Licinia gens explained

The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic.[1] [2]

Origin

The nomen Licinius is derived from the cognomen Licinus, or "upturned", found in a number of Roman gentes.[3] Licinus may have been an ancient praenomen, but few examples of its use as such are known. The name seems to be identical with the Etruscan Lecne, which frequently occurs on Etruscan sepulchral monuments.[4] Some scholars have seen evidence of an Etruscan origin for the Licinii in the tradition that Etruscan players were first brought to Rome to take part in the theatrical performances (ludi scaenici) in the consulship of Gaius Licinius Calvus, BC 364. This could, however, be coincidental, as Livy explains that the games were instituted this year in order to palliate the anger of the gods.[5] In fact, the name of Licinius appears to have been spread throughout both Latium and Etruria from a very early time, so the fact that it had an Etruscan equivalent does not definitely show that the gens was of Etruscan derivation.[2]

Praenomina

The chief praenomina used by the Licinii were Publius, Gaius, Lucius, and Marcus, all of which were very common throughout Roman history. The family occasionally used Sextus, and there is at least one instance of Gnaeus during the first century BC. Aulus was used by the Licinii Nervae. As in other Roman families, the women of the Licinii generally did not have formal praenomina, but were referred to simply as Licinia; if further distinction were needed, they would be described using various personal or family cognomina.

Branches and cognomina

The family-names of the Licinii are Calvus (with the agnomina Esquilinus and Stolo), Crassus (with the agnomen Dives), Geta, Lucullus, Macer, Murena, Nerva, Sacerdos, and Varus. The other cognomina of the gens are personal surnames, rather than family-names; these include Archias, Caecina, Damasippus, Imbrex, Lartius, Lenticula, Nepos, Proculus, Regulus, Rufinus, Squillus, and Tegula. The only cognomina which occur on coins are Crassus, Macer, Murena, Nerva, and Stolo. A few Licinii are known without a surname; most of these in later times were freedmen.[2]

The surname Calvus was originally given to a person who was bald,[6] and it was the cognomen of the earliest family of the Licinii to distinguish itself under the Republic. The first of this family bore the agnomen Esquilinus, probably because he lived on the Esquiline Hill.[7] Stolo, a surname given to the most famous of the family, may be derived from the stola, a long outer garment or cloak, or might also refer to a branch, or sucker.[8] [9] Although the family of the Licinii Calvi afterward vanished into obscurity, the surname Calvus was later borne by the celebrated orator and poet Gaius Licinius Macer, who lived in the first century BC. His cognomen Macer, designated someone who was lean.[6] [10] [11]

Another family of the Licinii bore the cognomen Varus, which means "crooked, bent," or "knock-kneed."[3] The Licinii Vari were already distinguished, when their surname was replaced by that of Crassus. This was a common surname, which could mean "dull, thick," or "solid," and may have been adopted because of the contrast between this meaning and that of Varus.[6] [11]

The surname Dives, meaning "rich" or "wealthy," was borne by some of the Licinii Crassi.[12] It was most famous as the surname of Marcus Licinius Crassus, the triumvir, and has been ascribed to his father and brothers, but it is not altogether certain whether it originated with his father, or with the triumvir, in which case it was retroactively applied to the previous generation.[13] [14] [15]

Lucullus, the cognomen of a branch of the Licinii, which first occurs in history towards the end of the Second Punic War, is probably derived from lucus, a grove, or perhaps a diminutive of the praenomen Lucius. The surname does not appear on any coins of the gens.[16] [17]

A family of the Licinii bore the surname Murena (sometimes, but erroneously, written Muraena), referring to the sea-fish known as the murry or lamprey, a prized delicacy since ancient times. This family came from the city of Lanuvium, to the southeast of Rome, and was said to have acquired its name because one of its members had a great liking for lampreys, and built tanks for them. The same surname occurring in other families might be said to be derived from the type of shellfish known as murex, from which a valuable dye was extracted.[16] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Of the other surnames of the Licinii might be mentioned Nerva, the surname of a family of the Licinii that flourished from the time of the Second Punic War until the early Empire, derived from nervus, "sinewy";[6] Geta, perhaps the name of a Thracian people, to whom one of the Licinii might have been compared;[22] and Sacerdos, a priest, one of a number of cognomina derived from occupations.[23] [24]

