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Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114–50 BC) was a famous Roman lawyer, a renowned orator and a statesman. Politically he belonged to the Optimates. He was consul in 69 BC alongside Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus. His nickname was ''Dionysia'', after a famous actress. After his retirement Hortensius took up fish-breeding as a hobby. Cicero spoke of him as a ''Piscinarius'' – 'fish fancier'. Biography At the age of nineteen he made his first speech at the bar and shortly afterwards successfully defended Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, one of Rome's dependents in the East, who had been deprived of his throne by his brother. From that time his reputation as an advocate was established. Through his marriage to Lutatia, daughter of Quintus Lutatius Catulus and Servilia, he was attached to the aristocratic party, the ''optimates''. During and after Lucius Cornelius Sulla's dictatorship the courts of law were under the control of the Senate, the judges themselves being senators. Endnote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcia (wife Of Cato The Younger)
Marcia was the second wife of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (Cato the Younger) and the daughter of Lucius Marcius Philippus. Biography Early life Marcia is believed to have been born about 80 BC to Lucius Marcius Philippus and his first wife, she had two brothers named Lucius Marcius Philippus and Quintus Marcius Philippus.Sumner, "Lex Annalis", pp. 252–254. When her father married Atia she became the step-sister of Octavia Minor and Gaius Octavius Thurinus (the future emperor Augustus). Marriages and children After Cato divorced his first wife Atilia because of rumors about her infidelity, in 63 BC, he married Marcia whom Plutarch described as "a woman of excellent reputation, about whom there was the most abundant talk". Marcia and Cato had two or three children; however, there is controversy about whether or not she was pregnant with this third child at the time of her second marriage to Hortensius. There is no indication that their marriage was unhappy: Plutarch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Lutatius Catulus
Quintus Lutatius Catulus (149–87 BC) was a consul of the Roman Republic in 102 BC. His consular colleague was Gaius Marius. During their consulship the Cimbri and Teutones marched south again and threatened the Republic. While Marius marched against the Teutones in Gaul, Catulus had to keep the Cimbri from invading Italy. In this he failed; the Cimbri succeeded in invading the Po Valley. In 101 BC Catulus, as proconsul, continued the war against the Cimbri. Marius, elected consul for the fifth time, joined him and together they campaigned against the Germanic invaders in the Po Valley. At the Battle of Vercellae Marius and Catulus decisively defeated the Cimbri and ended the Germanic invasion. After Vercellae the two feuded, and Catulus consequently committed suicide following Marius's victory in the civil war of 87 BC. As a General During Catulus' consulship, the Romans found out the wandering Cimbri and Teutones were planning to invade Italy. Catulus, as junior consul, was se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. His extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy and politics, and he is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and served as consul in 63 BC. His influence on the Latin language was immense. He wrote more than three-quarters of extant Latin literature that is known to have existed in his lifetime, and it has been said that subsequent prose was either a reaction against or a return to his style, not only in Latin but in European languages up to the 19th century. Cicero introduced into Latin the arguments of the chief schools of Hellenistic philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus (c. 114 BC – late 50s BC) was a politically active member of the Roman upper class. He was praetor in 74 BC and pontifex from 73 BC until his death. He was consul in 69 BC along with Quintus Hortensius Hortalus. Family The Caecilii Metelli were very prominent and conservative members of the Roman nobility in the Republican period, though they were members of the plebeian gens Caecilia. Their greatest influence was from the second century BC onwards.Salazar, Christine F. Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World Vol. 2. Boston: Brill Leiden. 2003. 874–879. The name Metellus possibly means 'mercenary'. A saying attributed to Naevius stated that "it is fated for the Metelli to become consuls at Rome," and it seems to be true: Creticus' brother, father, grandfather, three uncles, great grandfather, and great great grandfather were all consuls. Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus was Creticus' grandfather. He was praetor in 148 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Servilia (wife Of Catulus)
Servilia was the wife of Quintus Lutatius Catulus, the consul during 102 BC. She was of the patrician Caepione branch of the Servilia gens. Biography Early life Servilia was most likely the daughter and oldest child of Quintus Servilius Caepio the consul of 106 BC. She was the sister of another Quintus Servilius Caepio and Servilia, the wife of Marcus Livius Drusus. Their mother is uncertain but was likely a Caecilia Metella. The historian Edward Courtney identified her as Cato the Younger's half-sister Servilia, but this is unlikely. Yet another theory was by Brunt who believed her to be the sister of the consul of 106, but Susan Treggiari thinks this is less probable than her being his daughter. Marriage Servilia married Quintus Lutatius Catulus and they had at least one child, a daughter named Lutatia who married the orator Quintus Hortensius, she also became the step-mother of his son Quintus Lutatius Catulus Capitolinus. In 105 BC her father is disgraced bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Verres
