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Hortensia (gens)
The gens Hortensia was an ancient plebeian family in Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the fifth century BC, but from that time somewhat infrequently until the final century of the Republic. The most illustrious of the gens was the orator Quintus Hortensius, a man of great learning, and a contemporary of Cicero. Under the Empire they seem to have sunk back into obscurity.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 525 ("Hortensia Gens"). Origin The nomen ''Hortensius'' appears to be derived from ''horto'', a garden, and probably signifies that the first to bear the name was a gardener. Chase believed the name was Latin, listing it among those nomina that either originated at Rome, or could not be shown to have come from anywhere else. However, Ogilvie points to the town of Urbinum Hortense in Umbria and the cult of Jupiter Hortensis in Campania as evidence that the name could have arisen elsewhere in Italy.Ogilvie, ''Commentary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plebs
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizenship, Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the capite censi, 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 grammatical number, 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 of Halicarnassus, Dionysius, the distinction between patricians and plebeians was as old as Rome itself, instituted by Romulus' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus (praenomen)
Marcus () is a Latin '' praenomen'', or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is ''Marca'' or ''Marcia''. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic '' gens Marcia'', as well as the ''cognomen Marcellus''. It was regularly abbreviated M.''Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology''''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft''Mika Kajava, ''Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women'' (1994) At all periods of Roman history, Marcus was the third-most popular praenomen, trailing only ''Lucius'' and ''Gaius''. Although many prominent families did not use it, it was a favorite of countless others. The name survived the Roman Empire and has continued to be used, in various forms, into modern times. Origin and meaning of the name The praenomen Marcus is generally conceded to be derived from the name of the god Mars. It has been pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdera, Thrace
Abdera () is a municipality in the Xanthi regional unit of Thrace, Greece. In classical antiquity, it was a major Greek ''polis'' on the Thracian coast. The ancient polis is to be distinguished from the municipality, which was named in its honor. The polis lay 17 km east-northeast of the mouth of the Nestos River, almost directly opposite the island of Thasos. It was a colony placed in previously unsettled Thracian territory, not then a part of Hellas, during the age of Greek colonization. The city that developed from it became of major importance in ancient Greece. After the 4th centuryAD it declined, contracted to its acropolis, and was abandoned, never to be reoccupied except by archaeologists. Meanwhile, life went on as the changing population settled in other communities in the region. One named Polystylus changed its name to Abdera. In 2011 the municipality of Abdera was synoecized from three previous municipalities comprising a number of modern settlements. The ancie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perseus Of Macedon
Perseus ( grc-gre, Περσεύς; 212 – 166 BC) was the last king ('' Basileus'') of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great. He was the last Antigonid to rule Macedon, after losing the Battle of Pydna on 22 June 168 BC; subsequently, Macedon came under Roman rule. Early life Perseus was the son of king Philip V of Macedon and a concubine, probably Polycratia of Argos. His father spent most of his reign attempting to maintain Macedonian hegemony over Greece against heavy Greek resistance and, in his later reign, against a expansionist Roman Republic. In this regard Philip V would fail as following defeat in the Second Macedonian War, he would have to accept Roman power in Greece and would later help Rome in the War against Nabis (195 BC) and Aetolian War (191-189 BC). Perseus is recorded as having commanded Macedonian troops in both the Second Macedonian War and Aetolian War. Being a son of a concubine, Per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge various duties. The functions of the magistracy, the ''praetura'' (praetorship), are described by the adjective: the ''praetoria potestas'' (praetorian power), the ''praetorium imperium'' (praetorian authority), and the ''praetorium ius'' (praetorian law), the legal precedents established by the ''praetores'' (praetors). ''Praetorium'', as a substantive, denoted the location from which the praetor exercised his authority, either the headquarters of his '' castra'', the courthouse (tribunal) of his judiciary, or the city hall of his provincial governorship. History of the title The status of the ''praetor'' in the early republic is unclear. The traditional account from Livy claims that the praetorship was created by the Sextian-Licinian Rogatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Cornelius Rufinus (consul 290 BC)
Publius Cornelius Rufinus was a Roman politician and general of the third century BC. He is often thought to be a son of Publius Cornelius Rufinus, dictator in 334 BC, but this is impossible because the Fasti Capitolini say that his father was a certain Gnaeus Cornelius Rufinus and his grandfather was a certain Publius Cornelius Rufinus, probably the dictator (note the 44-year gap in between Publius the Elder's dictatorship and Publius the Younger's first consulship). Rufinus was consul twice and dictator once, the latter in an unknown year. He brought the Samnite War to an end in his first consulship, in 290 BC, with his colleague Manius Curius Denatus. In the elections of 277 BC, Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, consul the previous year, was an opponent of Rufinus but voted for him anyway, seeing that Rufinus was the only candidate with military genius. When Rufinus thanked him for the support, or when the people inquired why he voted for his opponent, Fabricius replied, ‘I would rat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appius Claudius Caecus
Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. The first Roman public figure whose life can be traced with some historical certainty, Caecus was responsible for the building of Rome's first road (the Appian Way) and first aqueduct (the Aqua Appia), as well as instigating controversial popular-minded reforms. He is also credited with the authorship of a juristic treatise, a collection of moral essays, and several poems, making him one of Rome's earliest literary figures. A patrician of illustrious lineage, Caecus first came to prominence with his election to the position of censor in 312 BC, which he held for five years. During Caecus's time in office, aside from his building projects, he introduced several controversial but poorly-understood constitutional reforms: he increased the voting power of the poor and landless in the legislative assemblies, and admitted lower-class citizens to the Roman Senate, though these measures were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Senate
The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC). It survived the overthrow of the Roman monarchy in 509 BC; the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC; the division of the Roman Empire in AD 395; and the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476; Justinian's attempted reconquest of the west in the 6th century, and lasted well into the Eastern Roman Empire's history. During the days of the Roman Kingdom, most of the time the Senate was little more than an advisory council to the king, but it also elected new Roman kings. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown following a coup d'état led by Lucius Junius Brutus, who founded the Roman Republic. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the various executive magistr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Dictator
A Roman dictator was an extraordinary Roman magistrate, magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, Roman consul, consuls included, for the specific purpose of resolving that issue, and that issue only, and then dispensing with those powers forthwith. Dictators were still controlled and accountable during their terms in office: the Senate still exercised some oversight authority and the right of Tribune of the Plebs, plebeian tribunes to veto his actions or of the people to appeal from them was retained. The extent of a dictator's mandate strictly controlled the ends to which his powers could be directed. Dictators were also liable to prosecution after their terms completed. Dictators were frequently appointed from the earliest period of the Republic down to the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), but the magistracy then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Hortensius (dictator)
Quintus Hortensius was an ancient Roman, appointed to the office of dictator in the year 287 BC. When the people, pressed by their patrician creditors, "seceded" to the Janiculum, Hortensius was made dictator to put an end to the strife. He passed a law (known as the ''Lex Hortensia'') whereby the resolutions of the plebeian assembly ('' plebiscita'') were made binding on all the citizens, without the approval of the Senate being necessary. This was not a mere re-enactment of previous laws. Another law, passed about the same time, which declared the ''nundinae'' (market days) to be ''dies fasti'' (days on which legal business might be transacted), is also attributed to him. He is said to have died while still in office,Julius Obsequens, ''Periochae of Livy'', 11.11 thus making him one of two dictators to die in office in history, the other being Julius Caesar. Sources *Aulus Gellius xv. 27 *Pliny, Nat. Hist. xvi. 15 *Macrobius, Saturnalia i. 16 *Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volsci
The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from Norba and Cora in the north to Antium in the south. Rivals of Rome for several hundred years, their territories were taken over by and assimilated into the growing republic by 300 BCE. Rome's first emperor Augustus was of Volscian descent. Description by the ancient geographers Strabo says that the Volsci formed a sovereign state near the site of Rome. It was placed in the Pomentine plain, between the Latins and the Pontine marshes, which took their name from the plain. Language The Volsci spoke Volscian, a Sabellic Italic language, which was closely related to Oscan and Umbrian, and more distantly to Latin. In the Volscian territory lay the little town of Velitrae (modern Ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Sempronius Atratinus
Gaius Sempronius Atratinus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 423 BC. Sempronius belonged to the patrician Sempronia gens and the branch known as the Sempronii Atratini, one of the republic's oldest consular families, having reached the consulship in 497 BC. He is the first known Gaius among the Sempronia, but the praenomen would become increasingly common within the gens during the 3rd and 2nd century BC. As no filiations have survived it remains unclear how Sempronius was connected with the other contemporary Sempronia during this period, but it is likely that Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, consular tribune in 444 BC was his father. This would make Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, consular tribune in 425 BC his cousin. Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, magister equitum in 380 BC, is most likely a son of either Sempronius or his cousin, the consular tribune of 425 BC. Consulship and Trial In 423 BC Sempronius was elected as consul together with Quintus Fabius Vibulanus. Sempronius f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
