The gens Hortensia was an ancient
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 in
Rome. Members 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 ...
are first mentioned in the fifth century BC, but from that time somewhat infrequently until the final century of the
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 most illustrious of 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 ...
was the orator
Quintus Hortensius, a man of great learning, and a contemporary of
Cicero. Under the
Empire they seem to have sunk back into obscurity.
[''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 525 ("Hortensia Gens").]
Origin
The
nomen ''Hortensius'' appears to be derived from ''horto'', a garden, and probably signifies that the first to bear the name was a gardener.
Chase believed the name was Latin, listing it among those nomina that either originated at Rome, or could not be shown to have come from anywhere else. However,
Ogilvie points to the town of
Urbinum Hortense in
Umbria and the cult of Jupiter Hortensis in
Campania as evidence that the name could have arisen elsewhere in Italy.
[Ogilvie, ''Commentary on Livy, books 1–5'', p. 597.]
That the Hortensii were plebeian, despite Cicero's application of the word ''nobilis'' to the family, seems demonstrated by the fact that the first of the Hortensii to appear in history was
tribune of the plebs, and the lack of any other evidence of a patrician family. From this it seems more likely that Cicero was referring to the distinguished record of the Hortensii in the service of the Roman state, rather than identifying the gens as
patrician.
Ogilvie doubts the existence of Quintus Hortensius, ostensibly tribune of the plebs in 422 BC, suggesting that this story was invented at the time of the marriage of Sempronia with Lucius Hortensius, the father of the famous orator, and concluding that the Hortensii probably arrived at Rome during the fourth century BC.
Praenomina
All of the Hortensii at Rome mentioned in ancient sources bore the
praenomina ''
Quintus
Quintus is a male given name derived from '' Quintus'', a common Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth".
Quintus is an English masculine given name and ...
,
Lucius'', or ''
Marcus Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to:
* Marcus (name), a masculine given name
* Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name
Places
* Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44
* Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl ...
'', which were very common names at all periods of Roman history. They must occasionally have used other names, but these have not been recorded. An inscription from
Ferentinum suggests
Aulus
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 ...
and
Sextus
Sextus is an ancient Roman '' praenomen'' or "first name". Its standard abbreviation is Sex., and the feminine form would be Sexta. It is one of the numeral ''praenomina'', like Quintus ("fifth") and Decimus ("tenth"), and means "sixth". Althoug ...
.
Branches and cognomina
The only surnames found among the Hortensii are ''Hortalus'', which seems to have originated as a nickname for the orator Hortensius, and ''Corbio'', probably from ''corbis'', a basket, both borne by descendants of the orator.
Members
* Quintus Hortensius,
tribune of the plebs in 422 BC, indicted
Gaius Sempronius Atratinus
Gaius Sempronius Atratinus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 423 BC.
Sempronius belonged to the patrician Sempronia gens and the branch known as the Sempronii Atratini, one of the republic's oldest consular families, having reached the consul ...
, consul of the preceding year, for his negligence in preparation against the
Volscians; but he was dissuaded from pursuing the charge by the loyalty shown to Sempronius, both by his former soldiers and by the other tribunes.
*
Quintus Hortensius, appointed
dictator in BC 287, in response to a secession of the plebs occasioned, once again, by debt. Hortensius passed a measure giving the force of law to ''plebiscita'', effectively allowing the people to pursue debt relief without first having to obtain the approval of 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 ...
. Hortensius died before resigning his office, and was probably replaced by a dictator ''suffectus'', the only instance of such an appointment in Roman history.
* Lucius Hortensius,
praetor in 170 BC, was given the command of the fleet in the war against
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 ...
. When the city of
Abdera appealed from his demands for money and wheat, he stormed the city, had the leaders beheaded, and sold the rest into slavery. The Roman Senate repudiated these acts, and ordered that the people be set free. Hortensius continued to despoil Greece, and was upbraided for his harshness to the
Chalcidians, but does not seem to have been recalled or punished.
*
Quintus ''or'' Lucius Hortensius, elected consul in 108 BC, he was tried and condemned before taking office, and exiled.
* Lucius Hortensius, father of the orator, was praetor in
Sicily in 97 BC, where his administration was remembered for its honesty and justice. He married Sempronia, daughter of
Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus.
* Lucius Hortensius L. f., elder brother of the orator, was
legate
Legate may refer to:
*Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class
:*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period
*A member of a legation
*A representative, ...
