The gens Laelia was a

plebeian 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 ...

family at

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The first of the

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 ...

to obtain the

consulship The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

was

Gaius Laelius Gaius Laelius was a Roman general and statesman, and a friend of Scipio Africanus, whom he accompanied on his Iberian campaign (210–206 BC; the Roman Hispania, comprising modern Spain and Portugal) and his African campaign (204–202 BC). His co ...

in 190 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 704 ("Laelia Gens").

Branches and cognomina

The only family name of the Laelii was ''Balbus'', a common

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 hereditar ...

, referring to one who stammers. A few of the Laelii used personal surnames, such as ''Sapiens'' ("wise"), by which the Laelius who was a friend of the younger

Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–) was a Roman general and statesman who was one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Ancient Carthage, Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the greatest milit ...

was sometimes known.

Members

Early Laelii

* Gaius Laelius, grandfather of Gaius Laelius, consul in 190 BC. * Gaius Laelius C. f., the father of Gaius Laelius, consul in 190 BC. * Gaius Laelius C. f. C. n., consul in 190 BC, was a friend of the elder

, to whom he acted as

legate Legate may refer to: People * Bartholomew Legate (1575–1611), English martyr * Julie Anne Legate (born 1972), Canadian linguistics professor * William LeGate (born 1994), American entrepreneur Political and religious offices *Legatus, a hig ...

throughout the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...

. After his consulship, he helped colonize the territory of the

Boii The Boii (Latin language, Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; ) were a Celts, Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul (present-day Northern Italy), Pannonia (present-day Austria and Hungary), present-day Ba ...

. He was appointed to several other commissions and embassies through 170. * Gaius Laelius C. f. C. n. Sapiens, consul in BC 140, and a close friend of the younger Scipio Africanus. He initially favoured agrarian reform, but after meeting resistance abandoned the effort, and opposed the efforts of the Gracchi, leading his aristocratic contemporaries to call him ''Sapiens'', "the wise". He was erudite and refined, but a less persuasive speaker than some of his contemporaries. * Laelia C. f. C. n. Major, married Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the augur. Laelia was renowned for her graceful and eloquent speech, dignified and sincere, upon which

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 ...

remarked, and which she passed down to her daughters, as well as her son-in-law, the orator

Lucius Licinius Crassus Lucius Licinius Crassus (140 – September 91 BC) was a Roman orator and statesman who was a Roman consul and Roman censor, censor and who is also one of the main speakers in Cicero's dramatic dialogue on the art of oratory ''De Oratore'', set jus ...

. * Laelia C. f. C. n. Minor, married

Gaius Fannius Strabo Gaius Fannius Strabo was a Roman politician in the second century BC. Family He was a member of the gens Fannia. His father and grandfather both bore the praenomen ''Gaius''. His nephew was Gaius Fannius, consul in 122 BC. Career Strabo served ...

Laelii Balbi

* Decimus Laelius, one 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. ...

's lieutenants during the

Sertorian War The Sertorian War was a civil war in the Roman Republic fought from 80 to 72 BC between two Roman factions, one led by Quintus Sertorius and another led by the senate as constituted in the aftermath of Sulla's civil war. The war was fough ...

, who was slain in battle against

Lucius Hirtuleius Lucius Hirtuleius was a legate of Quintus Sertorius during the Sertorian War, in which he fought from 80 BC until his death in 75 BC. After the death of Julius Salinator, he was considered Sertorius's most trusted lieutenant, his second-in-comman ...

near the town of Lauro in 76 BC. * Decimus Laelius D. f., impeached Lucius Valerius Flaccus for ''repetundae'' in his administration of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, BC 59. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Laelius was a loyal commander and emissary in the Pompeian forces. * Decimus Laelius D. f. D. n. Balbus, quaestor ''pro praetore'' in Africa in 42 BC, took his own life following the defeat of Quintus Cornificius by Titus Sextius, who had been nominated proconsul by the triumvirs. * Decimus Laelius D. f. D. n. Balbus, one of the quindecimvirs who oversaw the

ludi saeculares The Secular or Saecular Games () was an ancient Roman religious celebration involving sacrifices, theatrical performances, and public games (). It was held irregularly in Rome for three days and nights to mark the ends of various eras () and to ...

in 17 BC; he was consul in 6 BC. * Decimus Laelius D. f. D. n. Balbus, a

delator Delator (plural: ''delatores'', feminine: ''delatrix'') is Latin for a denouncer, one who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed. Secular Roman law In Roman history, it was properly one who gave notice (''deferre' ...

during the reign of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

, accused Acutia, formerly the wife of Publius Vitellius, of ''majestas''; she was condemned, but the

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 pow ...

Junius Otho prevented Balbus from receiving a reward. Shortly thereafter, Balbus was himself condemned and banished, as one of the lovers of

Albucilla Albucilla (1st-century) was a Roman noblewoman, the wife of Satrius Secundus, and was known for having had many lovers. In the last year of the reign of the emperor Tiberius, 37 AD, she was accused of treason, or impiety, against the emperor () ...

. He seems to have been rehabilitated, as he was consul ''suffectus'' in 46. * Laelia D. f. D. n., a

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals (, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty from several s ...

who died in AD 64, was the daughter of Balbus, the consul of 46.

