The gens Lutatia, occasionally written Luctatia, 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 o ...

family of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 ...

. The first of the

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gen ...

to obtain the

consulship 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 politi ...

was

Gaius Lutatius Catulus Gaius Lutatius Catulus ( 242–241 BC) was a Roman statesman and naval commander in the First Punic War. He was born a member of the plebeian gens Lutatius. His cognomen "Catulus" means "puppy". There are no historical records of his life pri ...

in 242 BC, the final year of the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

mentions their burial place, the , which lay beyond the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...

Praenomina

The chief praenomina used by the Lutatii of the Republic were ''

Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius *Gaius Antonius Hybrida * Gaius Asinius Gallus * Gaius Asiniu ...

'' and '' Quintus'', from which they rarely deviated; but there are also instances of '' Gnaeus'' and '' Marcus'', which were probably given to younger children.

Branches and cognomina

The surnames of the Lutatii under 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 ...

were ''Catulus, Cerco'', and ''Pinthia'', of which only the second is found on Roman coins. * ''Catulus'', borne by the most famous family of the Lutatii, is probably derived from the same root as , which originally described someone shrewd, wise, or cautious (). An alternative explanation would translate the surname as "puppy, whelp" or "cub". * ''Cerco'', borne by some of the Catuli, refers to a tail.

Members

Catuli et Cercones

* Gaius Lutatius, grandfather of the consuls of 242 and 241 BC. * Gaius Lutatius C. f., father of the consuls. * Gaius Lutatius C. f. C. n. Catulus, consul in 242 BC, he had command of the Roman fleet at the

Battle of the Aegates The Battle of the Aegates was a naval battle fought on 10 March 241 BC between the fleets of Carthage and Rome during the First Punic War. It took place among the Aegates Islands, off the western coast of the island of Sicily. The Carthaginia ...

, and defeated the Carthaginian fleet under

Hanno II the Great Hanno II the Great ( xpu, 𐤇‬𐤍‬𐤀‬‬, ) was a wealthy Carthaginian aristocrat in the 3rd century BC. Hanno's wealth was based on the land he owned in Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, and during the First Punic War he led the ...

, after which Carthage agreed to negotiate an end to the war.

Fasti Capitolini The ''Fasti Capitolini'', or Capitoline Fasti, are a list of the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, extending from the early fifth century BC down to the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Together with similar lists found at Ro ...

. * Quintus Lutatius C. f. C. n. Cerco, consul in 241 BC, helped negotiate the terms of the treaty with Carthage. Soon afterward, there was a revolt at

Falerii Falerii (now Fabrica di Roma) was a city in southern Etruria, 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Rome, 34 km (21 mi) from Veii (a major Etruscan city-state near the River Tiber) and about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) west of the ancient Via Flaminia. It was the mai ...

; Lutatius and his colleague defeated them and triumphed. He was censor in 236, but died during his year of office. * Gaius Lutatius C. f. C. n. Catulus, consul in 220 BC. * Quintus Lutatius Catulus or Cerco, ''

triumvir monetalis The ''triumvir monetalis'' ( ''tresviri'' or ''triumviri monetales'', also called the , abbreviated IIIVIR A. A. A. F. F.) was a moneyer during the Roman Republic and the Empire, who oversaw the minting of coins. In that role, he would be respon ...

'' between 206 and 200 BC. * Gnaeus Lutatius Cerco, one of the ambassadors sent to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

in 173 BC. * Gnaeus Lutatius Cn. f. (Cerco), a senator BC. * Quintus Lutatius Cerco, a quaestor in 109 or 108 BC. He minted coins celebrating the Battle of the Aegates during his magistracy. * Quintus Lutatius Q. f. Catulus, an orator, poet, and writer of prose. He was consul in 102 BC, with Gaius Marius as his colleague. They fought against the

Cimbri The Cimbri (Greek Κίμβροι, ''Kímbroi''; Latin ''Cimbri'') were an ancient tribe in Europe. Ancient authors described them variously as a Celtic people (or Gaulish), Germanic people, or even Cimmerian. Several ancient sources indicate tha ...

and

Teutones The Teutons ( la, Teutones, , grc, Τεύτονες) were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned by Roman authors. The Teutons are best known for their participation, together with the Cimbri and other groups, in the Cimbrian War with th ...

. Later, during the civil war between Marius and

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 ...

, Catulus took his own life rather than face the partisans of his former colleague. His wife was Servilia. * Quintus Lutatius Q. f. Q. n. Catulus Capitolinus, consul in 78 BC, and censor in 65. A prominent senator, Catulus supported Sulla during the civil wars. He married a sister of

Quintus Hortensius Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114–50 BC) was a famous Roman lawyer, a renowned orator and a statesman. Politically he belonged to the Optimates. He was consul in 69 BC alongside Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus. His nickname was ''Dionysia'' ...

