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Gratidia Gens
The gens Gratidia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Originally coming from Arpinum, members of this gens are known from the final century of the Republic.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 303 ("Gratidius"). Members * Marcus Gratidius, the granduncle of Cicero. In 115 BC he proposed a ''lex tabellaria'' at Arpinum, which was opposed by his brother-in-law, Marcus Tullius Cicero, grandfather of the orator. In 102, he accompanied his friend, the orator Marcus Antonius, praetor in Cilicia, in his campaign against the pirates, and was slain in battle. * Gratidia, a sister of Marcus Gratidius of Arpinum, married Marcus Tullius Cicero, grandfather of the orator. * Gratidius, legate and probably nephew of Gaius Marius, was stoned to death at Nola in 88 BC while trying to take command of the consul Sulla's armies for the upcoming Mithridatic War. * Marcus Gratidius M. f., son of Marcus Gratidius of Arpinum, was adopted by one of the Marii, proba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plebs
In ancient Rome, the plebeians or 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. 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 date the distinction "anywhere from the regal period to the late fifth century" BC. The 19th-century historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr believed plebeians were possibly foreigners immigrating from other parts of Italy. This hypothesis, that plebeians were raci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catiline
Lucius Sergius Catilina ( – January 62 BC), known in English as Catiline (), was a Roman politician and soldier best known for instigating the Catilinarian conspiracy, a failed attempt to seize control of the Roman state in 63 BC. Born to an ancient patrician family, he joined Sulla during Sulla's civil war and profited from Sulla's purges of his political enemies, becoming a wealthy man. In the early 60s BC, he served as praetor and then as governor of Africa (67–66 BC). Upon his return to Rome, he attempted to stand for the consulship but was rebuffed; he then was beset with legal challenges over alleged corruption in Africa and his actions during Sulla's proscriptions (83–82 BC). Acquitted on all charges with the support of influential friends in Roman politics, he stood for the consulship in 64 and in 63 BC. Defeated in the consular , he concocted a plot to take the consulship by force, bringing together poor rural plebs, Sullan vetera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In Toga Candida
''In Toga Candida'' is a speech given by Cicero during his election campaign in 64 BC for the consulship of 63 BC. The speech was directed at his competitors, Catilina and Antonius, who were also running for consulship for the same year. The speech no longer survives, though a commentary on it written by Asconius does survive. The speech is called ''Oratio in Toga Candida'' since candidates wore specially whitened (Latin ''candida'') togas, origin of the word candidate. Cicero used his election campaign speech to denounce his rivals and hint at secret powers behind Catiline Lucius Sergius Catilina ( – January 62 BC), known in English as Catiline (), was a Roman politician and soldier best known for instigating the Catilinarian conspiracy, a failed attempt to seize control of the Roman state in 63 BC. .... The tactics were successful and he secured the consulship. References External links The 'First' Catilinarian Conspiracy: A further re-examination of the ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asconius Pedianus
Quintus Asconius Pedianus (9 BC – AD 76) was a Roman rhetorician from Patavium. There is no evidence that Asconius engaged in a public career, but his familiarity with the politics and geography of contemporary Rome suggests that he may have written much of his works in the city. He was likely born into an equestrian family; his familiarity with senatorial procedure also suggests membership in the Roman Senate. During the reigns of Claudius and Nero he compiled historical commentaries on Cicero's speeches for his two sons, employing various sources: the ''Acta Diurna'', shorthand reports or skeletons (''commentarii'') of Cicero's unpublished speeches, Marcus Tullius Tiro, Tiro's life of Cicero, and speeches, letters and histories written during or shortly after Cicero's times, by such authors as Marcus Terentius Varro, Varro, Titus Pomponius Atticus, Atticus, Valerius Antias, Antias, Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus, Tuditanus and Fenestella (a contemporary of Livy whom he often c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Officiis
''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'', ''On Obligations'', or ''On Moral Responsibilities'') is a 44 BC treatise by Marcus Tullius Cicero divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds his conception of the best way to live, behave, and observe moral obligations. The posthumously published work discusses what is honorable (Book I), what is to one's advantage (Book II), and what to do when the honorable and private gain apparently conflict (Book III). For the first two books Cicero was dependent on the Stoic philosopher Panaetius, but wrote more independently for the third book. Background ''De Officiis'' was written in October–November 44 BC, in under four weeks. This was Cicero's last year alive, and he was 62 years of age. Cicero was at this time still active in politics, trying to stop revolutionary forces from taking control of the Roman Republic. Despite his efforts, the republican system failed to revive even upon the assassination of Caesar, and Cicero was himself assas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brutus (Cicero)
