Aulus Caecina the son of Aulus Caecina, was a member of a prominent family of Etruscan origin in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, and an Ancient Roman writer. He took the side of

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

in the civil wars, and published a violent tirade against

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

, for which he was banished. He recanted in a work called ''Querelae'', and was pardoned in the mid 40s BCE by Caesar following the intercession of his friends, above all,

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

, who had defended his father in 69 BCE with the speech ''

Pro Caecina The ''Pro Caecina'' is a public speech made by Marcus Tullius Cicero on behalf of his friend Aulus Caecina sometime between 71 BC and 69 BC. The speech was delivered in the third hearing of a lawsuit where Caecina averred that he had been unlawfu ...

''. Caecina was regarded as an important authority on the Etruscan system of

divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...

('' Etrusca Disciplina''), which he endeavoured to place on a scientific footing by harmonizing its theories with the doctrines of the

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...

. Considerable fragments of his work (dealing with lightning) are to be found in Seneca ('' Naturales quaestiones'', ii. 31–49). Caecina was on intimate terms with Cicero, who speaks of him as a gifted and eloquent man and was no doubt considerably indebted to him in his own treatise '' De Divinatione''. Some of their correspondence is preserved in Cicero's letters (''

Epistulae ad Familiares ''Epistulae ad Familiares'' (''Letters to Friends'') is a collection of letters between Ancient Rome, Roman politician and orator Cicero, Marcus Tullius Cicero and various public and private figures. The letters in this collection, together wit ...

'' vi. 5–8; see also ix. and xiii. 66).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caecina Severus, Aulus Senators of the Roman Republic Golden Age Latin writers Ancient Roman politicians Etruscan religion Correspondents of Cicero 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century BC writers Latin writers known only from secondary sources Ancient Roman exiles Severus, Aulus

See also

References