Marcus Aufidius Lurco also known simply as Aufidius Lurco, was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

magistrate who lived in the 1st century BC. Lurco was a member 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 ...

Aufidia Aufidia can refer to: * Aufidia gens, an ancient Roman gens * the name once thought to belong to Alfidia Alfidia was the mother of Rome's first empress, Livia. She is mistakenly called ''Aufidia'' by Suetonius, and this was assumed to be her name ...

, a Roman family of

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 ...

status, who appeared in 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 ...

and

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. They became a family of consular rank. Lurco originally came from Fundi (modern

Fondi Fondi ( la, Fundi; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady population ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

). In the past he was mistakenly identified as the maternal grandfather of empress

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Roman emperor, Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption in ancient Rome, adoption into the J ...

High office

According to

Suetonius 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 ...

, Lurco held a high office at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In 61 BC, he was a

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

of the

Plebs In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizenship, Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both ...

. During his time as Tribune, he was the author of the ''Lex Aufidia'' or '' Lex Aufidia de ambitu''. The ''Lex Aufidia'' was a law concerning the

Roman assemblies The Roman Assemblies were institutions in 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 c ...

or Comitia. If a candidate, promised and paid money to a tribe at the Comitia, he should pay yearly 3,000 sesterces during his life. However, if the candidate, merely promised and did not pay, the candidate should be exempt. This caused a witted argument between Lurco and

Publius Clodius Pulcher Publius Clodius Pulcher (93–52 BC) was a populist Roman politician and street agitator during the time of the First Triumvirate. One of the most colourful personalities of his era, Clodius was descended from the aristocratic Claudia gens, one ...

. Lurco in 59 BC, was one of the witnesses called for the defence at the impeachment of Lucius Valerius Flaccus. Between 52 BC-51 BC, Lurco prosecuted and procured for the acts of violence and the conviction of Sextus Clodius Pulcher for bringing the corpse of

into the

Curia Julia The Curia Julia ( la, Curia Iulia, links=no, it, Curia Iulia, links=no) is the third named ''curia'', or senate house, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla's reconstructed Curia ...

Personal life

Lurco was the first person in

to fatten peacocks (see

peafowl Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are refe ...

) for sale and from this he became wealthy.

Research

It was in the past believed that he was the father of a daughter named Aufidia who became the mother of empress

Drusilla. But this is no longer accepted, as inscription shows that Livia's mother's name was

Alfidia Alfidia was the mother of Rome's first empress, Livia. She is mistakenly called ''Aufidia'' by Suetonius, and this was assumed to be her name for centuries, but inscriptions found shows that her name was the rare nomen Alfidia. Biography It was o ...

References

Sources

, The Twelve Caesars,

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aufidius Lurco, Marcus Tribunes of the plebs 1st-century BC Romans Lurco, Marcus