Hostus Lucretius Tricipitinus was a

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

of the

Roman republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

in 429 BC. Lucretius belonged to the ancient

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

Lucretia gens The gens Lucretia was a prominent family of the Roman Republic. Originally patrician, the gens later included a number of plebeian families. The Lucretii were one of the most ancient gentes, and the second wife of Numa Pompilius, the second ...

whose ancestors had been among the first consuls of the Republic. Lucretius was (presumably) the son of

Lucius Lucretius Tricipitinus Lucius Lucretius Tricipitinus was a Roman senator in the fifth century BC, and was consul with Titus Veturius Geminus Cicurinus in 462 BC. Family Tricipitinus was the son of a Titus Lucretius, and grandson of Titus Lucretius Tricipitinus, consul ...

, consul in 462 BC, and the father of Publius Lucretius Tricipitinus,

consular tribune A consular tribune was putatively a type of magistrate in the early Roman Republic. According to Roman tradition, colleges of consular tribunes held office throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BC during the so-called "Conflict of the Or ...

in 419 BC.

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

has his

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 bi ...

as Opiter, while both

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

and

Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' w ...

has him named Hostus.

, ''

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 ...

,'' iv, 30.4

, ''

Bibliotheca historica ''Bibliotheca historica'' ( grc, Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, ) is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, ...

,'' xii, 73.1

, ''Chronica''

Career

Lucretius was elected consul in 429 BC together with

Lucius Sergius Fidenas Lucius Sergius Fidenas was a Roman politician during the 5th century BC, and was elected consul in 437 and 429 BC. In 433, 424, and 418 BC he was military tribune with consular power. Family He was a member of the ''Sergii Fidenates'', branch of t ...

. This was the second consulship of Sergius and third time he held the ''

imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from ''auctoritas'' and ''potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic an ...

''. The two classical scholars R. S. Conway and C. F. Walters proposed that the events described by Livy for the year 428 BC should be ascribed to 429 BC. The events described by Livy include raids by the Veientane on Roman territory, the appointment of a commission to investigate the participation of

Fidenae Fidenae ( grc, Φιδῆναι) was an ancient town of Latium, situated about 8 km north of Rome on the '' Via Salaria'', which ran between Rome and the Tiber. Its inhabitants were known as Fidenates. As the Tiber was the border between Etr ...

in these raids, and a severe

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

. The commission sent consisted of the consul, Sergius, and two former

dictators A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus Fidenas Quintus Servilius Priscus Fidenas (prior to 463 BC390 BC) was a political figure and military leader in the Roman Republic who served as dictator in 435 BC and in 418 BC. Family Servilius belonged to the large and influential Servilia gens and ...

and

Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus was a political figure in the Roman Republic, serving as consular tribune in 438 BC and dictator three times in 437, 434, and 426 BC. Prior to gaining the imperium Aemilius was, in 446 BC, elected Quaestor together wit ...

. Lucretius's role in the events remain obscure and other ancient writers do not comment on the actions of the consuls of 429 BC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucretius Tricipitinus, Hostus 5th-century BC Roman consuls

Career

See also

References