The gens Pomptina was a minor plebeian family at

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 BC ...

. The gens is best known from Gaius Pomptinus,

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

in 63 BC, who helped suppress the conspiracy of Catiline, and later defeated the

Allobroges The Allobroges (Gaulish: *''Allobrogis'', 'foreigner, exiled'; grc, Ἀλλοβρίγων, Ἀλλόβριγες) were a Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman period. ...

. Few of the Pomptini appear in history, but others are known from inscriptions.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 495 ("Gaius Pomptinus").

Origin

The nomen ''Pomptinus'' seems to be derived from the region of the

Pomptine Marshes 250px, Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain The Pontine Marshes (, also ; it, Agro Pontino , formerly also ''Paludi Pontine''; la, Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, ''Pomptina Palus'' (singular) and ''Pomptinae Paludes'' (plur ...

, in southeastern

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on w ...

. This area was brought under Roman control following the defeat of the

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

ans in 358 BC, and the '' tribus Pomptina'' organized. The Pomptini might be of either

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

or Volscian origin. In different sources, the nomen can be found as ''Pomptinius'', ''Pontinius'', and ''Pomtinus''.

Members

* Gaius Pomptinus, a

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 Marcus Licinius Crassus during the

Third Servile War The Third Servile War, also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last in a series of slave rebellions against the Roman Republic known as the Servile Wars. This third rebellion was the only one that directly ...

, and praetor in 63 BC, where he assisted the

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 throu ...

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 ...

suppress the conspiracy of

Catiline Lucius Sergius Catilina ( 108 BC – January 62 BC), known in English as Catiline (), was a Roman politician and soldier. He is best known for instigating the Catilinarian conspiracy, a failed attempt to violently seize control of the ...

. He was then assigned the province of Gallia Narbonensis, and defeated the Allobroges, although he did not obtain a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

until 54. * Pomptinus, built a tomb for his wife, Audasia Charitu, aged thirty, at

Theveste Theveste was a Roman colony situated in the present Tébessa, Algeria. History In 146 BC, the Romans conquered the region, where existed an old city called " Tbessa". Theveste was founded by the Romans in 75 AD near an old Berber village locate ...

Africa Proconsularis Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Perhaps the same person as Pomptinus Primitius, the heir of Gaius Audasius Succedens. * Gaius Pomptinus, a soldier stationed at Rome in AD 70.. * Quintus Pomptinus Q. f., named in an inscription from Rome. * Sextus Pomptinus, named in an inscription from Rome. * Titus Pontinius,

primus pilus The ''primus pilus'' or ''primipilus'' was the senior centurion of the first cohort in a Roman legion, a formation of five double-strength centuries of 160 men, was called the ''primus pilus''; he was a career soldier and advisor to the le ...

in the fifth legion, buried at Ameria in

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, during the first half of the first century. * Quintus Pontinius Capito, one of the

Seviri Augustales The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales (''singular'' Sodalis or Sacerdos Augustalis), or simply Augustales,Tacitus, ''Annales'' 1.54 were an order ('' sodalitas'') of Roman priests originally instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of t ...

, according to an inscription from Avennio in Gallia Narbonensis. * Gaius Pomptinus C. l. Eros, a freedman named in an inscription from Rome. * Gaius Pomptinus Eutychus, named in a funerary inscription from Rome. * Gaius Pomptinus C. l. Fortunatus, a freedman named in an inscription from Rome. * Gaius Pontinius Magnus, built a tomb at Rome for his wife, Valeria, aged twenty-three. * Gaius Pomptinus Phoebus, a soldier stationed at Rome in AD 70. * Gaius Pomptinus Postumus, named in an inscription from Rome.''BCAR'', 1925-205. * Pomptinus Primitius, perhaps the same Pomptinus who married Audasia Charitu, one of the heirs of Gaius Audasius Succedens, according to a funerary inscription from

. * Gaius Pomptinus C. l. Probus, a freedman named in an inscription from Rome. * Gaius Pomptinus Proculus, named in an inscription from Rome. * Gaius Pomptinus Saturninus, a soldier stationed at Rome in AD 70. * Gaius Pomptinius Superbus, named in an inscription from Consoranni in Aquitania..

References

{{reflist, 30em

Bibliography

, '' De Provinciis Consularibus'', ''

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 ot ...

'', ''

Epistulae ad Familiares ''Epistulae ad Familiares'' (''Letters to Friends'') is a collection of letters between Roman politician and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero and various public and private figures. The letters in this collection, together with Cicero's other letter ...

'', '' Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem'', ''

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 p ...

'', ''In Pisonem''. * Gaius Sallustius Crispus (

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 ...

), ''Bellum Catilinae'' (The Conspiracy of Catiline). * Titus Livius (

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 ...

), ''

History of Rome The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced m ...

''. * Sextus Julius Frontinus, ''Strategemata'' (Stratagems). * Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (

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''. * ''

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 ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). *

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th centu ...

''et alii'', '' Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). * ''Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale in Roma'' (Bulletin of the Municipal Archaeological Commission of Rome, abbreviated ''BCAR''), (1872–present). * T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952). Roman gentes

Origin

Members

See also

References

Bibliography