Marcus Minucius Augurinus ( 509 – 488 BC) was a Roman Republican

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

of the patrician gens

Minucia ''Minucia'' is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of wel ...

during the beginning of the 5th century BC. He served as

Consul of Rome 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 ...

in 497 BC and 491 BC, both times serving together with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus.

Family origins

Although the

Minucia gens The gens Minucia was an ancient Roman family, which flourished from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The gens was apparently of patrician origin, but was better known by its plebeian branches. The first of the Minucii to ...

has been traditionally known as 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, the family's origins are indeed of the patrician class and it is from that branch of the family from which Minucius Augurinus is descended. He was the brother of

Publius Minucius Augurinus Publius Minucius Augurinus ( 492 BC) was a Roman Republican politician of the patrician gens Minucia during the beginning of the 5th century BC. He served as Consul of Rome in 492 BC Family Origins Although the Minucia gens has been traditio ...

, who later served as consul in 492 BC.

Biography

Minucius Augurinus was the first of his gens to become a Roman consul, serving in the years 497 BC and 491 BC respectively. On both occasions, his colleague was Aulus Sempronius Atratinus. During his first tenure as consul, he was charged with the consecration of the newly constructed

Temple of Saturn The Temple of Saturn (Latin: ''Templum Saturni'' or '' Aedes Saturni''; ) was an ancient Roman temple to the god Saturn, in what is now Rome, Italy. Its ruins stand at the foot of the Capitoline Hill at the western end of the Roman Forum. Th ...

in the

Roman Forum A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, alon ...

. It was during this consulship that the festivities surrounding

Saturnalia Saturnalia is an Roman festivals, ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the List of Roman deities, god Saturn (mythology), Saturn, held on 17 December in the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities until 19 December. By t ...

first began. Prior to becoming consul Minucius held the

quaestorship A quaestor ( , ; ; "investigator") was a public official in ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officia ...

in 509 BC. He was again elected consul for 491 BC. There had been a famine in Rome in the previous year, and in 491 BC a significant quantity of corn was imported from Sicily, and the question of how it should be distributed amongst the Roman citizens, together with tensions arising from the recent secession of the plebs, led to the exile and defection of

Gaius Marcius Coriolanus Gnaeus (or Gaius) Marcius Coriolanus was a Roman general who is said to have lived in the 5th century BC. He received his toponymic cognomen "Coriolanus" following his courageous actions during a Roman siege of the Volscian city of Corioli. He wa ...

after he unsuccessfully advocated the reversal of the reforms which arose from the secession, including the creation of 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 ...

. He was one of the five ex-consuls sent as envoys to treat with Coriolanus in 488 BC during his march towards Rome.Dionysius, vii, 55.4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minucius Augurinus, Marcus 5th-century BC Roman consuls Minucii Augurini

Family origins

Biography

See also

References