The gens Rupilia, occasionally written Rupillia, 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 latter part 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
Publius Rupilius
Publius Rupilius, Roman statesman, consul in 132 BC. During the inquiry that followed the death of Tiberius Gracchus, conducted by himself and his colleague Popillius Laenas, he proceeded with the utmost severity against the supporters of Gracchus ...
obtained the
consulship in 132 BC. Few others achieved any prominence, but the name occurs once or twice in the
consular fasti
In ancient Rome, the ''fasti'' (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word ''fasti'' continued to be used for simil ...
under the
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
. The name is frequently confounded with the similar ''
Rutilius''.
[''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 679 (" Rupilia Gens").]
Praenomina
The main
praenomina of the Rupilii were ''
Publius'' and ''
Lucius'', two of the most common names throughout Roman history.
Branches and cognomina
None of the Rupilii bore
cognomina
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 ...
under the Republic, but as with other plebeian families most of them had individual surnames in imperial times.
Members
*
Publius Rupilius P. f. P. n., a fierce opponent of the
Gracchi
The Gracchi brothers were two Roman brothers, sons of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus who was consul in 177 BC. Tiberius, the elder brother, was tribune of the plebs in 133 BC and Gaius, the younger brother, was tribune a decade later in ...
, became consul in 132 BC, the year after the murder of
Tiberius Gracchus, whose followers he persecuted. He brought the
First Servile War to a close, then remained in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
to reorganize the province, receiving a
triumph on his return. He was prosecuted and condemned during the
tribunate
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
Gaius Gracchus in 123, and died soon afterward.
* Lucius Rupilius P. f. P. n., brother of Publius Rupilius, the consul, sought the aid of
Scipio Aemilianus to obtain the consulship, but was not elected.
* Lucius Rupilius, an actor known to the young
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 estab ...
.
* Aulus Rupilius, a physician employed by
Aulus Cluentius Habitus Aulus Cluentius Habitus, a wealthy citizen of Larinum in Samnium, and subject of a Roman ''cause célèbre''.
In 74 BC, he accused his stepfather Statius Albius Oppianicus of an attempt to poison him; had it been successful, the property of Cluent ...
, whose mother, Sassia, bought a slave, Strato, from Rupilius, and had him tortured in the hope of obtaining evidence against her own son. The slave knew nothing of value, and Sassia's scheme came to naught.
* Publius Rupilius, a man of
equestrian rank
The ''equites'' (; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian o ...
, was ''magister'' of the ''
publicani'' of
Bithynia
Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Pa ...
.
* Gaius Rupilius, an ''argentarius'', or silversmith, named in an inscription.
*
Lucius Scribonius Libo Rupilius M. f. M. n. Frugi Bonus, consul ''suffectus'', serving from May to August in AD 88. He was the great-grandfather of
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
. His descent from the Rupilii is unclear.
[Julius Capitolinus, "The Life of Marcus Aurelius", 1, 4.]
*
Rupilia L. f. M. n. Faustina, the grandmother of Marcus Aurelius, married
Marcus Annius Verus.
* Lucius Rupilius Appianus, one of the ''septemviri
epulones'' at
Brixia in
Venetia and Histria.
* Decimus Rupilius Severus,
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, ...
in
Lycia and Pamphylia in AD 151, perhaps the same Severus who was consul ''suffectus'' at the end of 155.
* Lucius Rupilius Au
.. legate of Sextius Lateranus, proconsul of
Africa
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 ...
in AD 176.
* Quintus Rupilius Q. f. Honoratus, of
Mactar
Maktar or Makthar ( ar, مكثر), also known by other names during antiquity, is a town and archaeological site in Siliana Governorate, Tunisia.
Maktar was founded by the Berber Numidians as a defense post against Carthaginian expansion. At t ...
in Africa, raised to the equestrian order by
Severus Alexander
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...
.