, the orator, who in turn married a sister of Lutatius. * Lutatia Q. f. Q. n., the wife of the orator Hortensius. Her daughter, Hortensia, inherited her father's rhetorical skills.

Others

* Marcus Lutatius Pinthia, an eques who lived in the middle part of the second century BC. * Lutatius, the author of a history titled ''Communis Historia'', sometimes attributed to Gaius Lutatius Catulus, but probably by another Lutatius, since

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

does not mention it among Catulus' works. * Lutatius Daphnis, a grammarian, originally purchased as a slave by Quintus Lutatius Catulus, but afterward manumitted. * Quintus Lutatius Diodorus, became a

Roman citizen Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...

under Sulla, at the behest of Quintus Lutatius Catulus. He settled at

Lilybaeum Marsala (, local ; la, Lilybaeum) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily. The town is famous for the docking of Giuse ...

, where he was victimized by

Verres Gaius Verres (c. 120–43 BC) was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence adv ...

.Cicero, ''In Verrem'', iv. 17. * Lutatius, a

scholiast Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of th ...

on Statius.

References

Bibliography

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Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan ...

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Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

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In Catilinam The Catilinarian Orations (; also simply the ''Catilinarians'') are a set of speeches to the Roman Senate given in 63 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the year's consuls, accusing a senator, Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline), of leading a ...

, Pro Gaio Rabirio Perduellionis Reo,

Epistulae ad Atticum ''Epistulae ad Atticum'' (Latin for "Letters to Atticus") is a collection of letters from Roman politician and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero to his close friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. The letters in this collection, together with Cicero's oth ...

, Pro Balbo,

In Verrem "In Verrem" ("Against Verres") is a series of speeches made by Cicero in 70 BC, during the corruption and extortion trial of Gaius Verres, the former governor of Sicily. The speeches, which were concurrent with Cicero's election to the aedileshi ...

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De Officiis ''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'' or ''On Obligations'') is a political and ethical treatise by the Roman orator, philosopher, and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero written in 44 BC. The treatise is divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds ...

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Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a 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 traditional founding in ...

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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). *

Marcus Velleius Paterculus Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; c. 19 BC – c. AD 31) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the pe ...

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Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: '' Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus' ...

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Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium The ' (Latin for "Moral Letters to Lucilius"), also known as the ''Moral Epistles'' and ''Letters from a Stoic'', is a collection of 124 letters that Seneca the Younger wrote at the end of his life, during his retirement, after he had worked for ...

'' (Moral Letters to Lucilius). * Gaius Plinius Secundus (

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

), ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. ...

'' (Natural History). * Marcus Fabius Quintilianus ( Quintilian), '' Institutio Oratoria'' (Institutes of Oratory). * Marcus Valerius Probus, ''In Vergilii Bucolica et Georgica Commentarius'' (Commentary on Vergil's ''Bucolics'' and ''Georgics''). *

Publius Cornelius Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

, '' Historiae''. *

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 biographie ...

, '' De Vita Caesarum'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars). * Lucius Annaeus Florus, ''Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum Omnium Annorum DCC'' (Epitome of Livy: All the Wars of Seven Hundred Years). * Appianus Alexandrinus (

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, H ...

), ''Bellum Civile'' (The Civil War). *

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for h ...

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Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

), ''Roman History''. *

Paulus Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...

, ''Historiarum Adversum Paganos'' (History Against the Pagans). * Eutropius, ''Breviarium Historiae Romanae'' (Abridgement of the History of Rome). * Maurus Servius Honoratus, ''Ad Virgilii Aeneidem Commentarii'' (Commentary on Vergil's Aeneid). *

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). *

Joseph Hilarius Eckhel Joseph Hilarius Eckhel (13 January 1737 – 16 May 1798) was an Austrian Jesuit priest and numismatist. Biography Eckhel was born at Enzersfeld, in Lower Austria. His father was farm-steward to Count Zinzendorf, and he received his early educ ...

, ''Doctrina Numorum Veterum'' (The Study of Ancient Coins, 1792–1798). * August Wilhelm Ferdinand Krause, ''Vitae et Fragmenta Veterum Historicorum Romanorum'' (Lives and Fragments of Ancient Roman Historians), Ferdinand Dümmler, Berlin (1833). *

Johann Caspar von Orelli Johann Caspar von Orelli (Latin ''Iohannes Caspar Orellius''; 13 February 1787 – 6 January 1849), was a Swiss classical scholar. Life He was born at Zürich of a distinguished Italian family which had taken refuge in Switzerland at the tim ...

, ''Onomasticon Tullianum'', Orell Füssli, Zürich (1826–1838). * ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

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Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' a ...

, ''Roman Republican Coinage'', Cambridge University Press (1974, 2001). * Erich S. Gruen, ''The Last Generation of the Roman Republic'', University of California Press (1995). {{refend Roman gentes