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Porcia Catonis
The gens Porcia, rarely written Portia, was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to achieve the consulship was Marcus Porcius Cato in 195 BC, and from then until imperial times, the Porcii regularly occupied the highest offices of the Roman state.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 498 ("Porcia Gens"). Origin The nomen ''Porcius'' was derived from ''porcus'', a pig. It belongs to a class of gentilicia derived from the names of common animals and objects, such as ''Asinius'', ''Ovinius'', ''Caprarius'', and ''Taurus''. The Porcii were reputed to have come from the ancient city of Tusculum in Latium. This tradition was alluded to in a speech given by the emperor Claudius. Praenomina The chief praenomina of the Porcii were '' Marcus'' and '' Lucius'', two of the most common names throughout Roman history. The Porcii Catones favoured ''Marcus'', almost to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary ''cognomina'' were used to augment the second name, the ''nomen gentilicium'' (the Surname, family name, or clan name), in order to identify a particular branch within a family or family within a clan. The term has also taken on other contemporary meanings. Roman names Because of the limited nature of the Latin ''praenomen'', the ''cognomen'' developed to distinguish branches of the family from one another, and occasionally, to highlight an individual's achievement, typically in warfare. One example of this is Pompey, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, whose cognomen ''Magnus'' was earned after his military victories under Sulla's dictatorship. The ''cognomen'' was a form of distinguishing people who accomplished important feats, and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Porcius Cato
Gaius Porcius Cato (before 157 BC – after 109 BC in Tarraco) was a Roman politician and general, notably consul in 114 BC. He was the son of Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus and grandson of Cato the Censor. Initially a friend of the Gracchi brothers, Gaius betrayed Gaius Gracchus in the late 120s BC. He became consul in 114, but was crushed by the Scordisci in Thrace. His defeat led to a religious hysteria at Rome, and he was sentenced to pay a fine at his return. He was sued again in 109 before the Mamilian commission, which investigated possible bribes received by Roman politicians from the Numidian King Jugurtha. In fact the commission's members were former supporters of the Gracchi and made Gaius pay for his betrayal by forcing him into exile. Gaius left for Tarraco (modern Tarragona) in Spain, and became a citizen of that town. Family background Gaius Cato belonged to the plebeian gens Porcia, which became prominent at the beginning of the second century thanks to Cato ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Numidia
Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between the Massylii state in the east (Capital: Cirta) and the Masaesyli state in the west (Capital: Siga). During the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into the first unified Berbers, Berber state for Numidians in present-day Algeria. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and an ally of Roman Empire, Rome and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state. Numidia, at its foundation, was bordered by the Moulouya River to the west, Africa (Roman province), Africa Proconsularis and Cyrenaica to the east. the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Sahara to the south so that Numidia entirely surrounded Carthage except towards the sea. befor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micipsa
Micipsa ( Numidian: ''Mikiwsan''; , ; died BC) was the eldest legitimate son of Masinissa, the King of Numidia, a Berber kingdom in North Africa. Micipsa became the King of Numidia in 148 BC. Early life In 151 BC, Masinissa sent Micipsa and his brother Gulussa to Carthage to demand that exiled pro-Numidian politicians be allowed to return, but they were refused entry at the city gates. As the royal party turned to depart, Hamilcar the Samnite and a group of his supporters attacked Micipsa's convoy, killing some of his attendants. This incident led to a retaliatory strike on the Carthaginian town of Oroscopa that heralded the start of the Carthaginian–Numidian War and eventually precipitated the Third Punic War. Succession to the throne In the spring of 148 BC Masinissa died and the tripartite division of the kingdom among the elderly king's three sons, Micipsa, Gulussa, and Mastanabal, took place by Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, to whom Masinissa had given the autho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 118 BC)
Marcus Porcius Cato (died 118 BC) was a member of the Roman plebeian gens Porcii and consul in 118 BC. Marcus Porcius Cato was the elder son of Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus and the grandson of the famous conservative Roman politician Cato the Elder. Nothing is known about his early life. In 121 BC at the latest he was praetor. In 118 BC he became consul; his colleague was Quintus Marcius Rex. He went to Africa, perhaps to settle the dispute between the heirs of king Micipsa of Numidia, the son of Masinissa, but Cato died during his consulate. Cato was a powerful orator. He left some posthumous speeches, which were preserved for some time.Aulus Gellius, ''Noctes Atticae'' 13.20.10 Notes References *Franz Miltner: ''Porcius 10''. In: ''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedias on Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman classical studies, topics and scholarship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Porcius Cato Salonianus
