''Novus homo'' or ''homo novus'' (

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 ...

for 'new man'; ''novi homines'' or ''homines novi'') was the term in

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 ...

for a man who was the first in his

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

to serve in the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

or, more specifically, to be elected as

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 throug ...

. When a man entered public life on an unprecedented scale for a high communal office, then the term used was ''novus civis'' ( ''novi cives'') or "new citizen".

History

In the Early Republic, tradition held that both Senate membership and the consulship were restricted to

patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

. When

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 ...

s gained the right to this office during the

Conflict of the Orders The Conflict of the Orders, sometimes referred to as 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 plebe ...

, all newly elected plebeians were naturally ''novi homines''. With time, ''novi homines'' became progressively rarer as some plebeian families became as entrenched in the Senate as their patrician colleagues. By the time of the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

, it was already a sensation that ''novi homines'' were elected in two consecutive years (

Gaius Fundanius Fundulus Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People *Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist * Gaius Acilius * Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius ...

in 243 BC and

Gaius Lutatius Catulus Gaius Lutatius Catulus ( 242–241 BC) was a Roman statesman and naval commander in the First Punic War. He was born a member of the plebeian gens Lutatius. His cognomen "Catulus" means "puppy". There are no historical records of his life prio ...

in 242 BC). In 63 BC,

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 ...

became the first ''novus homo'' in more than thirty years. By the Late Republic, the distinction between the orders became less important. The consuls came from a new elite, the ''

nobiles The ''nobiles'' ( ''nobilis'') were members of a social rank in the Roman Republic indicating that one was "well known". This may have changed over time: in Cicero's time, one was notable if one descended from a person who had been elected Roman c ...

'' (

noblemen Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...

), an artificial

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

of all who could demonstrate direct descent in the male line from a consul.

List of notable ''novi homines''

* Lucius Sextius Lateranus (elected 366 BC) * Gaius Licinius Stolo (elected 361 BC) *

Marcus Popillius Laenas Marcus Popillius Laenas was a four-time consul of the Roman Republic. In the year (according to Varro) 359 BC, he defeated a Gallic army. Near the end of his consulship with Gnaeus Manlius Capitolinus Imperiosus, the Tarquinians invaded the Ro ...

(elected 359, 356, 350, 348 BC) *

Gaius Plautius Proculus Gaius Plautius Proculus was the first member of the gens Plautia gens, Plautia to achieve Roman consul, consular rank. Little is known of his life before becoming consul with Gaius Fabius Ambustus (consul), Gaius Fabius Ambustus in 358 BC, although ...

(elected 358 BC) *

Gaius Marcius Rutilus Gaius Marcius Rutilus (also seen as "Rutulus") was the first plebeian dictator and censor of ancient Rome, and was consul four times. He was first elected consul in 357 BC, then appointed as dictator the following year in order to deal with an inv ...

(elected 357, 352, 344, 342 BC) *

Publius Decius Mus The gens Decia was a plebeian family of high antiquity, which became illustrious in Roman history by the example of its members sacrificing themselves for the preservation of their country. The first of the family known to history was Marcus Deciu ...

(elected 340 BC) * Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens (elected 307 BC and 296 BC) *

Spurius Carvilius Maximus Spurius Carvilius C. f. C. n., later surnamed Maximus, was the first member of the plebeian '' gens Carvilia'' to obtain the consulship, which he held in 293 BC, and again in 272 BC. Early career Born of equestrian rank, Carvilius served as curu ...

(elected 293, 272 BC) *

Manius Otacilius Crassus Manius Otacilius Crassus was a Roman consul of Samnite origins and served during the Punic Wars. His consular colleague in 263 BC was Manius Valerius Maximus Corvinus Messalla Manius Valerius Maximus Messalla was Roman consul in 263 BC. Biograp ...

(elected 263 BC) *

Gaius Duilius Gaius Duilius ( 260–231 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. As consul in 260 BC, during the First Punic War, he won Rome's first ever victory at sea by defeating the Carthaginians at the Battle of Mylae. He later served as censor in 258, ...

