The gens Cluentia was a
Roman family of the late
Republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
. The
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 ...
first appears during the
Social War, in which
Lucius Cluentius Lucius Cluentius was a general of the Pompeiian forces. Lucius Cluentius, called Aulus Cluentius by Eutropius, was one of the Italian generals during the Social War. He commanded the Pompeiian troops against Sulla, and was at first victorious, b ...
was general of the
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
an forces. The most famous family of the name lived at
Larinum, where they and their cousins, the
Aurii, fell victim to the machinations of
Oppianicus, exposed by
Cicero in his oration, ''
Pro Cluentio
''Pro Cluentio'' is a speech by the Roman orator Cicero given in defense of a man named Aulus Cluentius Habitus Minor.
Cluentius, from Larinum in Samnium, was accused in 69 BC by his mother Sassia of having poisoned his stepfather, Statius Abbiu ...
''.
[''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', pp. 806, 807 ("Cluentia", "Lucius Cluentius", "Aulus Cluentius Habitus".]
Origin
The Cluentii were probably of
Oscan origin. Both Pompeii and Larinum, the towns with which the family was associated, were located within Oscan territory. Lucius Cluentius and the Pompeiian forces he commanded during the Social War fought against the Roman army under
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 ...
, so the Cluentii may not have gained
Roman citizenship until the conclusion of the war.
Branches and cognomina
The only
cognomen associated with the Cluentii is ''Habitus'', also found as ''Abitus'' and ''Avitus''. ''Habitus'' might refer to a person's manner of dress, style, or bearing; ''Avitus'' is derived from an adjective, meaning "grandfatherly, ancestral," and thus might indicate the senior branch of a family.
Members
*
Lucius Cluentius Lucius Cluentius was a general of the Pompeiian forces. Lucius Cluentius, called Aulus Cluentius by Eutropius, was one of the Italian generals during the Social War. He commanded the Pompeiian troops against Sulla, and was at first victorious, b ...
, called Aulus Cluentius by
Eutropius, was one of the Italian generals during the Social War. He commanded the Pompeiian troops against
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 ...
, and was at first victorious, but was subsequently defeated and slain.
* Aulus Cluentius Habitus, a respected citizen of Larinum, who died in 88 BC, leaving a widow, Sassia, a son and a daughter.
[Cicero, ''Pro Cluentio'', 5.]
* Cluentia, sister of the elder Aulus Cluentius Habitus, married
Statius Albius Oppianicus, by whom she was allegedly poisoned. Oppianicus subsequently married Cluentius' widow, Sassia.
*
Aulus Cluentius A. f. Habitus, accused his stepfather, Oppianicus, of attempting to poison him. Oppianicus was convicted in 74 B.C., allegedly because the judge had been bribed. Eight years later, Cicero defended Cluentius on a similar charge made by Oppianicus' son.
[Cicero, ''Pro Cluentio'', ''passim'', ''In Verrem'', i. 10, 13–61, ''Pro Caecina'', 10.]
* Cluentia A. f., sister of the younger Aulus Cluentius Habitus, married her cousin,
Aulus Aurius Melinus
Aulus (abbreviated A.) is one of the small group of common forenames found in the culture of ancient Rome.
The name was traditionally connected with Latin ''aula'', ''olla'', "palace", but this is most likely a false etymology. ''Aulus'' in fact p ...
. Her mother, Sassia, persuaded him to divorce her, and his death was procured by Cluentia's stepfather, Oppianicus.
See also
*
List of Roman gentes
References
{{reflist
Bibliography
*
Marcus Tullius Cicero, ''
In Verrem'', ''
Pro Caecina'', ''
Pro Cluentio
''Pro Cluentio'' is a speech by the Roman orator Cicero given in defense of a man named Aulus Cluentius Habitus Minor.
Cluentius, from Larinum in Samnium, was accused in 69 BC by his mother Sassia of having poisoned his stepfather, Statius Abbiu ...
''.
* Appianus Alexandrinus (
Appian), ''Bellum Civile'' (The Civil War).
*
Eutropius, ''Breviarium Historiae Romanae'' (Abridgement of the History of Rome).
* ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'',
William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
* D.P. Simpson, ''Cassell's Latin and English Dictionary'', Macmillan Publishing Company, New York (1963).
Roman gentes