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Opiternia Gens
The gens Opiternia was a Faliscan family occurring in Roman history. The nomen ''Opiternius'' is a patronymic surname, derived from the ancient praenomen '' Opiter'', as is the related '' Opetreius'', and perhaps shares a common root with the nomina of the gentes Oppia and Opsia. The only member of this gens mentioned in ancient historians was Lucius Opiternius, a priest of Bacchus, who helped introduce the Bacchanalia at Rome, the discovery of which in 186 BC threw the senate into panic.Livy, xxxix. 17. See also * List of Roman gentes References Bibliography * Titus Livius (Livy), ''History of Rome The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced m ...''. * George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897). R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falisci
Falisci ( grc, Φαλίσκοι, ''Phaliskoi'') is the ancient Roman exonym for an Italic tribe who lived in what is now northern Lazio, on the Etruscan side of the Tiber River. They spoke an Italic language, Faliscan, closely akin to Latin. Originally a sovereign state, politically and socially they supported the Etruscans, joining the Etruscan League. This conviction and affiliation led to their ultimate near destruction and total subjugation by Rome. Only one instance of their own endonym has been found to date: an inscription from Falerii Novi from the late 2nd century AD refers to the ''falesce quei in Sardinia sunt'', "the Faliscans who are in Sardinia", where ''falesce'' is the nominative plural case. An Etruscan inscription calls them the ''feluskeś''. The Latin cannot be far different from the original name. The -sc- suffix is "distinctive of the Italic ethnonyms". Geography The Falisci resided in a region called by the Romans the ''Ager Faliscus'', "Faliscan Countr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), Roman Republic (509–27 BC) and Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD) until the fall of the western empire. Ancient Rome began as an Italic settlement, traditionally dated to 753 BC, beside the River Tiber in the Italian Peninsula. The settlement grew into the city and polity of Rome, and came to control its neighbours through a combination of treaties and military strength. It eventually dominated the Italian Peninsula, assimilated the Greek culture of southern Italy ( Magna Grecia) and the Etruscan culture and acquired an Empire that took in much of Europe and the lands and peoples surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. It was among the largest empires in the ancient world, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants, roughly 20% of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nomen Gentilicium
The (or simply ) was a hereditary name borne by the peoples of Roman Italy and later by the citizens of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It was originally the name of one's (family or clan) by patrilineal descent. However, as Rome expanded its frontiers and non-Roman peoples were progressively granted citizenship and concomitant , the latter lost its value in indicating patrilineal ancestry. For men, the was the middle of the ("three names"), after the and before the . For women, the was often the only name used until the late Republic. For example, three members of gens ''Julia'' were Gaius ''Julius'' Caesar and his sisters ''Julia'' Major and ''Julia'' Minor ("Julia the elder" and "Julia the younger"). History The ''nomen gentilicium'', or "gentile name" designated a Roman citizen as a member of a ''gens''. A ''gens'', which may be translated as "race", "family", or "clan", constituted an extended Roman family, all of whom shared the same ''nomen'', and claim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opiter (praenomen)
Opiter ( or ) is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used primarily during the early centuries of the Roman Republic. It is not usually abbreviated, but is sometimes found with the abbreviation Opet., apparently based on an archaic spelling of the name. No examples of a feminine form used as a praenomen are known, but from a cognomen it appears to be ''Opita''. The name gave rise to the patronymic gens Opiternia, and perhaps also gens Opetreia. The praenomen Opiter was used by the patrician gentes ''Verginia'' and ''Lucretia'', and several prominent members of these gentes with this name held important magistracies during the first two centuries of the Republic. The name must also have been used at one time by the ancestors of gens Opiternia. As with other rare praenomina, Opiter may have been more frequently used in the countryside. However, writing in the first century BC, Marcus Terentius Varro described it as obsolete.''Liber de Praenominibus''. Origin and mean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opetreia Gens