Members

Early Licinii

Licinii Calvi

Licinii Vari

Licinii Crassi

Family tree of the Licinii Crassi

Licinii Luculli

Licinii Nervae

Licinii Sacerdotes

Licinii Murenae

Licinii Macri

Others

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Drumann, Geschichte Roms.
  2. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 782 ("Licinia Gens").
  3. Chase, p. 109.
  4. Lanzi, vol. II, p. 342.
  5. Livy, vii. 2.
  6. Chase, p. 110
  7. Chase, pp. 113, 114.
  8. Chase, pp. 112 (Stola), 113 (Stolo).
  9. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 586 ("Calvus").
  10. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 586 ("Calvus", "Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus").
  11. Cassell's Latin and English Dictionary.
  12. Chase, p. 111.
  13. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 872, 873 ("Crassus").
  14. Marshall, "Crassus and the Cognomen Dives."
  15. Drumann, vol. IV, pp. 71–115.
  16. Chase, p. 113.
  17. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 830, 831 ("Lucullus").
  18. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, ix. 54.
  19. Macrobius, Saturnalia, ii. 11.
  20. Drumann, vol. IV, p. 183 ff.
  21. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 1121 ("Murena").
  22. The New College Latin & English Dictionary, "Geta".
  23. Chase, pp. 111, 112.
  24. The New College Latin & English Dictionary, "sacerdos".
  25. Livy, ii. 33.
  26. Dionysius, vi. 89.
  27. Livy, ii. 43.
  28. Dionysius, ix. 1.
  29. Livy, v. 12.
  30. Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, "Licinius" no. 43.
  31. Mommsen, Römische Forschungen, vol. I, p. 95.
  32. Livy, v. 18.
  33. Diodorus Siculus, xiv. 90.
  34. The Fasti Capitolini mention only the father, elected for the second time.
  35. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 87, 88.
  36. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 112, 113.
  37. Livy, vi. 39.
  38. Diodorus Siculus, xiv. 57.
  39. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 116, 118, 119.
  40. Livy, vii. 16.
  41. Zonaras, viii. 18, p. 400.
  42. Livy, xxi. 18, Epitome, 50.
  43. Livy, xxvii. 22, 23, 51.
  44. Livy, xli, xlii, xliii.
  45. Livy, xli. 22, xlv. 17.
  46. Cicero, Laelius de Amicitia, 25; Brutus, 21.
  47. Varro, Rerum Rusticarum, i. 2.
  48. Cassius Dio, fragmentum xcii.
  49. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, vii. 18.
  50. Cicero, De Finibus, v. 30.
  51. Cicero, Brutus, 58.
  52. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, xxxiv. 3. s. 8.
  53. Plutarch, "The Life of Crassus", 1, 4.
  54. Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, xii. 24.
  55. Florus, iii. 21. § 14.
  56. Appian, Bellum Civile, i. p. 394.
  57. Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, ii. 24. § 2.
  58. Cicero, Post Reditum in Senatu, 9.
  59. Valerius Maximus, vi. 9. § 12.
  60. Marshall, "Crassus and the Cognomen Dives", pp=463–464
  61. Cicero, Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem, iii. 8. § 3.
  62. Plutarch, "The Life of Cato the Younger" 70.
  63. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, vii. 23; Epistulae ad Atticum, xii. 29, 33.
  64. Horace Satirae, ii. 3, 16, 64.
  65. Verboven, "Damasippus", pp. 195, 198, 199
  66. .
  67. Verboven, "Damasippus", p. 198 (and note 7).
  68. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, v. 8.
  69. Caesar, De Bello Gallico, v. 24.
  70. Justin, xlii. 4.
  71. Livy, Epitome, cxxxiv, cxxxv.
  72. Cassius Dio, liv. 24.
  73. Tacitus, Historiae, i. 47, iv. 39.
  74. Suetonius, "The Life of Caligula"; "The Life of Claudius."
  75. Livy, xxx. 39.
  76. Livy, xxxiii. 42, xxxvi. 36.
  77. Livy, xxxix. 6, 8, 18.
  78. Sallust Bellum Jugurthinum, 37.
  79. Dionysius, xxxvi. 24.
  80. Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, xv. 1.
  81. Bispham. 322
  82. Cicero, De Finibus, iii. 2; Epistulae ad Atticum, xiii. 6; Philippicae, x. 4.
  83. Velleius Paterculus, ii. 71.
  84. Valerius Maximus, iv. 7. § 4.
  85. Livy, xlv. 16.
  86. Livy, xlv. 3, 42.
  87. Livy, Epitome, 53.
  88. Eutropius, iv. 15.
  89. Diodorus Siculus, xxxvi.
  90. Cicero, Brutus, 34.
