabius [II 6] Cilo (Cass. Dio 78,11,2). Septimius Severus appointed him praefectus vehiculorum per Flaminiam (Cass. Dio 78,11,3), and in c. 208 keeper of the impe…

[German version] [1] Roman praenomen Roman praenomen , like other numerical praenomina (Quintus) given to a child according to the order of his birth; the adjective postumus ('last') refers to the birth 'after the father's death' (cf. P. [2]). The use of the name as a praenomen is evident in Rome up to the 3rd cent. BC, after that only as a cognomen . The wider geographical spread of * Postumo- as an Italic personal name can be concluded from its Etruscan derivative, where it led to the formation of a nomen gentile, Pustmi-na- (CIE 8715), the equivalent to the Roman …

(πολίαρχος/ políarchos). [German version] [1] Senior official in Thessalian cities (3rd cent. BC) ('High city official'). In the 3rd cent. BC, the cities of Thessaly had councils of five políarchoi, cf. IG IX 2,459 (Crannon); IG IX 2,1233 (Larisa [1]). The etymology suggests that their duties probably enc…

(Θεόδοτος; Theódotos). [German version] [1] Greek architect, c.370 BC Mentioned several times in the construction records for the temple of Asclepius at Epidaurus as its architect; his origins are as unknown as his subsequent whereabouts. T.’ salary during the project amounted to 365 drachmae per year, together with further payments of unknown object. It is uncertain whether he is the same person as the sculptor T. named in IG IV2 102 (B 1 line 97) as having, for 2,340 drachmae, fashioned the acroteria for the pediment; it is possible that the name T. has been in…

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