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The gens Potitia was an ancient patrician family at
ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, 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 ...
. None of its members ever attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state, and the gens is known primarily as a result of its long association with the rites of
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...
, and for a catastrophic plague that was said to have killed all of its members within a single month, at the end of the fourth century BC. However, a few Potitii of later times are known from literary sources and inscriptions.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 514 ("
Potitia Gens The gens Potitia was an ancient patrician family at ancient Rome. None of its members ever attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state, and the gens is known primarily as a result of its long association with the rites of Hercules, and f ...
").


Origin

The story of the Potitii is inextricably intertwined with that of the Pinarii. According to legend, Hercules came to Italy a generation before the
Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...
, and was received by the families of the Potitii and the Pinarii. He instructed them in a form of worship by which they honoured him for generations. The priesthood of this cult was carried out exclusively by members of these two families, as a ''sacrum gentilicium''—the sacred duty of a particular gens.Livy, i. 7.Dionysius, i. 38–40. Michael Grant suggests that the worship overseen by these families was originally introduced to Italy by the
Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...
ns, and was devoted to one of the Phoenician gods, who afterwards became assimilated with Hercules.Grant, ''Roman Myths''. The position of the Potitii in this cult was superior to that of the Pinarii, who were excluded from partaking of the entrails of the sacrifice, supposedly because they had arrived late to the sacrificial banquet given by Hercules. The two families are said to have carried out their religious obligations for centuries, as hereditary priests of Hercules, until the period of the
Samnite Wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe ...
, at the end of the fourth century BC.


Destruction

In 312 BC,
Appius Claudius Caecus Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. The first Roman public figure whose life can be traced with some historical certainty, Caecus was responsible for the building of Rome's first road (t ...
, during his
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
, attempted to persuade the Potitii and the Pinarii to instruct the public slaves in these rites. The Pinarii refused, but the Potitii accepted Claudius' offer of 50,000 pounds of copper.Livy, ix. 29. Niebuhr explains that Claudius' intention was to introduce the worship of Hercules, formerly ''sacra privata'', into the religion of the Roman state, thus making them ''sacra publica''. However, because no flamen could be appointed for a foreign god, it was necessary to entrust the rites to slaves.Niebuhr, ''History of Rome'', vol. i. p. 88, vol. iii. p. 309. For their impiety, Hercules sent a plague that carried off the entire gens in the span of thirty days; twelve families and thirty grown men perished, and Claudius himself was struck blind, which is how he obtained his cognomen. There is some uncertainty as to the chronology of this legend; Claudius could hardly have been blinded during his censorship, as he went on to be
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 throu ...
in 307, and again in 296 BC, and was then nominated
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...
in 292 and 285. Niebuhr suggests that the Potitii may instead have died in a terrible plague that struck Rome in 292. The disappearance of an entire gens was extraordinary; together with the fact that no
magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
or other important Potitii are mentioned in surviving records, this has led some historians to suspect that they were not in fact a distinct gens, but instead a branch of another patrician family that became extinct around the period of the Samnite Wars, such as the Valerii Potiti, whose surname, ''Potitus'', might have been mistaken for a nomen, ''Potitius''. However, the ancient historians unanimously describe the Potitii as a gens. There are also a few indications that some Potitii survived the destruction of the gens.
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 esta ...
mentions a Publius Potitius who lived in the first century BC, and others are known from inscriptions.Cicero, ''In Verrem'' (second oration), i. 50–58.


In popular culture

The Potitii are the focus of the novels ''
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
'' and ''
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 ...
'', by Steven Saylor. These novels follow the history of Rome, up to the reign of
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...
, and concern the fortunes of the Potitii and Pinarii, through the passing down of a family heirloom. As depicted by Saylor, the Potitii who suddenly died were in fact murdered, a clever and ruthless killer poisoning them one by one and never being discovered.


Members

* Potitia, named in an inscription from Rome. * Potitia, mentioned in an inscription from Tarraco in
Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hi ...
. * Potitia, named in an inscription from Ateste in Venetia and Histria. * Publius Potitius, one of the guardians of the son of Publius Junius, custodian of the temple of Castor, who died in 80 BC. After five years, the boy's guardians and stepfather became embroiled in a dispute with Verres, who extracted considerable sums of money, supposedly to make extensive repairs to the temple, which in fact was in sound condition. * Potitia Alpina, the mother of Titus Tincius Alpinus, a municipal official at
Lugdunum Lugdunum (also spelled Lugudunum, ; modern Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul, established on the current site of Lyon. The Roman city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, but continued an existing Gallic settle ...
in Gallia Lugdunensis, to whom she dedicated a monument. * Marcus Potitius Aurelianus, buried at Tichilla in Africa Proconsularis, aged eighty-five. * Lucius Potitius Bulicus, husband of Potitia Secundina and father of Potitia Paterna, buried at Nemausus in
Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was th ...
.. * Potitia L. f. Paterna, daughter of Lucius Potitius Bulicus and Potitia Secundina. * Potitius Romulus, an artisan and silversmith buried at Lugdunum, aged twenty years, five months, with a monument dedicated by his wife, Martinia Lea.. * Potitia Secundina, wife of Lucius Potitius Bulicus and mother of Potitia Paterna. * Roscius Potitius Memmianus, a man of
senatorial A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
rank, erected a monument to his mother, Seia Potitia Consortiana, at
Thibaris Thibaris was a town in the late Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. Location An inscription fixes the exact site at the ruins now called Henshir Hamamet, in a plain watered by the Wady Tibar, which has retained the name of the town. These r ...
in Africa Proconsularis.. * Seia Potitia Consortiana, the mother of Roscius Potitius Memmianus, buried at Thibaris.


See also

* List of Roman gentes * Pinaria gens


Footnotes


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 esta ...
, ''
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 aedileshi ...
''. * Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Romaike Archaiologia'' (Roman Antiquities). * Titus Livius (
Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a 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 traditional founding in ...
), ''
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 ...
''. * 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). * Sextus Pompeius Festus, ''Epitome de M. Verrio Flacco de Verborum Significatu'' (Epitome of Marcus Verrius Flaccus' ''On the Meaning of Words''). * Maurus Servius Honoratus ( Servius), ''Ad Virgilii Aeneidem Commentarii'' (Commentary on Vergil's Aeneid). * Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, ''Saturnalia''. * Barthold Georg Niebuhr, ''The History of Rome'', Julius Charles Hare and Connop Thirlwall, trans., John Smith, Cambridge (1828). * Johann Adam Hartung, ''Die Religion der Römer'' (The Religion of the Romans), Palm und Enke, Erlangen (1836). *
Karl Wilhelm Göttling Karl Wilhelm Göttling (Latin: Carolus Guilielmus Goettling; January 19, 1793 – January 20, 1869) was a German philologist and classical scholar. Biography He was born in Jena, the son of chemist Johann Friedrich August Göttling (1753–1820 ...
, ''Geschichte der Römischen Staatsverfassung von Erbauung der Stadt bis zu C. Cäsar's Tod'' (History of the Roman State from the Founding of the City to the Death of Caesar), Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, Halle (1840). * ''
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 ...
'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * Theodor Mommsen ''et alii'', '' Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). * René Cagnat ''et alii'', '' L'Année épigraphique'' (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated ''AE''), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present). * Michael Grant, ''Roman Myths'' (1971). {{Refend Roman gentes