  91. Drumann, vol. IV. p. 19 (no. 85).
  92. Velleius Paterculus ii. 116.
  93. Cassius Dio, lv. 30.
  94. Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 48.
  95. Valerius Maximus, iv. 1. § 10.
  96. SIG, 747.
  97. Cicero, In Verrem, i. 10, 46, 50, ii. 28, iii. 50, 92, Pro Plancio, 11.
  98. Asconius, in Toga Candida, p. 83 (ed. Orelli).
  99. Cicero, Pro Murena, 15
  100. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 463, 467, 468.
  101. Broughton, vol. I, p. 571.
  102. Cicero, Brutus, 54, 90.
  103. Memnon, Heracleia, 26.
  104. Appian, Mithridatic War, 32, 64-66, 93.
  105. SIG, 745.
  106. Broughton, vol. II, pp. 40, 50, 61, 62, 77, 129.
  107. Broughton, vol. II, pp. 103, 109 (note 5), 134, 163, 169, 172, 173, 484.
  108. Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 42.
  109. Broughton, vol. II, p. 170, 189, 193 (note 4).
  110. Vitruvius, de Architectura, II, 8 § 9.
  111. Horace, Carmen Saeculare, ii. 2, 10.
  112. Cassius Dio, liii. 25, liv. 3.
  113. Ando, p. 140.
  114. Livy, xxxi. 12.
  115. Sherk, "Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno", p. 367.
  116. Plutarch, "The Life of Tiberius Gracchus", 2.
  117. Cicero, De Oratore, iii. 60.
  118. Aulus Gellius, i. 11.
  119. Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 42.
  120. Valerius Maximus, ii. 9. § 9.
  121. Broughton, vol. I, p. 530.
  122. Livy, Epitome, 80.
  123. Plutarch, "The Life of Marius", 45.
  124. Cassius Dio, fragmentum 120.
  125. Broughton, vol. 2, p. 579.
  126. Cicero, Philippicae, ii. 23.
  127. Cassius Dio, xlv. 47.
  128. Cassius Dio, liv. 14.
  129. Festus, s. vv. Imbrex, Obstitum.
  130. Aulus Gellius, xiii. 22, xv. 24.
  131. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, xix. 2. s. 11, xxxi. 2. s. 18.
  132. Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, ii. 14, iii. 5.
  133. Gruter, p. 180.
  134. Tacitus, Historiae, ii. 53.
  135. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, xx. 18. s. 76.
  136. Tacitus, Historiae, i. 46, 82, 87, ii. 33, 39, 44, 60.
  137. Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, iv. 29, v. 4, 21, vi. 5.
  138. Eck and Pangerl, "Zwei Konstitutionen für die Truppen Niedermösiens".
  139. Paul M. M. Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (Amsterdam: Verlag Gieben, 1989), pp. 149f
  140. Digesta seu Pandectae, 40. tit. 13. s. 4.
  141. Zimmern, vol. I.
  142. Fergus Millar, "The Greek East and Roman Law: The Dossier of M. Cn. Licinius Rufinus", Journal of Roman Studies, 89 (1999), pp. 90-108
  143. Witschel, Christian; "INSCHRIFTEN UND INSCHRIFTENKULTUR DER KONSTANTINISCHEN ZEIT IN AQUILEIA": 2012-2013. page 48. "Wahrend einzelne Personlichkeiten aus der munizipalen Oberschicht wahrend dieser Epoche gar nicht mehr als Stifter von Kaiserstatuen bezeugt sind, behielt die Stadtgemeinde (vertreten durch den orda) ihre traditionelle Bedeutung als Initiatorin fiir solche Ehrungen des Kaisers bei, wenn auch mit abnehmender Tendenz. Daneben traten nun zunehmend einzelne Mitglieder der Reichs- und Provinzialverwaltung sowie eben ho no rati, die sich fiir eine kiirzere oder langere Zeit in der jeweiligen Stadt aufhielten. Das ist besonders deutlich in Aquileia zu sehen, wo die letzte Basis fiir eine Kaiserstatue, die mit Sicherheit von der Stadtgemeinde aufgestellt wurde, aus der Zeit des Philippus Arabs stammt (CIL V 8971 = SI 149 = ALFbLDY 1984, 94 Nr. 73 = InscrAq. 445; errichtet von den Aquileienses; Dat.: 244-246), wahrend bereits unter Gallienus ein ansonsten unbekannter vir egregius namens Licinius Diocletianus zwei Standbilder dieses Herrschers und seiner Frau Cornelia Salonina in Auftrag gab (CIL V 856/57 = ILS 547 = ALFOLDY 1984, 94f. Nr. 74/75 = Inscr.Aq. 446/47). Die zwei Basen fiir Statuen des Diocletianus (und Maximianus), die wir aus Aquileia bzw. aus dem Territorium der Stadt kennen, wurden sodann von hochrangigen Vertretem der staatlichen Administration errichtet, namlich von einem corrector Italiae (CIL V 8205 =SI 1109 = Inscrit X 4, 330; sekundar vermauert im Schloss von Duino; Dat.: 286) 152 sowie von einem rationalis (CIL V 858 = ALFbLDY 1984, 95 Nr. 76 = Inscr.Aq. 462; Dat.: 288?)"