Marcus Porcius M. f. M. n. Cato Salonianus (born ) was the younger son of Cato the Elder, and grandfather of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, also known as "Cato the Younger". Salonianus' father was Marcus Porcius Cato, consul in 195 BC, and censor in 184. Celebrated for his courage, austerity, and strict moral code, the elder Cato, who already had a grown son by his first wife, Licinia, took a second wife at an advanced age, choosing the daughter of his client and scribe, Salonius. He was eighty years old when his younger son was born, and since both sons bore the praenomen ''Marcus'', they later came to be referred to as '' Cato Licinianus'' and ''Cato Salonianus'', after their mothers.Plutarch, "The Life of Cato the Elder", 27.Gellius, xiii. 20 (numbered section 19 in some sources).''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, pp. 644, 645 ("Porcius Cato", Nos. 2, 3, 6, 7). Licinianus died soon after the birth of his younger brother, and Cato the Elder die ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praetor
''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge various duties. The functions of the magistracy, the ''praetura'' (praetorship), are described by the adjective itself: the ''praetoria potestas'' (praetorian power), the ''praetorium imperium'' (praetorian authority), and the ''praetorium ius'' (praetorian law), the legal precedents established by the ''praetores'' (praetors). ''Praetorium'', as a substantive, denoted the location from which the praetor exercised his authority, either the headquarters of his ''castra'', the courthouse (tribunal) of his judiciary, or the city hall of his provincial governorship. The minimum age for holding the praetorship was 39 during the Roman Republic, but it was later changed to 30 in the early Empire. History of the title The status of the ''pra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Macedonian War
The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman feelings around Macedonia. In 172 BC, a Roman commission visited Perseus and required of him concessions which meant the extinction of his independence. Upon his refusal to comply with the demands they returned home and Rome declared war. Most of the war was fought in Macedon as well as neighbouring Thessaly, where the Roman troops were stationed. After an inconclusive battle at Callinicus in 171 BC, and several years of campaigning, Rome decisively defeated the Macedonian forces at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, ending the war. Rome's victory ended the Antigonid dynasty and brought an effective end to the independence of the Hellenistic kingdom of Macedon, although formal annexation was some years away. The kingdom was divided into four ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus
Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (c. 229 – 160 BC) was a Roman consul, consul of the Roman Republic, as well as a general, who conquered the kingdom of Macedon, Macedonia during the Third Macedonian War. Family Paullus' father was Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 219 BC), Lucius Aemilius Paullus, the consul defeated and killed in the Battle of Cannae. He was, in his time, the head of his branch of the Aemilia gens, Aemilii Paulii, an old and aristocratic Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician family. Their influence was immense, particularly due to their fortune and alliance with the Cornelii Scipiones. He was father to Scipio Aemilianus and another son known as Fabius, who were tutored by Paullus' friend Polybius. Early career After the fulfillment of Paullus' military service, and being elected military tribune, he was elected curule aedile in 193. The next step of his ''cursus honorum'' was his election as praetor in 191. During his term of office, he went to the Hispa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus
Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus (191–152 BC) was son of Cato the Elder by his first wife Licinia, and thence called ''Licinianus'', to distinguish him from his half-brother, Marcus Salonianus, the son of Salonia. He was distinguished as a jurist. Biography Early life and education His father paid great attention to his education, physical as well as mental, and studied to preserve his young mind from every immoral taint. He was taught to ride, swim, wrestle, fence, and, perhaps to the injury of a weak constitution, was exposed to vicissitudes of cold and heat in order to harden his frame. His father would not allow his learned slave Chilo to superintend the education of his son, lest the boy should acquire slavish notions or habits, but wrote lessons of history for him in large letters with his own hand, and afterwards composed a kind of Encyclopaedia for his use. Under such tuition, the young Cato became a wise and virtuous man. Life as a soldier He first entered life as a sold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carthage
Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classical world. It became the capital city of the civilization of Ancient Carthage and later Roman Carthage. The city developed from a Phoenician colony into the capital of a Punic people, Punic empire which dominated large parts of the Southwest Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. The legendary Queen Elissa, Alyssa or Dido, originally from Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, is regarded as the founder of the city, though her historicity has been questioned. In the myth, Dido asked for land from a local tribe, which told her that she could get as much land as an oxhide could cover. She cut the oxhide into strips and laid out the perimeter of the new city. As Carthage prospered at home, the polity sent colonists abroad as well as magistrates to rule t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
