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Turselia Gens
The gens Turselia, occasionally written Tursellia, was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Hardly any members of this gens are mentioned by Roman writers, but several are known from inscriptions.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 1193 ("L. Turselius"). Origin The nomen ''Turselius'' belongs to a large class of gentilicia formed primarily from cognomina ending in the diminutive suffixes ' or '. The family was probably of Samnite origin, since nearly all of the Turselii known from epigraphy came from Samnium, where they are particularly concentrated at Beneventum and Ligures Baebiani. Members * Lucius Turselius, made a will naming Marcus Antonius as his heir, although he had a brother then living. In his second oration against Antony, Cicero noted that he had acquired the property of a great many persons, disinheriting their natural heirs, although he had neither acquaintance nor connection with them. * Lucius Turselius Stactus, burie ...
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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 the group and the term are unclear, but may be related to the Greek, ''plēthos'', meaning masses. In Latin, the word is a singular collective noun, and its genitive is . Plebeians were not a monolithic social class. Those who resided in the city and were part of the four urban tribes are sometimes called the , while those who lived in the country and were part of the 31 smaller rural tribes are sometimes differentiated by using the label . ( List of Roman tribes) In ancient Rome In the annalistic tradition of Livy and Dionysius, the distinction between patricians and plebeians was as old as Rome itself, instituted by Romulus' appointment of the first hundred senators, whose descendants became the patriciate. Modern hypotheses d ...
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Pontifex
A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was later applied to any high or chief priest and, in Roman Catholic ecclesiastical usage, to bishops, especially the Pope, who is sometimes referred to as the Roman Pontiff or the Supreme Pontiff. Etymology The English term derives through Old French ''pontif'' from Latin ''pontifex'', a word commonly held to come from the Latin root words ''pons'', ''pont-'' (bridge) + ''facere'' (to do, to make), and so to have the literal meaning of "bridge-builder", presumably between mankind and the deity/deities. The role of bridges in ancient religions, associated with resurrection, redemption and the Judgement Day is already well known. Uncertainty prevailing, this may be only a folk etymology, but it may also recall ancient tasks and magic rites associa ...
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Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classics, classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research. He received the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature for being "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work, ''History of Rome (Mommsen), A 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 Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, 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 ...
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William Smith (lexicographer)
Sir William Smith (20 May 1813 – 7 October 1893) was an English lexicographer. He became known for his advances in the teaching of Greek and Latin in schools. Early life Smith was born in Enfield in 1813 to Nonconformist parents. He attended the Madras House school of John Allen in Hackney. Originally destined for a theological career, he instead became articled to a solicitor. Meanwhile, he taught himself classics in his spare time, and when he entered University College London carried off both the Greek and Latin prizes. He was entered at Gray's Inn in 1830, but gave up his legal studies for a post at University College School and began to write on classical subjects. Lexicography Smith next turned his attention to lexicography. His first attempt was '' A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', which appeared in 1842, the greater part being written by him. Then followed the ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' in 1849. A parallel '' Dicti ...
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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 pages. It is a classic work of 19th-century lexicography. The work is a companion to Smith's '' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' and ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography''. Authors and scope The work lists thirty-five authors in addition to the editor, who was also the author of the unsigned articles. The other authors were classical scholars, primarily from Oxford, Cambridge, Rugby School, and the University of Bonn, but some were from other institutions. Many of the mythological entries were the work of the German expatriate Leonhard Schmitz, who helped to popularise German classical scholarship in Britain. With respect to biographies, Smith intended to be comprehensive. In the preface, he writes: Much of the v ...
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Philippicae
The ''Philippics'' ( la, Philippicae, singular Philippica) are a series of 14 speeches composed by Cicero in 44 and 43 BC, condemning Mark Antony. Cicero likened these speeches to those of Demosthenes against Philip II of Macedon; both Demosthenes’s and Cicero's speeches became known as Philippics. Cicero's Second Philippic is styled after Demosthenes' ''De Corona'' ('On the Crown'). The speeches were delivered in the aftermath of the assassination of Julius Caesar, during a power struggle between Caesar's supporters and his assassins. Although Cicero was not involved in the assassination, he agreed with it and felt that Antony should also have been eliminated. In the Philippics, Cicero attempted to rally the Senate against Antony, whom he denounced as a threat to the Roman Republic. The Philippics convinced the Senate to declare Antony an enemy of the state and send an army against him. However, the commanders were killed in battle, so the Senate's army came under the ...
