Clodius is an alternate form of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

'' nomen''

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

, a patrician ''

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...

'' that was traditionally regarded as

Sabine The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...

in origin. The alternation of ''o'' and ''au'' is characteristic of the Sabine dialect. The feminine form is Clodia.

Republican era

Publius Clodius Pulcher

During the Late Republic, the spelling ''Clodius'' is most prominently associated with

Publius Clodius Pulcher Publius Clodius Pulcher ( – 18 January 52 BC) was a Roman politician and demagogue. A noted opponent of Cicero, he was responsible during his plebeian tribunate in 58 BC for a massive expansion of the Roman grain dole as well as Cic ...

, a popularis politician who gave up his patrician status through an order in order to qualify for the office of tribune of the ''plebs''. Clodius positioned himself as a champion of the urban ''

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 gro ...

'', supporting free grain for the poor and the right of association in guilds ('' collegia''); because of this individual's ideology, ''Clodius'' has often been taken as a more "plebeian" spelling and a gesture of political solidarity. Clodius's two elder brothers, the Appius Claudius Pulcher who was

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 thro ...

in 54 BC and the C. Claudius Pulcher who was praetor in 56 BC, conducted more conventional political careers and are referred to in contemporary sources with the traditional spelling. The view that ''Clodius'' represents a plebeian or politicized form has been questioned by Clodius's chief modern-era biographer. In ''The Patrician Tribune'', W. Jeffrey Tatum points out that the spelling is also associated with Clodius's sisters and that "the political explanation … is almost certainly wrong." A plebeian branch of the ''gens'', the Claudii Marcelli, retained the supposedly patrician spelling, while there is some inscriptional evidence that the ''-o-'' form may also have been used on occasion by close male relatives of the "patrician tribune" Clodius. Tatum argues that the use of ''-o-'' by the "chic" Clodia was a fashionable affectation, and that Clodius, whose perhaps inordinately loving relationship with his sister was the subject of much gossip and insinuation, was imitating his stylish sibling. The linguistic variation of ''o'' for ''au'' was characteristic of the

Umbrian language Umbrian is an language death, extinct Italic languages, Italic language formerly spoken by the Umbri in the ancient Italy, Italian region of Regio VI Umbria, Umbria. Within the Italic languages it is closely related to the Oscan language, Oscan g ...

, of which

was a branch. Forms using ''o'' were considered archaic or rustic in the 50s BC, and the use of ''Clodius'' would have been either a whimsical gesture of pastoral fantasy, or a trendy assertion of

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

authenticity.

Other Clodii of the Republic

In addition to Clodius, Clodii from the Republican era include: * Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus, presumably a "Clodius" before his adoption * Clodius Aesopus, a tragic actor in the 50s BC who may have been a

freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

of one of the Clodii Pulchri. * Claudia, daughter of Clodius Pulcher and

Fulvia Fulvia (; d. 40 BC) was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the late Roman Republic. Fulvia's birth into an important political dynasty facilitated her relationships and, later on, marriages to Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribo ...

, the first wife of emperor Augustus. * Clodia, sister of

, sometimes identified in

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

' poems as " Lesbia". Women of the

Claudii Marcelli The gens Claudia (), sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician (ancient Rome), patrician houses at ancient Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to obtain t ...

branch were often called "Clodia" in the late Republic.

Imperial era

People using the name ''Clodius'' during the period of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

include: * Gaius Clodius Licinus, consul ''suffectus'' in AD 4. * Gaius Clodius Vestalis, possible builder of the Via Clodia *

Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus (died AD 66), Roman senator, who lived in the 1st century AD. Notable for his principled opposition to the emperor Nero and his interest in Stoicism, he was the husband of Arria, who was the daughter of A. Caecin ...

, senator and philosopher during the reign of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

* Lucius Clodius Macer, a ''

legatus A legate (Latin: , ) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman army, equivalent to a high-ranking general officer of modern times. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in comman ...

'' who revolted against Nero * Publius Clodius Quirinalis, from

Arelate Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of Provence. A large part of the ...

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

, teacher of

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

in time of

* Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus, commonly known as

Clodius Albinus Decimus Clodius Albinus ( 150 – 19 February 197) was a Roman imperial pretender between 193 and 197. He was proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain and Hispania after the murder of Pertinax in 193 (known as the "Year of the Five Emperors") ...

, rival emperor 196–197 * Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, known as

Pupienus Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus ( 164–238) was Roman emperor with Balbinus for 99 days in 238, during the Year of the Six Emperors. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited. In most contemporary t ...

, co-emperor 238 * Titus Clodius Pupienus Pulcher Maximus, son of emperor Pupienus and suffect consul c. 235

Clodii Celsini

The Clodii Celsini continued to practice the traditional religions of antiquity in the face of Christian hegemony through at least the 4th century, when Clodius Celsinus Adelphius (see below) converted.Bernice M. Kaczynski, "Faltonia Betitia Proba: A Virgilian Cento in Praise of Christ," in ''Women Writing Latin'' (Routledge, 2002), vol. 1, p. 13
online.
/ref> Members of this branch include: * Quintus Fabius Clodius Agrippianus Celsinus,

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

Caria Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian main ...

in 249 and the son of Clodius Celsinus (b. ''ca.'' 185); see for other members of the family. * Clodius Celsinus Adelphius, ''

praefectus urbi The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, an ...

'' in 351. *

Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius (''floruit'' 361384) was a Roman politician, ''praefectus urbi'' of Rome from 368 to 370 and Roman consul in 379. Olybrius has been characterized as belonging to "the breed of flexible politicians who did well ...

, consul 379

References

Selected bibliography

*Tatum, W. Jeffrey. ''The Patrician Tribune: P. Clodius Pulcher''. Studies in the History of Greece and Rome series. University of North Carolina Press, 1999. Limited previe
online.
Hardcover .