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 ...
during the
First Mithridatic War. He acquitted himself admirably in the build-up to the
Battle of Chaeronea, and again during the battle, despite the inferior size of his force.
*
Quintus Hortensius L. f., the renowned orator and contemporary of Cicero. He served his country in the
Social War, was
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 BC 81, praetor ''urbanus'' in 72, and consul in 69. He withdrew from public life as the
first triumvirate began to dominate the affairs of the Roman state. His wife was Lutatia, daughter of
Quintus Lutatius Catulus.
* Hortensia L. f., sister of the orator, married Marcus Valerius Messala. Her brother considered naming Hortensia's son as his heir, in preference to his own son, from whom he was estranged.
[Valerius Maximus, v. 9. § 2.]
* Quintus Hortensius Q. f. L. n. Hortalus, son of the orator, from whom he was estranged. Just before the
Civil War, he joined
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
in
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul ( la, Gallia Cisalpina, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts (Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.
After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC it was con ...
, and it was Hortensius whom Caesar sent across the
Rubicon. Proscribed after the death of Caesar, Hortensius had
Gaius Antonius, brother of the triumvir, put to death in revenge. For this, he was executed upon Antonius' grave after the
Battle of Philippi.
*
Hortensia Q. f. L. n., daughter of the orator, intervened on behalf of the wealthy Roman matrons when the
triumvirs proposed a special tax to pay for the war against
Brutus and
Cassius. She spoke with eloquence worthy of her father.
* Hortensius Q. f. L. n. Hortalus, second son of the orator from his marriage to
Marcia.
* Quintus Hortensius Q. f. Q. n. Corbio, grandson of the orator, described by
Valerius Maximus "as a person sunk in base and brutal profligacy."
[
* Marcius Hortalus, grandson of the orator and Marcia, was impoverished, but Augustus gave him sufficient income for his senatorial rank, and provided for his marriage. However, he made little of his fortune, and was once again impoverished by the reign of Tiberius.][ His name ''Marcius'' Hortalus indicates that he or his father was adopted by a male relative of Marcia.
* Aulus Hortensius, father of Sextus Hortensius Clarus.
* Sextus Hortensius A. f. Clarus, dedicated an ]Augusteum
An Augusteum (plural ''Augustea'') was originally a site of imperial cult in ancient Roman religion, named after the imperial title of Augustus. It was known as a Sebasteion in the Greek East of the Roman Empire. Examples have been excavated in ...
at Ferentinum during the reign of Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...
.[''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'', XI. 7431.]
See also
* List of Roman gentes
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
* Marcus Tullius Cicero, ''Pro Quinctio
''Pro Quinctio'' was a defence speech delivered by Marcus Tullius Cicero in 81 BC, on behalf of Publius Quinctius. It is noteworthy as the earliest of Cicero's published speeches to survive.
Background
The speech is a private legal case, centred ...
, Epistulae ad Atticum, In Verrem, Philippicae''.
* Titus Livius ( Livy), ''Ab Urbe Condita
''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...
'' (History of Rome).
* Valerius Maximus, ''Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
* Gaius Plinius Secundus ( Pliny the Elder), '' Naturalis Historia'' (Natural History).
* Appianus Alexandrinus ( Appian), ''Bellum Civile'' (The Civil War).
* Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilia ...
), ''Institutio Oratoria''.
* Plutarchus, '' Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans''.
* Publius Cornelius Tacitus, '' Annales''.
* Memnon of Heraclea Memnon of Heraclea (; grc-gre, Mέμνων, ''gen''.: Μέμνονος; fl. c. 1st century) was a Greek historical writer, probably a native of Heraclea Pontica. He described the history of that city in a large work, known only through the ''Excerp ...
, ''Historiarum''.
* Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
, ''De Vita Caesarum
''De vita Caesarum'' (Latin; "About the Life of the Caesars"), commonly known as ''The Twelve Caesars'', is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The g ...
'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars).
* Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus ( Cassius Dio), ''Roman History''.
* Wilhelm Drumann, ''Geschichte Roms in seinem Übergang von der republikanischen zur monarchischen Verfassung, oder: Pompeius, Caesar, Cicero und ihre Zeitgenossen'', Königsberg (1834–1844).
* '' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
* ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...
''
* George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897).
* T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952).
* Robert Maxwell Ogilvie, ''Commentary on Livy, books 1–5'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hortensia gens
Roman gentes