* Rupilius Pisonianus, curator at Mactar and
Mididi
Mididi ( xpu, 𐤌𐤃𐤃𐤌, , or , ) was a Carthaginian and Roman settlement during antiquity, located at what is now Henchir-Medded, Tunisia. 14 neo-punic inscriptions, known as the Mididi inscriptions, were found in Mididi by René Basset. ...
between 290 and 293 AD.
* Rupilius Pisonianus, ''praefectus
vigilum'' of Rome under
Constans Caesar.
See also
*
List of Roman gentes
References
Bibliography
*
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 estab ...
, ''
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 h ...
'', ''
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 othe ...
'', ''
Epistulae ad Familiares'', ''
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 aedileship, ...
'', ''
Laelius de Amicitia
''Laelius de Amicitia'' (or simply ''De Amicitia'') is a treatise on friendship (''amicitia'') by the Roman statesman and author Marcus Tullius Cicero, written in 44 BC.
Background
The work is written as a dialogue between prominent figures of th ...
'', ''
Pro Cluentio
''Pro Cluentio'' is a speech by the Roman orator Cicero given in defense of a man named Aulus Cluentius Habitus Minor.
Cluentius, from Larinum in Samnium, was accused in 69 BC by his mother Sassia of having poisoned his stepfather, Statius Abbiu ...
'', ''
Tusculanae Quaestiones''.
* 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 ...
''.
*
Marcus Velleius Paterculus, ''Compendium of Roman History''.
*
Valerius Maximus, ''
Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium
''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia'') by Valerius Maximus (c. 20 BC – c. AD 50) was written arou ...
'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
* Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, ''
Historia Augusta
The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...
'' (Augustan History).
*
Paulus Orosius, ''Historiarum Adversum Paganos'' (History Against the Pagans).
*
Desiré-Raoul Rochette
Desiré-Raoul Rochette (March 6, 1790 – July 3, 1854), was a French archaeologist.
Born at Saint-Amand in the department of Cher, Raoul Rochette received his education at Bourges. In 1810, he obtained a chair of grammar in the Lyceum Louis- ...
, ''Lettre à M. Schorn'', Firmin Didot Frères, Paris (1832).
* ''
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).
*
Paul von Rohden
Paul von Rohden (12 December 1862, Barmen – 28 February 1939, Pieterlen) was a German-Swiss schoolteacher and historian known for his research in the field of prosopography. He was the son of theologian Ludwig von Rohden (1815–1889) and the bro ...
,
Elimar Klebs
Elimar Klebs (15 October 1852 – 16 May 1918) was a German historian of ancient history. He was the brother of botanist Georg Klebs.
Biography
Klebs was born in Braunsberg (Braniewo), Prussia. He studied in Berlin under Theodor Mommsen a ...
, &
Hermann Dessau
Hermann Dessau (6 April 1856, Frankfurt am Main – 12 April 1931, Berlin) was a German ancient historian and epigrapher. He is noted for a key work of textual criticism published in 1889 on the ''Historia Augusta'', which uncovered reasons to ...
, ''
Prosopographia Imperii Romani
The ', abbreviated ''PIR'', is a collective historical work to establish the prosopography of high-profile people from the Roman empire. The time period covered extends from the Battle of Actium in 31 BC to the reign of Diocletian. The final volum ...
'' (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire, abbreviated ''PIR''), Berlin (1898).
*
T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952–1986).
*
Werner Eck, "Die Fasti consulares der Regierungszeit des Antoninus Pius, eine Bestandsaufnahme seit Géza Alföldys Konsulat und Senatorenstand" (The Consular Fasti for the Reign of Antoninus Pius: an Inventory since Géza Alföldy's ''Konsulat und Senatorenstand''), in ''Studia Epigraphica in Memoriam Géza Alföldy'', Werner Eck, Bence Fehér, Péter Kovács, eds., Bonn, pp. 69–90 (2013).
*
{{Refend
Roman gentes