(elected 260 BC) * Gaius Aurelius Cotta (elected 252 and 248 BC) *

(elected 243 BC) *

(elected 242 BC) * Gaius Flaminius (elected 223 BC and 217 BC) * Marcus Porcius Cato (the Censor/Elder) (elected 195 BC) * Gaius Calpurnius Piso (elected 180 BC) *Gnaeus Octavius (elected 165 BC) *

Lucius Mummius Achaicus Lucius Mummius (2nd century BC), was a Roman statesman and general. He was consul in the year 146 BC along with Scipio Aemilianus. Mummius was the first of his family to rise to the rank of consul thereby making him a novus homo. He received the ...

(elected 146 BC) *

Quintus Pompeius Quintus Pompeius was the name of various Romans from the gens Pompeia, who were of plebeian status. They lived during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Consul of 141 BC Quintus Pompeius A. f. (flourished 2nd century BC) was the son of an Aulu ...

(elected 141 BC) *

Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his important refor ...

(elected 107 BC, 104–100 BC, 86 BC) *

Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Gnaeus Mallius Maximus was a Roman politician and general. A ''novus homo'' ("new man"), Mallius was elected to the consulship of the Roman Republic in 105 BC. He was sent as consul to the province of Transalpine Gaul to stop the migration of the C ...

(elected 105 BC) *

Titus Didius Titus Didius (also spelled Deidius in ancient times) was a politician and general of the Roman Republic. In 98 BC he became the first member of his family to be consul. He is credited with the restoration of the Villa Publica,Makin, Ena. "The T ...

(elected 98 BC) *

Gaius Coelius Caldus Gaius Coelius Caldus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 94 BC alongside his colleague Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. In 107 BC, Coelius Caldus was elected tribune of the plebs and passed a '' lex tabellaria,'' which ordained that in cases of ...

(elected 94 BC) *

Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (c. 135 – 87 BC) was a Roman general and politician, who served as consul in 89 BC. He is often referred to in English as Pompey Strabo, to distinguish him from his son, the famous Pompey the Great, or from Strabo the ge ...

(elected 89 BC) *

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 ...

(elected 63 BC) * Marcus Vinicius (appointed suffect consul 19 BC) * Gaius Pomponius Graecinus (appointed AD 16) *

Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

(appointed AD 97)

''Topos'' of the "new man"

The literary theme of ''homo novus'', or "how the lowly born but inherently worthy man may properly rise to eminence in the world" was the ''

topos In mathematics, a topos (, ; plural topoi or , or toposes) is a category that behaves like the category of sheaves of sets on a topological space (or more generally: on a site). Topoi behave much like the category of sets and possess a notio ...

'' of

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

's influential Epistle XLIV. At the endpoint of

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

, it was likewise a subject in

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...

' ''

Consolation of Philosophy ''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' ('' la, De consolatione philosophiae'')'','' often titled as ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' or simply the ''Consolation,'' is a philosophical work by the Roman statesman Boethius. Written in 523 while he ...

'' (iii, vi). In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's ''Convivio'' (book IV) and

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

's ''

De remediis utriusque fortunae ''De remediis utriusque fortunae'' ("Remedies for Fortunes") is a collection of 254 Latin dialogues written by the humanist Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), commonly known as Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374) ...

'' (I.16; II.5) take up the subject, and

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

Wife of Bath's Tale "The Wife of Bath's Tale" ( enm, The Tale of the Wyf of Bathe) is among the best-known of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. It provides insight into the role of women in the Late Middle Ages and was probably of interest to Chaucer himsel ...

. In its Christian renderings, the theme suggested a tension in the ''scala naturae'' or

great chain of being The great chain of being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain begins with God and descends through angels, humans, animals and plants to minerals. The great ...