Cicero's ''Brutus'' (also known as ''De claris oratoribus'') is a history of Roman oratory. It is written in the form of a dialogue, in which Marcus Junius Brutus and Titus Pomponius Atticus ask Cicero to describe the qualities of all the leading Roman orators up to their time. Cicero then attempts to propose a reconstruction of Roman history. Although it is written in the form of a dialogue, the majority of the talking is done by Cicero with occasional intervention by Brutus and Atticus. The work was probably composed in 46 BC, with the purpose of defending Cicero's own oratory. He begins with an introductory section on Greek oratory of the Attic, Asiatic, and Rhodian schools, before discussing Roman orators, beginning with Lucius Junius Brutus, "The Liberator", though becoming more specific from the time of Marcus Cornelius Cethegus. Characters * Cicero – He is the main figure of the work. He strengthens the idea that after the civil war, many of the "good" orators ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Legibus
''On the Laws'', also known by its Latin name ( abbr. ), is a Socratic dialogue written by Marcus Tullius Cicero during the last years of the Roman Republic. It bears the same name as Plato's famous dialogue, '' The Laws''. Unlike his previous work ''De re publica,'' in which Cicero felt compelled to set the action in the times of Scipio Africanus Minor, Cicero wrote this work as a fictionalized dialogue between himself, his brother Quintus, and their mutual friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. The dialogue begins with the trio taking a leisurely stroll through Cicero's familial estate at Arpinum and they begin to discuss how the laws should be. Cicero uses this as a platform for expounding on his theories of natural law of harmony among the classes. The three surviving books (out of an indeterminate number, although Jonathan Powell and Niall Rudd in their translation for Oxford seem to argue that it may have been six, to bring it in line with the number in ''de re publica''), in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribune Of The Plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () 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 important check on the power of the Roman Senate and Roman magistrate, magistrates. These tribunes had the power to convene and preside over the ''Plebeian Council, Concilium Plebis'' (people's assembly); to summon the senate; to propose legislation; and to intervene on behalf of plebeians in legal matters; but the most significant power was to veto the actions of the Roman consul, consuls and other magistrates, thus protecting the interests of the plebeians as a class. The tribunes of the plebs were typically found seated on Tribune bench, special benches set up for them in the Roman Forum. The tribunes were sacrosanct, meaning that any assault on their person was punishable by death. In Roman Empire, imperial times, the powers of the tribunate were granted to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asia (Roman Province)
Asia () was a Roman province covering most of western Asia Minor (Anatolia), which was created following the Roman Republic's annexation of the Attalid Kingdom in 133 BC. After the establishment of the Roman Empire by Augustus, it was the most prestigious senatorial province and was governed by a proconsul. That arrangement endured until the province was subdivided in the fourth century AD. The province was one of the richest of the Empire and was at peace for most of the Imperial period. It contained hundreds of largely self-governing Greek city-states, who competed fiercely with one another for status, through appeals to the Imperial authorities and the cultivation of prestigious cultural institutions such as festival games, religious cults, and oratory. Geography The province of Asia originally consisted of the territories of Mysia, the Troad, Aeolis, Lydia, Ionia, Caria, and the land corridor through Pisidia to Pamphylia. The Aegean islands, with the exception of Crete, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Tullius Cicero
Quintus Tullius Cicero ( , ; 102 BC – 43 BC) was a Roman statesman and military leader, as well as the younger brother of Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was born into a family of the equestrian order, as the son of a wealthy landowner in Arpinum, some south-east of Rome. He is known for his political career, governorship of Asia, time serving as a general in Gaul under Caesar, and for his relationship with Cicero. Biography Cicero's well-to-do father arranged for him to be educated with his brother in Rome, Athens and probably Rhodes in 79–77 BC. Around 70 BC, he married Pomponia (sister of his brother's friend Atticus), a dominant woman of strong personality. He divorced her after a long disharmonious marriage with much bickering between the spouses in late 45 BC. His brother, Marcus, tried several times to reconcile the spouses, but to no avail. The couple had a son born in 66 BC and named Quintus Tullius Cicero after his father. Quintus was aedile in 66 BC, praetor in 62 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