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List Of Roman Gentes
The gens (plural gentes) was a Roman family, of Italic or Etruscan origins, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same '' nomen'' and claimed descent from a common ancestor. It was an important social and legal structure in early Roman history.'' Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities'', Second Edition, Harry Thurston Peck, Editor (1897)''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 2nd Ed. (1970) The distinguishing characteristic of a gens was the , or ''gentile name''. Every member of a gens, whether by birth or adoption, bore this name. All nomina were based on other nouns, such as personal names, occupations, physical characteristics or behaviors, or locations. Consequently, most of them ended with the adjectival termination ''-ius'' (''-ia'' in the feminine form). Nomina ending in , , , and are typical of Latin families. Faliscan gentes frequently had nomina ending in ''-ios'', while Samnite and other Oscan-speaking peoples of southern Italy ...
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Aequum Tuticum
Aequum Tuticum was a Roman vicus in southern Italy, about 35 km east-northeast of Beneventum. The site lies beside Saint Eleuterio hamlet, overlooking at an elevation of 575 m, about 15 km north of the modern Ariano Irpino, within Irpinia historical district. The ''vicus'' name is partly Latin (''Aequum'', meaning "plain", "flatland") and partly Oscan (''Tuticum'', "popular", "public"). Aequum Tuticum was founded near the intersection of two ancient Roman roads: (expressly cited by Ovidius) and , whose existence is attested by two 2nd century BC milestones (found in the nearby areas "Torre Amando" and "Camporeale Saint Lucia") showing the inscription ''"Marcus Aemilius Lepidus"''. The vicus was first mentioned by Marcus Tullius Cicero in a 50 b.C. letter addressed to his friend Titus Pomponius Atticus; he described the place (under the name of ''Equus Tuticus'') as a regular stopping point along the route to Apulia. At the time of Hadrian, when the ''vicus'' was ...
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Pietradefusi
Pietradefusi (; nap, 'A Preta, label= Irpino) is a comune in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. History According to some scholars, Pietradefusi lies on the site of the ancient ''Fusolae'', a town cited by Livy as an ally of Hannibal during the Punic Wars, and which was later destroyed by the Romans. The origins of the town are medieval (cited first from 1298) and it was fiefdom of many noble families such as the De Souzi, the De Tocco and the Acquaviva, but was also governed a long time by the Santa Casa dell'Annunziata of Naples. The Jesuits remember the town because one of their generals, Claudio of Aragona, was born here in the times of Francesco Borgia. Cardinal Niccolò Coscia was born here. Main sights and cultural events *The Medieval Tower, located in the highest point of the town, was built in 1431 by Giacomo de Tocco. Around the Tower around the first dwellings rose. *The church of ''Collegiata'' (1700). The facade is from 1596. Ruined during the French o ...
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Duumviri
The duumviri (Latin for "two men"), originally duoviri and also known in English as the duumvirs, were any of various joint magistrates of ancient Rome. Such pairs of magistrates were appointed at various periods of Roman history both in Rome itself and in the colonies and '' municipia''. ''Duumviri iuri'' or ''iure dicundo'' were the highest judicial magistrates in the cities of Italy and its provinces. Their chief duties were concerned with the administration of justice. The activities of these individuals are described in the local statutes such as ''Lex Julia'', '' Lex Irnitana'', '' Lex Malacitana'', ''Lex Rubria'', ''Lex Coloniae'', and ''Genetivae Iuliae''. The office was determined by election and lasted one year. They were also expected to deal with public finance of a city, deal with proceedings in the Ordo decurionum, the town council, and run the elections in the comitium or assembly. Combined with the ''aediles'', they formed the ''quattuorviri'', a board of four off ...
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Quaestor
A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who supervised the state treasury and conducted audits. When assigned to provincial governors, the duties were mainly administrative and logistical, but also could expand to encompass military leadership and command. It was the lowest ranking position in the ' (course of offices); by the first century BC, one had to have been quaestor to be eligible for any other posts. In the Roman Empire, the position initially remained as assistants to the magistrates with financial duties in the provinces, but over time, it faded away in the face of the expanding imperial bureaucracy. A position with a similar name (the ') emerged during the Constantinian period with judicial responsibilities. Etymology ''Quaestor'' derives from the Latin verb ', ...
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Aedile
''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order and duties to ensure the city of Rome was well supplied and its civil infrastructure well maintained, akin to modern local government. There were two pairs of aediles: the first were the "plebeian aediles" (Latin ''aediles plebis'') and possession of this office was limited to plebeians; the other two were "curule aediles" (Latin ''aediles curules''), open to both plebeians and patricians, in alternating years. An ''aedilis curulis'' was classified as a ''magister curulis''. The office of the aedilis was generally held by young men intending to follow the ''cursus honorum'' to high political office, traditionally after their quaestorship but before their praetorship. It was not a compulsory part of the cursus, and hence ...
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