, one that was produced through the agency of Man's

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

. The theme came naturally to

Renaissance humanists Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...

who were often ''homines novi'' rising by their own wits in a network of noble courts that depended on the highly literate new men to run increasingly complicated chancelries and create the cultural propaganda that was a contemporary vehicle for noble fame, and that consequently offered a kind of intellectual ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...

''. In the fifteenth century Buonaccorso da Montemagno's ''Dialogus de vera nobilitate'' treated of the "true nobility" inherent in the worthy individual;

Poggio Bracciolini Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (11 February 1380 – 30 October 1459), usually referred to simply as Poggio Bracciolini, was an Italian scholar and an early Renaissance humanist. He was responsible for rediscovering and recovering many classi ...

also wrote at length ''De nobilitate'', stressing the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

view of human responsibility and effectiveness that are at the heart of Humanism: ''sicut virtutis ita et nobilitatis sibi quisque existit auctor et opifex''. Briefer summaries of the theme were to be found in

Francesco Patrizi Franciscus Patricius ( Croatian: ''Franjo Petriš'' or ''Frane Petrić'', Italian: ''Francesco Patrizi''; 25 April 1529 – 6 February 1597) was a philosopher and scientist from the Republic of Venice, originating from Cres. He was known as ...

, (VI.1), and in

Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo Rodrigo Sánchez de Arévalo ( la, Rodericus Zamorensis; Santa María la Real de Nieva, diocese of Segovia, 1404 – 4 October 1470) was a Spanish churchman, historian and political theorist. A learned Spanish bishop, after studying law at Sal ...

's encyclopedic ''Speculum vitae humanae''. In the sixteenth century these and new texts came to be widely printed and distributed. Sánchez de Arévalo's ''Speculum'' was first printed at Rome, 1468, and there are more than twenty fifteenth-century printings; German, French and Spanish translations were printed. The characters of

Baldassare Castiglione Baldassare Castiglione, Count of Casatico (; 6 December 1478 – 2 February 1529),Dates of birth and death, and cause of the latter, fro, ''Italica'', Rai International online. was an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissanc ...

's ''

The Book of the Courtier ''The Book of the Courtier'' ( it, Il Cortegiano ) by Baldassare Castiglione is a lengthy philosophical dialogue on the topic of what constitutes an ideal courtier or (in the third chapter) court lady, worthy to befriend and advise a Prince or pol ...

'' (1528) discuss the requirement that a '' cortegiano'' be noble (I.XIV-XVI). This was translated into French, Spanish, English, Latin and other languages.See: P. Burke. ''The Fortunes of the Courtier: The European Reception of Castiglione's Cortegiano''. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995). Jerónimo Osório da Fonseca's ''De nobilitate'' (Lisbon 1542, and seven reprintings in the sixteenth century), stressing ''propria strennuitas'' ("one's own determined striving") received an English translation in 1576. The Roman figure most often cited as an ''

exemplum An exemplum (Latin for "example", pl. exempla, ''exempli gratia'' = "for example", abbr.: ''e.g.'') is a moral anecdote, brief or extended, real or fictitious, used to illustrate a point. The word is also used to express an action performed by an ...

'' is

, whose speech of self-justification was familiar to readers from the set-piece in

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 o ...

's ''

Bellum Iugurthinum The Jugurthine War ( la, Bellum Iugurthinum; 112–106 BC) was an armed conflict between the Roman Republic and king Jugurtha of Numidia, a kingdom on the north African coast approximating to modern Algeria. Jugurtha was the nephew and adop ...

'', 85; the most familiar format in the Renaissance treatises is a

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...

that contrasts the two sources of nobility, with the evidence weighted in favor of the "new man".

Notes

External links

''Dictionary of the History of Ideas'': "Renaissance Idea of the Dignity of Man"
{{Library resources box , by=no , onlinebooks=yes , others=yes , about=yes , label=yes , viaf= , lccn= , lcheading= , wikititle= Society of ancient Rome Ancient Roman titles

History

List of notable ''novi homines''

''Topos'' of the "new man"

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links