Others

* Decimus Laelius, mentioned in the Gracchan period, perhaps an ancestor of the Laelii Balbi. * Lucius Laelius, mentioned in an inscription dating from about 88 BC. * Publius Laelius L. f, mentioned in an inscription dating from about 88 BC. * Lucius Laelius, mentioned in an inscription from Pergamum, dating from the late Republic. * Lucius Laelius L. f., mentioned in an inscription from Pergamum, dating from the late Republic. * Laelia, wife of

Gaius Vibius Marsus Gaius Vibius Marsus, whom Tacitus calls "''vetustis honoribus studiisque illustris''", was a Roman senator active during the Principate. He was consul in 17 AD. Biography Marsus was Suffect consul for the second half of the year 17 with Lucius Vo ...

. * Laelius Felix, a jurist in the time of

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 143 ("Laelius Felix"). * Lucius Laelius Fuscus, a second-century soldier. * Laelius Bassus, a proconsul or legate under

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

. * Marcus Laelius Maximus Aemilianus, consul in 227 AD.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

, '' Historiae'' (The Histories). *

Marcus Tullius 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 ...

, ''

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

De Oratore ''De Oratore'' (''On the Orator'') is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BC. It is set in 91 BC, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, during which Marcus Antonius, the oth ...

Philippicae The ''Philippics'' () are a series of 14 speeches composed by Cicero in 44 and 43 BC, condemning Mark Antony. Cicero likened these speeches to those of Demosthenes against Philip II of Macedon; both Demosthenes' and Cicero's speeches became ...

, Laelius sive de Amicitia,

Tusculanae Quaestiones The ''Tusculanae Disputationes'' (also ''Tusculanae Quaestiones''; English: ''Tusculan Disputations'') is a series of five books written by Cicero, around 45 BC, attempting to popularise Greek philosophy in ancient Rome, including Stoicism. It is ...

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 mor ...

De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum ''De finibus bonorum et malorum'' ("On the ends of good and evil") is a Socratic dialogue by the Roman orator, politician, and Academic Skeptic philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. It consists of three dialogues, over five books, in which Cicero ...

Epistulae ad Atticum ''Epistulae ad Atticum'' (Latin for "Letters to Atticus") is a collection of letters from Roman politician and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero to his close friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. The letters in this collection, together with Cicero's oth ...

De Natura Deorum ''De Natura Deorum'' (''On the Nature of the Gods'') is a philosophical dialogue by Roman Academic Skeptic philosopher Cicero written in 45 BC. It is laid out in three books that discuss the theological views of the Hellenistic philosophies of ...

De Republica ''De re publica'' (''On the Republic''; see below) is a dialogue on Roman politics by Cicero, written in six books between 54 and 51 BC. The work does not survive in a complete state, and large parts are missing. The surviving sections derive f ...

, Pro Flacco''. *

Gaius Julius 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 ...

, ''

Commentarii de Bello Civili '' Commentarii de Bello Civili'' (''Commentaries on the Civil War''), or ''Bellum Civile'', is an account written by Julius Caesar of his war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Roman Senate. It consists of three books covering the events of 49– ...

'' (Commentaries on the Civil War). * 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 i ...

), ''

Ab Urbe Condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

'' (History of Rome). * Quintus Horatius Flaccus (

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

), '' Satirae'' (Satires). *

Marcus Velleius Paterculus Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; ) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the period from the death o ...

, ''Compendium of Roman History''. *

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia''). He worke ...

, ''Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings). * Lucius Annaeus Seneca (

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger ( ; AD 65), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, a dramatist, and in one work, a satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca ...

), ''

Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium ' (Latin for "Moral Letters to Lucilius"), also known as the ''Moral Epistles'' and ''Letters from a Stoic'', is a letter collection of 124 letters that Seneca the Younger wrote at the end of his life, during his retirement, after he had worked ...

'' (Moral Letters to Lucilius), '' Naturales Quaestiones'' (Natural Questions). *

Sextus Julius Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube frontier ...

, ''Strategemata'' (Stratagems). *

Publius Cornelius Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical ...

, ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

''. * Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

), ''Regum et Imperatorium Apophthegmata'' (Sayings of Kings and Commanders). *

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', commonl ...

, ''De Viris Illustribus'' (Lives of Famous Men). * Appianus Alexandrinus (

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...

), ''Hispanica'' (The Spanish Wars), ''Punica'' (The Punic Wars). *

Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...

, ''Noctes Atticae'' (Attic Nights). * Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

), ''Roman History''. * Julius Obsequens, ''Liber de Prodigiis'' (The Book of Prodigies). *

Joannes Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Roman historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held the offices of head justice and private s ...

, ''Epitome Historiarum'' (Epitome of History). * Scholia Bobiensa (

Bobbio Scholiast The Bobbio Scholiast (commonly abbreviated ''schol. Bob.'') was an anonymous scholiast working in the 7th century at the monastery of Bobbio and known for his annotations of texts from classical antiquity. He is a unique source for some information ...

), Cicero's ''Pro Flacco''. * ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'',

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897). * T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952). * Paul A. Gallivan, "The ''Fasti'' for the Reign of Claudius", in ''

Classical Quarterly The Classical Association (CA) is an educational organisation which aims to promote and widen access to the study of classical subjects in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1903, the Classical Association supports and advances classical learning ...

'', vol. 28, pp. 407–426 (1978). * John C. Traupman, ''The New College Latin & English Dictionary'', Bantam Books, New York (1995). * D.R. Shackleton-Bailey, ''Cicero: Letters to Atticus'', vol. 4, Cambridge University Press (2004). {{DEFAULTSORT:Laelia (gens) Roman gentes

Branches and cognomina

Members

Early Laelii

Laelii Balbi

Others

See also

Footnotes

References

Bibliography