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Fulvia Gens
The gens Fulvia, originally Foulvia, was one of the most illustrious plebeian families at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence during the middle Republic; the first to attain the consulship was Lucius Fulvius Curvus in 322 BC. From that time, the Fulvii were active in the politics of the Roman state, and gained a reputation for excellent military leaders.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 188 ("Fulvia Gens"). Origin The nomen ''Fulvius'' is evidently of Latin origin, and is derived from the cognomen ''Fulvus'', originally designating someone with yellowish or golden-brown hair. Cicero reports that the Fulvii originally came to Rome from Tusculum, where some of them remained in his era. According to tradition, they obtained their '' sacra'' from Hercules after the completion of his twelve labours. By the latter part of the fourth century BC, they had joined the nobiles through the patronage of the Fabii, who suppo ...
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Plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the group and the term are unclear, but may be related to the Greek, ''plēthos'', meaning masses. In Latin, the word is a singular collective noun, and its genitive is . Plebeians were not a monolithic social class. Those who resided in the city and were part of the four urban tribes are sometimes called the , while those who lived in the country and were part of the 31 smaller rural tribes are sometimes differentiated by using the label . (List of Roman tribes) In ancient Rome In the annalistic tradition of Livy and Dionysius, the distinction between patricians and plebeians was as old as Rome itself, instituted by Romulus' appointment of the first hundred senators, whose descendants became the patriciate. Modern hypotheses date ...
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Praenomen
The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy. The praenomen would then be formally conferred a second time when girls married, or when boys assumed the '' toga virilis'' upon reaching manhood. Although it was the oldest of the ''tria nomina'' commonly used in Roman naming conventions, by the late republic, most praenomina were so common that most people were called by their praenomina only by family or close friends. For this reason, although they continued to be used, praenomina gradually disappeared from public records during imperial times. Although both men and women received praenomina, women's praenomina were frequently ignored, and they were gradually abandoned by many Roman families, though they continued to be used in some families and in the countryside. Backgr ...
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Publius Clodius Pulcher
Publius Clodius Pulcher (93–52 BC) was a populist Roman politician and street agitator during the time of the First Triumvirate. One of the most colourful personalities of his era, Clodius was descended from the aristocratic Claudia gens, one of Rome's oldest and noblest patrician families, but he contrived to be adopted by an obscure plebeian, so that he could be elected tribune of the plebs. During his term of office, he pushed through an ambitious legislative program, including a grain dole; but he is chiefly remembered for his scandalous lifestyle, which included violating the sanctity of a religious rite reserved solely for women, purportedly with the intention of seducing Caesar's wife; and for his feud with Cicero and Milo, which ended in Clodius' death at the hands of Milo's bodyguards. Background Born Publius Claudius Pulcher in 93 BC, Clodius was the youngest son of Appius Claudius Pulcher, who became consul in 79 BC. His mother's name is uncertain; she may have b ...
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First Punic War
The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and greatest naval war of antiquity, the two powers struggled for supremacy. The war was fought primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also in North Africa. After immense losses on both sides, the Carthaginians were defeated. The war began in 264 BC with the Romans gaining a foothold on Sicily at Messana (modern Messina). The Romans then pressed Syracuse, the only significant independent power on the island, into allying with them and laid siege to Carthage's main base at Akragas. A large Carthaginian army attempted to lift the siege in 262 BC but was heavily defeated at the Battle of Akragas. The Romans then built a navy to challenge the Carthaginians', and using novel tactics inflicted severa ...
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Dictionary Of Greek And Roman Biography And Mythology/Nobilior
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc.Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2002 It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data. A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying ...
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Venus (mythology)
Venus (), , is a Roman goddess, whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fled to Italy. Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Venus was central to many religious festivals, and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles. The Romans adapted the myths and iconography of her Greek counterpart Aphrodite for Roman art and Latin literature. In the later classical tradition of the West, Venus became one of the most widely referenced deities of Greco-Roman mythology as the embodiment of love and sexuality. She is usually depicted nude in paintings. Etymology The Latin theonym ''Venus'' and the common noun ''venus'' ('love, charm') stem from a Proto-Italic form reconstructed as ''*wenos-'' ('desire'), itself from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) ' ('desire'; cf. Messapic ''Venas'', Old Indic ''vánas'' 'de ...
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Pliny The Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Natural History''), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus: Among Pliny's greatest works was the twenty-volume work ''Bella Germaniae'' ("The History of the German Wars"), which is no longer extant. ''Bella Germaniae'', which began where Aufidius Bassus' ''Libri Belli Germanici'' ("The War with the Germans") left off, was used as a source by other prominent Roman historians, including Plutarch, Tacitus and Suetonius. Tacitus—who many scholars agree had never travelled in Germania—used ''Bella Germani ...
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Dictionary Of Greek And Roman Biography And Mythology/Paetus
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc.Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2002 It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data. A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying ...
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Dictionary Of Greek And Roman Biography And Mythology/Paetinus
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc.Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2002 It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data. A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying ...
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Servius (praenomen)
Servius () is a Latin ''praenomen'', or personal name, which was used throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic ''gens Servilia''. The feminine form is ''Servia''. The name was regularly abbreviated Ser. Servius was never one of the most common praenomina; about ten other names were used more frequently. Most families did not use it, although it was a favorite of the Cornelii and the Sulpicii, two of the greatest patrician houses at Rome. The name gradually became less common towards the end of the Republic, but was still used in imperial times. Origin and meaning of the name The original meaning of Servius was forgotten by the late Republic. Chase derives the name from the verb ''servo'', ''to keep'' or ''preserve''. This seems consistent with other Latin praenomina, such as '' Sertor'', which appears to have a similar meaning. Varro had nothing to say about the ...
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Gnaeus (praenomen)
Gnaeus ( , ) is a Latin ''praenomen'', or personal name, which was common throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. The feminine form is ''Gnaea''. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic '' gens Naevia''. The name was regularly abbreviated Cn., based on the archaic spelling, ''Cnaeus'', dating from the period before the letters "C" and "G" were differentiated. For most of Roman history, Gnaeus was one of the ten most common praenomina, being less common than ''Titus'', the sixth most common praenomen, and comparable in frequency to ''Aulus'', '' Spurius'', and ''Sextus''. Although the name was used by a minority of families at Rome, it was favored by a number of prominent ''gentes'', including the Cornelii, Domitii, Manlii, and Servilii. The name gradually became less common in imperial times. Origin and meaning According to Festus, the praenomen Gnaeus originally referred to a birthmark, whi ...
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Gaius (praenomen)
Gaius () is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, and was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Gaia.Chase, pp. 174–176. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Gavia. The name was regularly abbreviated C., based on the original spelling, Caius, which dates from the period before the letters "C" and "G" were differentiated. Inverted, Ɔ. stood for the feminine, Gaia.''Liber de Praenominibus''.Quintilian, ''Institutes'', i. 7. § 28. Throughout Roman history, Gaius was generally the second-most common praenomen, following only ''Lucius''. Although many prominent families did not use it at all, it was so widely distributed amongst all social classes that ''Gaius'' became a generic name for any man, and ''Gaia'' for any woman. A familiar Roman wedding ceremony included the words, spoken by the bride, ''ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia'' ("as you are Gaius, I am Gaia"), to which the bridegroom r ...
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