The gens Carvilia was a
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 ...
family at
ancient Rome, which first distinguished itself during the
Samnite Wars. The first member of this
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'' (p ...
to achieve the
consulship was
Spurius Carvilius Maximus, in 293 BC.
[''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, p. 617 ("Carvilia Gens").]
Origin
The Carvilii were a modest family of
equestrian rank, which rose to prominence due to the military exploits of Spurius Carvilius Maximus.
[Velleius Paterculus, ii. 128.] The
nomen ''Carvilius'' belongs to a large class of gentilicia ending in ''-ilus'' or ''-illus'', typically derived from diminutive surnames originally ending in ''-ulus''. The root of the name is uncertain; perhaps related to the surname ''Carbo'', a coal, or coal-black.
Praenomina
The only praenomina used by the Carvilii were ''
Spurius
Spurius is a small genus of passalid beetles from Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatema ...
'', ''
Gaius'', and ''
Lucius''.
Branches and cognomina
The Carvilii of the Republic were not divided into separate families, and the only
cognomen that was handed down among them was ''Maximus'', "very great" or "greatest", which was probably applied first to Spurius Carvilius, the consul of 293 and 272 BC, in recognition of his military victories and splendid character.
Two of this family bore the additional surname ''Ruga'', a furrow or wrinkle.
Members
* Spurius Carvilius,
quaestor
A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times.
In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...
in 391 BC, accused
Marcus Furius Camillus of appropriating a bronze door from the spoils of Veii. Camillus was prosecuted by Lucius Apuleius, a
tribune of the plebs, and sent into exile.
* Gaius Carvilius, the grandfather of Spurius Carvilius Maximus, the consul of 293 and 272 BC.
* Gaius Carvilius C. f., the father of Spurius Carvilius Maximus.
*
Spurius Carvilius C. f. C. n. Maximus,
consul in 293 BC, he defeated the
Samnites
The Samnites () were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy.
An Oscan-speaking people, who may have originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they for ...
and
Faliscans
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. Or ...
, taking several towns and receiving a magnificent
triumph. He was probably
censor about 289. Consul for the second time in 272, he and his colleague triumphed over the Samnites,
Lucanians
The Lucanians ( la, Lucani) were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke an Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so thei ...
,
Bruttians, and
Tarentines.
['' Fasti Capitolini'', ; 1904, 114; ; 1940, 59, 60.][; 1893, 80; 1904, 113, 196; 1930, 60; 1940, 61.]
*
Spurius Carvilius S. f. C. n. Maximus Ruga, consul in 234 BC, he fought against the
Corsicans, and then the
Sardinians, for which he received a triumph. He was consul for the second time in 228, with
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus as his colleague. After the
Battle of Cannae
The Battle of Cannae () was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage, fought on 2 August 216 BC near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy. The Carthaginians and their allies, led by ...
, he proposed filling the ranks of the senate with the leading men of Rome's
Latin allies, but his advice was soundly rejected. He gained a certain notoriety for divorcing his wife, on grounds of barrenness.
*
Spurius Carvilius Ruga, a
freedman
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
and schoolteacher at Rome ''circa'' 230 BC, credited with developing the letter
G.
*
Spurius Carvilius The gens Carvilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first distinguished itself during the Samnite Wars. The first member of this gens to achieve the consulship was Spurius Carvilius Maximus, in 293 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biog ...
,
tribune of the plebs in 212 BC, together with his colleague, Lucius Carvilius, indicted Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis for defrauding the Roman state. Pyrgensis, a
publican, had deliberately sunk old ships with worthless cargo, in order to claim substantial losses and enriching himself.
[Livy, xxv. 3, 4.][Broughton, vol. I, p. 268.]
*
Lucius Carvilius, tribune of the plebs in 212 BC, joined his colleague Spurius Carvilius in indicting Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis.
*
Spurius Carvilius The gens Carvilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first distinguished itself during the Samnite Wars. The first member of this gens to achieve the consulship was Spurius Carvilius Maximus, in 293 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biog ...
,
legate of the
propraetor Gnaeus Sicinius in 171 BC, was appointed by the
senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
to watch the ambassadors of
Perseus
In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...
, and ensure that they departed Italy.
*
Gaius Carvilius, a native of
Spoletium
Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.
History
Spolet ...
, negotiated the surrender of the Roman garrison at
Uscana to Perseus in 169 BC.
* Spurius Carvilius L. f., member of the Roman senate in 129 BC.
[Sherk, "''Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno''", p. 368.]
See also
*
List of Roman gentes
References
Bibliography
*
Marcus Tullius Cicero, ''
Cato Maior de Senectute''.
*
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς,
; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...
, ''Romaike Archaiologia'' (Roman Antiquities).
* Titus Livius (
Livy), ''
History of Rome''.
*
Marcus Velleius Paterculus, ''Compendium of Roman History''.
*
Valerius Maximus, ''
Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
* Gaius Plinius Secundus (
Pliny the Elder), ''
Historia Naturalis'' (Natural History).
*
Aulus Gellius
Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, or ...
, ''Noctes Atticae'' (Attic Nights).
*
Joannes Zonaras
Joannes or John Zonaras ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ζωναρᾶς ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Greek historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held th ...
, ''Epitome Historiarum'' (Epitome of History).
*
Barthold Georg Niebuhr, ''The History of Rome'', Julius Charles Hare and Connop Thirlwall, trans., John Smith, Cambridge (1828).
* ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'',
William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
* René Cagnat ''et alii'', ''
L'Année épigraphique'' (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated ''AE''), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
* George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
*
T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952–1986).
* Robert K. Sherk,
The Text of the ''Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno'', in ''Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies'', vol. 7, pp. 361–369 (1966).
* John C. Traupman, ''The New College Latin & English Dictionary'', Bantam Books, New York (1995).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carvilia (gens)
Roman gentes