Gaius Verres (c. 120–43 BC) was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence advocate could only recommend that Verres should leave the country. Cicero's prosecution speeches were later published as the ''Verrine Orations''. Biography Gaius Verres was born around 114 B.C. Public career During Sulla's civil war (83–82 BC), Verres deserted the government faction of Marius and Carbo and went over to Sulla. Sulla made him a present of land at Beneventum and secured him against punishment for embezzlement. In 80 BC Verres served on the staff of Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, governor of Cilicia. According to Cicero, the governor and his subordinate both ruthlessly plundered the province. In 78 BC Dolabella had to stand trial at Rome accused of extortion and was found guilty with the evidence of Verres, who had se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of Rome from republic to empire. He was (for a time) a student of Roman general Sulla as well as the political ally, and later enemy, of Julius Caesar. A member of the senatorial nobility, Pompey entered into a military career while still young. He rose to prominence serving the dictator Sulla as a commander in the civil war of 83–82 BC. Pompey's success as a general while young enabled him to advance directly to his first Roman consulship without following the traditional '' cursus honorum'' (the required steps to advance in a political career). He was elected as Roman consul on three occasions. He celebrated three Roman triumphs, served as a commander in the Sertorian War, the Third Servile War, the Third Mithridatic War, and in va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period—from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. Roman society under the Republic was primarily a cultural mix of Latin and Etruscan societies, as well as of Sabine, Oscan, and Greek cultural elements, which is especially visible in the Roman Pantheon. Its political organization developed, at around the same time as direct democracy in Ancient Greece, with collective and annual magistracies, overseen by a senate. The top magistrates were the two consuls, who had an extensive range of executive, legislative, judicial, military, and religious po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lutatia (wife Of Hortensius)
The gens Lutatia, occasionally written Luctatia, was a plebeian family of ancient Rome. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Lutatius Catulus in 242 BC, the final year of the First Punic War. Orosius mentions their burial place, the , which lay beyond the Tiber. Praenomina The chief praenomina used by the Lutatii of the Republic were ''Gaius'' and '' Quintus'', from which they rarely deviated; but there are also instances of '' Gnaeus'' and '' Marcus'', which were probably given to younger children. Branches and cognomina The surnames of the Lutatii under the Republic were ''Catulus, Cerco'', and ''Pinthia'', of which only the second is found on Roman coins. * ''Catulus'', borne by the most famous family of the Lutatii, is probably derived from the same root as , which originally described someone shrewd, wise, or cautious (). An alternative explanation would translate the surname as "puppy, whelp" or "cub". * ''Cerco'', borne by some of the Catuli, refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as reviving the dictatorship. A gifted and innovative general, he achieved numerous successes in wars against foreign and domestic opponents. Sulla rose to prominence during the war against the Numidian king Jugurtha, whom he captured as a result of Jugurtha's betrayal by the king's allies, although his superior Gaius Marius took credit for ending the war. He then fought successfully against Germanic tribes during the Cimbrian War, and Italic tribes during the Social War. He was awarded the Grass Crown for his bravery at the Battle of Nola. Sulla was closely associated with Venus, adopting the title Epaphroditos meaning favored of Aphrodite/Venus. Sulla played an import ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cato The Younger
Marcus Porcius Cato "Uticensis" ("of Utica"; ; 95 BC – April 46 BC), also known as Cato the Younger ( la, Cato Minor), was an influential conservative Roman senator during the late Republic. His conservative principles were focused on the preservation of what he saw as old Roman values in decline. A noted orator and a follower of Stoicism, his scrupulous honesty and professed respect for tradition gave him a powerful political following which he mobilised against powerful generals (including Julius Caesar and Pompey) of his day. Before Caesar's civil war, Cato served in a number of political offices. During his urban quaestorship in 63 BC, he was praised for his honesty and incorruptibility in running Rome's finances. He passed laws during his tribunate in 62 BC to expand the grain dole and force generals to give up their armies and commands before standing in elections. He also frustrated Pompey's ambitions by opposing a bill brought by Pompey's allies to tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orator
An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14th century), Latin ''orator'' ("speaker"), from ''orare'' ("speak before a court or assembly; plead"), derived from a Proto-Indo-European base *''or-'' ("to pronounce a ritual formula"). The modern meaning of the word, "public speaker", is attested from c. 1430. History In ancient Rome, the art of speaking in public (''Ars Oratoria'') was a professional competence especially cultivated by politicians and lawyers. As the Greeks were still seen as the masters in this field, as in philosophy and most sciences, the leading Roman families often either sent their sons to study these things under a famous master in Greece (as was the case with the young Julius Caesar), or engaged a Greek teacher (under pay or as a slave). In the young revolutiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
