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Princeps Senatus
The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus''), in English the leader of the senate, was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no ''imperium'', this office conferred prestige on the senator holding it. The position was created in the first half of the third century BC and retained its prominence for two centuries. The ''principes'' were often the most famous Roman politicians of the period, such Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Scipio Africanus, and Marcus Aemilius Scaurus. It lost its importance after the reforms of the dictator Sulla in 82–80 BC, but might have been temporarily restored for Cicero, its possible last incumbent during the struggle between Mark Antony and the Senate in 43 BC. The Roman emperors merged the ''princeps senatus''' prerogatives with their own, although there are occasional mentions of distinctive principes during the later Empire. History The ''p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Senate
The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Senate of the Roman Kingdom, to the Senate of the Roman Republic and Senate of the Roman Empire and eventually the Byzantine Senate of the Eastern Roman Empire, existing well into the post-classical era and Middle Ages. During the days of the Roman Kingdom, the Senate was generally little more than an advisory council to the king. However, as Rome was an electoral monarchy, the Senate also elected new Roman kings. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown following a coup d'état led by Lucius Junius Brutus, who founded the Roman Republic. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the various executive Roman magistrates who appointed the senators for life (or until expulsion by Roma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 century. He received the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature for his historical writings, including '' The History of Rome'', after having been nominated by 18 members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He was also a prominent German politician, as a member of the Prussian and German parliaments. His works on Roman law and on the law of obligations had a significant impact on the German civil code. Life Mommsen was born to German parents in Garding in the Duchy of Schleswig in 1817, then ruled by the king of Denmark, and grew up in Bad Oldesloe in Holstein, where his father was a Lutheran minister. He studied mostly at home, though he attended the Gymnasium Christianeum in Altona for four years. He studied Greek and Latin and receive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appius Claudius Caecus
Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. He is best known for two major building projects: the Appian Way (Latin: Via Appia), the first major Roman road, and the first Roman aqueduct, aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Appia. He is the first Roman public figure whose life can be traced with some historical certainty. He also instigated controversial popular-minded reforms and is also credited with the authorship of a juristic treatise, a collection of moral essays, and several poems, making him one of Rome's earliest literary figures. A patrician (ancient Rome), patrician of illustrious lineage, Caecus first came to prominence with his election to the position of Roman censor, censor in 312 BC, which he held for five years. During Caecus's time in office, aside from his building projects, he introduced several controversial but poorly-understood constitutional reforms: he increased the voting power of the poor and landless in the leg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plebiscitum Ovinium
The Plebiscitum Ovinium (often called the ''Lex Ovinia'') was an initiative by the Plebeian Council that transferred the power to revise the list of members of the Roman Senate (the ''lectio senatus'') from consuls to censors. Date Since Appius Claudius Caecus is said to have changed the membership of the senate during his censorship in 312 BCE, the law must have been passed by then, but not much earlier because the censors of 319 removed a man from his tribe, but not from the Senate. Reaction The patricians did not recognize the validity of the ''Plebiscitum Ovinium'', but nevertheless did not attempt to prevent the ''lectio senatus'' being carried out by the censors rather than the consuls. See also *Conflict of the Orders The Conflict of the Orders or the Struggle of the Orders was a political struggle between the plebeians (commoners) and patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC in which the plebeians sought political ... * O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conflict Of The Orders
The Conflict of the Orders or the Struggle of the Orders was a political struggle between the plebeians (commoners) and patricians (aristocrats) of the ancient Roman Republic lasting from 500 BC to 287 BC in which the plebeians sought political equality with the patricians. It played a major role in the development of the Constitution of the Roman Republic. Shortly after the founding of the Republic, this conflict led to a secession from Rome by the Plebeians to the Sacred Mount at a time of war. The result of this first secession was the creation of the office of plebeian tribune, and with it the first acquisition of real power by the plebeians. At first, only patricians were allowed to stand for election to political office, but over time these laws were revoked, and eventually all offices were opened to the plebeians. Since most individuals who were elected to political office were given membership in the Roman Senate, this development helped to transform the Senate from a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claudia (gens)
The gens Claudia (), sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at ancient Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to obtain the consulship was Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, in 495 BC, and from that time its members frequently held the highest offices of the state, both under the Republic and in imperial times.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, p. 762 ("Claudia Gens"). Plebeian Claudii are found fairly early in Rome's history. Some may have been descended from members of the family who had passed over to the plebeians, while others were probably the descendants of freedmen of the gens. In the later Republic, one of its patrician members voluntarily converted to plebeian status and adopted the spelling " Clodius". In his life of the emperor Tiberius, who was a scion of the Claudii, the historian Suetonius gives a summary of the gens, and says, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manlia (gens)
The gens Manlia () was one of the oldest and noblest patrician houses at Rome, from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus, consul in 480 BC, and for nearly five centuries its members frequently held the most important magistracies. Many of them were distinguished statesmen and generals, and a number of prominent individuals under the Empire claimed the illustrious Manlii among their ancestors.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 920 (" Manlia Gens"). Origin The Manlii were said to hail from the ancient Latin city of Tusculum. The nomen ''Manlia'' may be a patronymic surname, based on the praenomen '' Manius'', presumably the name of an ancestor of the gens. The '' gens Manilia'' was derived from the same name, and its members are frequently confused with the Manlii, as are the Mallii. However, ''Manius'' was not used by any of the Manlii in hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aemilia (gens)
The gens Aemilia, originally written Aimilia, was one of the greatest patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens was of great antiquity, and claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the state, from the early decades of the Republic to imperial times.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, p. 30 ("Aemilia Gens"). The Aemilii were almost certainly one of the ''gentes maiores'', the most important of the patrician families. Their name was associated with three major roads (the ''Via Aemilia'', the '' Via Aemilia Scauri'', and the '), an administrative region of Italy, and the Basilica Aemilia at Rome. Origin Several stories were told of the foundation of the Aemilii, of which the most familiar was that their ancestor, Mamercus, was the son of Numa Pompilius. In the late Republic, several other gentes claimed descent from Numa, including the Pompilii, Pomponii, Calpurnii, and Pinarii ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fabia (gens)
The gens Fabia was one of the most ancient patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens played a prominent part in history soon after the establishment of the Republic, and three brothers were invested with seven successive consulships, from 485 to 479 BC, thereby cementing the high repute of the family. Overall, the Fabii received 45 consulships during the Republic. The house derived its greatest lustre from the patriotic courage and tragic fate of the 306 Fabii in the Battle of the Cremera, 477 BC. But the Fabii were not distinguished as warriors alone; several members of the gens were also important in the history of Roman literature and the arts.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 131 ("Fabia Gens").Homo, pp. 7 ''ff''.Smith, ''The Roman Clan'', pp. 290 ''ff''. Background The family is generally thought to have been counted amongst the , the most prominent of the patrician houses at Rome, together with the Aemilii, Claudii, Cornelii, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valeria (gens)
The gens Valeria was a patrician (ancient Rome), patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Roman Republic, Republic to the latest period of the Roman Empire, Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the Roman consul, consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of the King of Rome, Tarquins, and the members of his family were among the most celebrated statesmen and generals at the beginning of the Republic. Over the next ten centuries, few gens, gentes produced as many distinguished men, and at every period the name of ''Valerius'' was constantly to be found in the lists of annual Roman magistrate, magistrates, and held in the highest honour. Several of the Roman emperor, emperors claimed descent from the Valerii, whose name they bore as part of their official nomenclature.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, pp. 1215, 1216 ("s:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Valeria gens, Valeria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
