The gens Rabuleia was a minor

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 ...

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 B ...

. Members of this

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 ...

are first mentioned in the early decades of 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 ...

, and

Manius Rabuleius Manius Rabuleius was an Ancient Roman politician and a member of the second decemvirate in 450 BC.Livy 3.35; Dionysius of Halicarnassus 10.58, 11.23 Dionysius of Halicarnassus calls him a patrician, whereas he speaks of Gaius Rabuleius as a plebei ...

was a member of the second

decemvirate The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") were some of the several 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic. The most important were those of the two Decemvirates, formally the " decemvirate with consular power for writing ...

in 450 BC. However, the Rabuleii subsequently fell into obscurity, and only a few of this family are known from later inscriptions.

Origin

The nomen ''Rabuleius'' belongs to a large class of gentilicia formed with the suffix ''-eius'', which was often, but not exclusively of

Oscan Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian. Oscan was spoken by a number of tribes, including th ...

origin. According to

Dionysius The name Dionysius (; el, Διονύσιος ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; la, Dionysius) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name ...

, the decemvir Manius Rabuleius was a

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 ...

, although earlier Dionysius mentions a Rabuleius who was

tribune of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman Republic, Roman state that was open to the plebs, plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most importan ...

. However, Broughton points out that all of the other Rabuleii known were plebeians, and that precisely half of the decemvirs in 450 are either described as plebeians, or bore plebeian names, including Rabuleius.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 46, 47 (and note 1). This view appears to have prevailed in modern scholarship, and it seems reasonably certain that the Rabuleii were plebeians.

Branches and cognomina

Neither of the Rabuleii mentioned in the early Republic bore a

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

, but one of those known from inscriptions was surnamed ''Rufus'', red, indicating that he or one of his ancestors probably had red hair. A freedman of the gens bore the cognomen ''Celer'', swift.

Members

Gaius Rabuleius Gaius Rabuleius was an Ancient Roman tribune of the plebs in 486 BC. He attempted to mediate between the consuls in their disputes about the agrarian law proposed by the consul Spurius Cassius Vecellinus Spurius Cassius Vecellinus or Vicellinus ( ...

in 486 BC, attempted to reconcile the consuls following the introduction of the

agrarian law Agrarian laws (from the Latin ''ager'', meaning "land") were laws among the Romans regulating the division of the public lands, or ''ager publicus''. In its broader definition, it can also refer to the agricultural laws relating to peasants and hu ...

Spurius Cassius Vecellinus Spurius Cassius Vecellinus or Vicellinus (died 485 BC) was one of the most distinguished men of the early Roman Republic. He was three times consul, and celebrated two triumphs. He was the first ''magister equitum'', and the author of the first a ...

. *

, a member of the second college of

decemvirs The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") were some of the several 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic. The most important were those of the two Decemvirates, formally the " decemvirate with consular power for writing ...

in 450 BC. When the decemvirs continued in power the following year, Rabuleius was sent to assist his colleague, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, carry on the war against the

Sabines The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divid ...

, but they were defeated at

Eretum Eretum (Greek: ), was an ancient town of the Sabines, situated on the Via Salaria, at its junction with the Via Nomentana, a short distance from the Tiber, and about from Rome. History Eretum lay near the frontier between Roman and Sabine territo ...

. * Quintus Rabuleius Q. l. Celer, a freedman buried at

Tibur Tivoli ( , ; la, Tibur) is a town and in Lazio, central Italy, north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna. History Gaius Julius Solinu ...

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 whi ...

. * Rabuleia Helena, named in an inscription from Rome. * Sextus Rabuleius Sex. l. Isio, a freedman buried at Rome. * Lucius Rabuleius Priscus, named in an inscription from Rome, dating to ''circa'' AD 115. * Publius Rabuleius P. f. Rufus, aged sixteen, named in an inscription from Rome..

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

* Titus Livius (

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 ...

), ''

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 ...

''. *

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...

, ''Romaike Archaiologia''. * ''

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 p ...

'', 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 cent ...

''et alii'', ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). * George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897). * T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952). * Timothy J. Cornell, ''The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000–264 BC)'', Routledge, London (1995). Roman gentes

Origin

Branches and cognomina

Members

See also

References

Bibliography