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Decemvirate (Twelve Tables)
According to Roman tradition, it was a Decemvirate ( la, decemviri consulari imperio legibus scribundis, 'decemvirs with consular power for writing laws') that drew up the Twelve Tables of Roman law. Background The setting up of the ''decemviri consulari imperio legibus scribundis'' occurred within the context of the two-hundred-year Conflict of the Orders between the patrician order (the aristocracy) and the plebeian order (the commoners). The patricians had developed into the upper class by monopolising the priesthoods, which played an important part in the politics of archaic Rome and, in the Early Republic, the consulship (the office of the two annual elected heads of the Roman Republic and the army), and the seats of the (unelected) senate, the advisory body for the consuls. They were also large landowners. The form of labour exploitation during this archaic period was the nexum, which was what historians call debt bondage, bonded labour, or debt slavery. The debtor pledged hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Consul
A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspired) after that of the censor. Each year, the Centuriate Assembly elected two consuls to serve jointly for a one-year term. The consuls alternated in holding '' fasces'' – taking turns leading – each month when both were in Rome and a consul's ''imperium'' extended over Rome and all its provinces. There were two consuls in order to create a check on the power of any individual citizen in accordance with the republican belief that the powers of the former kings of Rome should be spread out into multiple offices. To that end, each consul could veto the actions of the other consul. After the establishment of the Empire (27 BC), the consuls became mere symbolic representatives of Rome's republican heritage and held very little ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Sestius Capitolinus Vaticanus
Publius Sestius Capitolinus Vaticanus ( 452–451 BC) was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul in 452 BC and decemvir in 451 BC. Family He was a member of the ''Gens Sestii''. He was the son of Quintus and his complete name is ''Publius Sestius Q.f. Vibi.n. Capitolinus Vaticanus''. Livy gives the form ''Sextius'' then ''Sestius''. Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses the form ''Siccius''. His ''cognomen'' ''Capitolinus'' is not certain - we also see ''Capito'' being used. He was the only member of his family to attain the rank of consul. Biography Consulship In 452 BC, he was consul with Titus Menenius Lanatus. During their consulship, the delegates left to study Greek law in Athens. After returning to Rome, the tribunes of the plebs called together officials to create a commission to write the law down. Publius Sestius supported this proposition, contrary to his colleague Titus Menenius, who pondered the question before falling ill - then was rendered inactive until th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Sergius Esquilinus
Lucius Sergius Esquilinus was a Roman politician, and member of the Decemviri, Second ''Decemvirate'' in 450 and 449 BC. Family He was a member of the ''Sergii Esquilini'', patrician branch of the ''Roman gens, gens Sergia gens, Sergia''. His ''praenomen'' is not reported in the ''Fasti Capitolini'', and ancient authors disagree on what it is. Livy gives ''Marcus'' then ''Lucius'', Diodorus Siculus mentions a ''Caius'' and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a ''Marcus''. Biography Lucius Sergius Esquilinus was one of the ten members of the second decemvirate, presided over by Appius Claudius Crassus, Appius Claudius Sabinus and elected for the writing of the Twelve Tables, first body of written law protecting Roman rights. At the instigation of Sabinus, the decemvirs had maintained their power illegally the following year, refusing to proceed in the election of consuls. That year, the Sabines, Sabines' occupied Eretum, while the Aequi were camped on Mount Algidus. Roman troops were div ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis
Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis was a Roman politician and member of the Second Decemvirate in 450 and 449 BC. Family He was part of the ''Cornelii Maluginenses'', patrician branch of the ''gens Cornelia''. He was grandson of Servius Cornelius Maluginensis, consul in 485 BC. According to Livy, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he was the brother of Lucius Cornelius Maluginensis Uritus Cossus (consul in 459 BC) but his name would be the same as his father if we refer to the filiation given by the ''Fasti Capitolini''. Biography Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis was one of the ten members of the Second Decemvirate, presided over by Appius Claudius Crassus and elected for the purpose of drafting the Law of the Twelve Tables, first written law of the Roman Republic. At the instigation of Appius Claudius, the decemvirs illegally held onto power the following year, refusing to proceed with the election of consuls. That year, a war escalated with the Sabines who were based in Eretum and the Ae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verginia
Verginia, or Virginia (c. 465 BC449 BC), was the subject of a story of ancient Rome, related in Livy's ''Ab Urbe Condita''.Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology > v. 3, page 1267 /ref> The story of Verginia In 451 BC, Appius Claudius began to lust after Verginia, a beautiful plebeian girl and the daughter of Lucius Verginius, a respected centurion. Verginia was betrothed to Lucius Icilius, a former tribune of the plebs, and when she rejected Claudius, Claudius had one of his clients, Marcus Claudius, claim that she was actually his slave. Marcus Claudius then abducted her while she was on her way to school. The crowd in the Forum objected to this, as both Verginius and Icilius were well-respected men, and they forced Marcus Claudius to bring the case before the decemvirs, led by Appius Claudius himself. Verginius was recalled from the field to defend his daughter, and Icilius, after threats of violence, succeeded in having Verginia returned to her ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aequi
300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long struggle for independence from Rome, they were defeated and substantial Roman colonies were placed on their soil. Only two inscriptions believed to be in the Aequian language remain. No more can be deduced than that the language was Italic. Otherwise, the inscriptions from the region are those of the Latin-speaking colonists in Latin. The colonial exonym documented in these inscriptions is Aequi and also Aequicoli ("colonists of Aequium"). The manuscript variants of the classical authors present Equic-, Aequic-, Aequac-. If the form without the -coli is taken as an original, it may well also be the endonym, but to date further evidence is lacking. Historical geography The historians made many entries co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis (consul 466 BC)
Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis (died 439 BC) was a patrician politician of Ancient Rome. His filiation as reported in the ''Fasti Capitolini'' suggests he was the son of Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis, consul 496 BC, and brother of Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis, consul 464 BC, although it must be observed that no great dependence can be placed upon genealogies from such early times. He, or possibly his brother Aulus, was appointed to dedicate the Temple of Castor in 484 BC as ''duumviri aedi dedicandae''. He was consul in 466 BC and is credited with the dedication of the temple of Dius Fidius while his consular colleague Quintus Servilius Priscus fought the Aequi. He was either a augur or pontifex as gathered from an inscription saying that he co-opted the year in 462 BC, a role traditionally ascribed to one of these posts. He was one of the three commissioners sent into Greece to collect information about the laws of that country leaving in 454 and returning in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus
Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul in 455 BC, and decemvir in 451 BC. Family He was the only member of the patrician family to become consul. The '' gens Romilia'' disappears after him in the ancient accounts. He was the grandson of a Titus Romilius and the son of a Titus Romilius, his complete name being ''Titus Romilius T.f. T.n. Rocus Vaticanus''. The ''cognomen'' ''Vaticanus'' which he carried shows that the term was used at least as far back as the 5th century BC. He might be the founder of the '' tribus Romilia'' which included several immigrant districts. Biography Consulship In 455 BC, he was elected consul with Gaius Veturius Cicurinus. They issued orders during a period of high tension between the patricians and the plebeians. The tribunes of the plebs, representatives of the people, demanded in vain for many years that the power of the consuls be limited in written law. The ''Lex Terentilia'', first drafted in 462 BC, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Curiatius Fistus Trigeminus
Publius Curiatius Fistus Trigeminus was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul in 453 BC, and decemvir in 451 BC. Family He was named ''Publius Curiatius'' by Livy, but ''Publius Horatius'' by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, which nevertheless confirms Livy's as fact. Diodorus Siculus himself only gives ''Trigeminus''. He could have been part of the ''gens Horatii'' and not in that of the ''Curiatii'', two ''gentes'' that had opposed each other during the Roman monarchy in the fight of the Horatii and the Curiatii. If he was part of the ''gens Curiatii'', he was the only member of the family to become consul. Biography Consulship In 453 BC, he was consul with Sextus Quinctilius. Rome was ravaged this year by a famine and an epidemic, which killed animals as well as people. It is thought to have been typhus, an epidemic that raged on for ten or more years. His colleague, Varus, and the consul suffect that replaced him both caught the disease that same year. ''Decemvirate' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus (consul 461 BC)
Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus ( 461–446 BC) was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul in 461 BC and ''decemvir'' in 451 BC. Family He was the son of Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus (consul in 490 BC), and father of Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus ( military tribune with consular power in 402 BC and 398 BC). Biography Consulship In 461 BC, he was consul with Publius Volumnius Amintinus Gallus. Their terms occurred during a period of political tensions between the tribunes of the plebs, who demanded that the rights of the consuls be written down (drafted in the ''lex Terentilia'') and the conservative patricians who opposed limitations to the consular power. The consuls tried to raise troops against the Aequi and the Volsci, traditional enemies of Rome. The tribunes used their veto to block the levy. Four of the tribunes called the people to vote on their legal draft (the ''lex Terentilia''). The consuls refused to preside over the ballot and young ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aulus Manlius Vulso (decemvir)
Aulus Manlius Vulso was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, and was a member of the first college of the ''decemviri'' in 451 BC. In 474 BC, he may have been elected consul with Lucius Furius Medullinus. Whether or not the decemvir is the same man as the consul of 474 BC remains unknown. Family He was the son of a Gnaeus Manlius, perhaps Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus (consul in 480 BC), and grandson of a Publius Manlius. His complete name is ''A. Manlius Cn.f. P.n. Vulso''. He had a son by the name of Aulus Manlius Vulso Capitolinus, who was consular tribune in 405, 402, and 397 BC. Biography In 454 BC, under pressure by the tribunes of the plebs, the patricians accepted sending a delegation of three former consuls, among which was Vulso, Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis, and Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus, to Athens and Magna Graecia so that they could study Greek law. They returned in 452 BC and their report resulted in the creation of the First ''Decemvirate'' ('' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Julius Iullus (decemvir)
Gaius Julius Iullus ( 482–451 BC) was a Roman statesman, who held the consulship in 482 BC. After a contentious election, he was chosen to represent the more moderate faction in Roman politics, while his colleague, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, was elected by the aristocratic party. Both consuls led a Roman army against Veii, but withdrew when the Veientes refused to confront them. Thirty years later, in 451, Julius was chosen a member of the first decemvirate, alongside several other ex-consuls and other respected statesmen. Julius proved himself a man of good judgment and integrity, and helped to draw up the first ten tables of Roman law.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 656. Family As his filiation reveals, Julius was the son of Gaius and grandson of Lucius. His father is generally supposed to have been the same Gaius Julius Iullus who was consul in 489 BC. Although only seven years elapsed between the two consulships, this would be pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