The gens Opetreia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens are known to have held any important magistracies, but a number of them are found in inscriptions. Origin The nomen ''Opetreius'' appears to be a patronymic surname based on the ancient praenomen '' Opiter'', best known as a result of its use by the gentes ''Verginia'' and ''Lucretia'' during the early Republic. The nomen '' Opiternius'' is derived from the same praenomen, and both are probably related to other gentilicia, including ''Oppius'' and '' Opsius''. The name may be grouped with a large class of nomina, many of which are of Sabine or Oscan origin, formed from other names using the suffix ''-eius''. Praenomina '' Publius, Gaius, Lucius'', and '' Gnaeus'' appear to have been the chief praenomina of the Opetrei. All of these were very common names throughout Roman history. An inscription from Noricum mentions a '' Decimus'' Opetrius; this would be a much more distinctive praenomen, but fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oppia Gens
The gens Oppia was an ancient Roman family, known from the first century of the Republic down to imperial times. The gens may originally have been patrician, as they supplied priestesses to the College of Vestals at a very early date, but all of the Oppii known to history were plebeians. None of them obtained the consulship until imperial times.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III. p. 34 ("Oppia Gens"). Origin The Oppii were probably Sabines, one of the peoples who made up a significant portion of the early Roman populace. The nomen ''Oppius'' is classed by Chase among a number of gentilicia that were not Latin, but came from among the various neighboring regions, in this case that of the Sabines. Praenomina The earliest Oppii to appear in history used the praenomina '' Spurius, Marcus'', and ''Gaius''. To these, later generations added ''Lucius, Quintus'', and '' Publius''. All of these were quite common throughout Roman history, except ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opsia Gens
The gens Opsia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear in history during the reign of Tiberius. The most notable may have been Marcus Opsius Navius Fannianus, who filled a number of important posts, rising to the rank of praetor. Many other Opsii are known from inscriptions. Origin The root of the nomen ''Opsius'' appears to be ''op-'', with the meaning of "help", found in the name of the goddess Ops, as well as the nomen ''Oppius''. The same root may be the source of the praenomen '' Opiter'', together with the patronymic surnames derived from it, '' Opiternius'' and '' Opetreius''. Such forms are typical of non-Latin gentilicia, and are most likely of Sabine origin, which seems the more probable in light of the tradition that the cult of Ops was introduced to Rome by the Sabine king, Titus Tatius. ''Opsius'' in turn appears to have given rise to two later gentilicia, '' Opsidius'' and '' Opsilius'', which used the suffixes and to for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gens'' was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Roman Italy, Italia during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of individuals' social standing depended on the gens to which they belonged. Certain gentes were classified as Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician, others as plebs, plebeian; some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of membership in a gens declined considerably in Roman Empire, imperial times, although the ''gentilicium'' continued to be used and defined the origins and Roman dynasty, dynasties of Roman emperors. Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, ''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities'', Second Edition, Harry Thurston Peck, E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans called him Bacchus ( or ; grc, Βάκχος ) for a frenzy he is said to induce called ''bakkheia''. As Dionysus Eleutherios ("the liberator"), his wine, music, and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. His ''thyrsus'', a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek. In Orphic religion, he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacchanalia
The Bacchanalia were unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia. They were almost certainly associated with Rome's native cult of Liber, and probably arrived in Rome itself around 200 BC. Like all mystery religions of the ancient world, very little is known of their rites. They seem to have been popular and well-organised throughout the central and southern Italian peninsula. Livy, writing some 200 years after the event, offers a scandalized and extremely colourful account of the Bacchanalia, with frenzied rites, sexually violent initiations of both sexes, all ages and all social classes; he represents the cult as a murderous instrument of conspiracy against the state. Livy claims that seven thousand cult leaders and followers were arrested, and that most were executed. Livy believed the Bacchanalia scandal to be one of several indications of Rome's inexorable moral decay. Modern scholars take a skepti ... [...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] |
