The gens Mummia was a

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called 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 o ...

family at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Members of this

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gen ...

are first mentioned after the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

, and within a generation,

Lucius Mummius Achaicus Lucius Mummius (2nd century BC), was a Roman statesman and general. He was consul in the year 146 BC along with Scipio Aemilianus. Mummius was the first of his family to rise to the rank of consul thereby making him a novus homo. He received the ...

became the first of the family to obtain the

consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the '' cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which polit ...

. Although they were never numerous, Mummii continued to fill the highest offices of the state through the third century AD.

Praenomina

The

praenomina The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the '' dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bir ...

associated with the Mummii include ''

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

Quintus Quintus is a male given name derived from '' Quintus'', a common Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is an English masculine given name a ...

, Spurius'', and ''

Marcus Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl� ...

''.

Branches and cognomina

As the Mummii were neither a large nor an old family, few of them are found with any surname in the time of the Republic. The chief exception was ''Achaicus'', an

agnomen An ''agnomen'' (; plural: ''agnomina''), in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the ''cognomen'' was initially. However, the ''cognomina'' eventually became family names, so ''agnomina'' were needed to distinguish between simil ...

won by Lucius Mummius, the consul of 146 BC, for his conquest of Greece, and he is said to have been the first ''

novus homo ''Novus homo'' or ''homo novus'' (Latin for 'new man'; ''novi homines'' or ''homines novi'') was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul. When ...

'' to have earned such a distinction through his military achievements.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 1119 ("Mummius"). Members of this gens are frequently found with

cognomina A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "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 here ...

in imperial times.

Members

* Lucius Mummius, the father of the tribunes Lucius and Quintus. * Lucius Mummius L. f.,

tribune of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power o ...

in 187 BC, opposed the attempt of

Marcus Porcius Cato Marcus Porcius Cato can refer to: * Cato the Elder (consul 195 BC) * Cato the Younger (praetor 54 BC) * Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 118 BC) * Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 36) * Marcus Porcius Cato (father of Cato the Younger) * Marcus Porc ...

to place under scrutiny the payments made by

Antiochus Antiochus is a Greek male first name, which was a dynastic name for rulers of the Seleucid Empire and the Kingdom of Commagene. In Jewish historical memory, connected with the Maccabean Revolt and the holiday of Hanukkah, "Antiochus" refers spe ...

Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–183 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the best military com ...

and

Scipio Asiaticus Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus (properly Asiagenes; 3rd century BC – after 183 BC) was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic. He was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio and the younger brother of Scipio Africanus. He was elected con ...

, but withdrew his opposition under intimidation. He was praetor in 177, obtaining the province of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label= Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, af ...

. * Quintus Mummius L. f., tribune of the plebs, and a colleague of his brother Lucius in 187 BC. * Lucius Mummius L. f. L. n. Achaicus, consul in 146 BC, was a ''novus homo'', but earned his surname by defeating the Achaean League, and bringing all of Greece under Roman control. Despite his burning of

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...

, Mummius gradually won the trust of the Greeks by establishing good government and embracing Hellenic culture. * Spurius Mummius L. f. L. n., the brother of Achaicus, to whom he was philosophically opposed. Spurius served as his brother's

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

at Corinth in 146 and 145 BC. He opposed the establishment of rhetorical academies at Rome, and wrote letters on ethics and satire. * Spurius Mummius S. n., was a friend of Cicero, to whom he would read his grandfather's letters. In 46 BC, Cicero wrote that Mummius had died not long before. * Mummius, a legate of

Marcus Licinius Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115 – 53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome." Wallechinsky, David & Wallace, ...

in 72 BC, during the

Servile War The Servile Wars were a series of three slave revolts ("servile" is derived from "''servus''", Latin for "slave") in the late Roman Republic. Wars * First Servile War (135−132 BC) — in Sicily, led by Eunus, a former slave claiming to be a p ...

. He was defeated by

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...

. * Marcus Mummius, while praetor in 70 BC, presided over the trial of

Verres Gaius Verres (c. 120–43 BC) was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence adv ...

. * Mummius, a comic playwright, active after 90 BC, mentioned by

Charisius Flavius Sosipater Charisius ( 4th century AD) was a Latin grammarian. He was probably an African by birth, summoned to Constantinople to take the place of Euanthius, a learned commentator on Terence. ''Ars Grammatica'' The ''Ars Grammatica'', ...

Priscian Priscianus Caesariensis (), commonly known as Priscian ( or ), was a Latin grammarian and the author of the ''Institutes of Grammar'', which was the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the Middle Ages. It also provided the raw materia ...

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

, and

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 ...

. *

Mummia Achaica Mummia Achaica was the mother of the Roman Emperor Galba and his elder brother Gaius. She was the granddaughter of Quintus Lutatius Catulus and great-granddaughter of the general Lucius Mummius Achaicus Lucius Mummius (2nd century BC), was a ...

, great-granddaughter of Lucius Mummius Achaicus, and mother of the emperor

Galba Galba (; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Ga ...

. * Mummius Lupercus, sent by the consul

Marcus Hordeonius Flaccus Marcus Hordeonius Flaccus (died 69 AD) was a Roman senator who lived during the first century. He was suffect consul for the ''nundinium'' of March to April 47 as the colleague of Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Sedatus, and later commander of the Rhine ...

with two legions to fight

Gaius Julius Civilis Gaius Julius Civilis was the leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69 AD. His nomen shows that he (or one of his male ancestors) was made a Roman citizen (and thus, the tribe a Roman vassal) by either Augustus or Caligula. Ear ...

, leader of the Batavi, in AD 69. After being defeated, Mummius found his forces besieged; faced with starvation, his men eventually surrendered, and Mummius was slain by his captors. * Lucius Mummius Niger Quintus Valerius Vegetus, consul ''suffectus'' in AD 112. *

Publius Mummius Sisenna Publius Mummius Sisenna was a Roman politician who was '' consul ordinarius'' in 133 with Marcus Antonius Hiberus as his colleague, and governor of Roman Britain shortly afterwards. Hadrian's Wall may have been finished under his governorship. ...

, consul in AD 133. *

Publius Mummius Sisenna Rutilianus Publius Mummius Sisenna Rutilianus was a Roman senator of the second century AD. He is best known from Lucian's vivid portrayal of him in ''Alexander vel Pseudomantis'', where the senator is described as "a man of good family and tested in many Ro ...

, consul ''suffectus'' in AD 146. * Lucius Mummius Felix Cornelianus, consul in AD 237.''PIR'', vol. I, p. 387. * Mummius Bassus, consul in AD 258.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

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

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

, ''

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, 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 Ser ...

'', ''De Lege Agraria contra Rullum'', ''

De Officiis ''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'' or ''On Obligations'') is a political and ethical treatise by the Roman orator, philosopher, and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero written in 44 BC. The treatise is divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds ...

'', ''

De Oratore ''De Oratore'' (''On the Orator''; not to be confused with '' 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, d ...

'', ''

De Republica ''De re publica'' (''On the Commonwealth''; 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 ...

'', ''

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 ot ...

'', ''

In Verrem "In Verrem" ("Against Verres") is a series of speeches made by Cicero in 70 BC, during the corruption and extortion trial of Gaius Verres, the former governor of Sicily. The speeches, which were concurrent with Cicero's election to the aedileship ...

'', ''

Laelius de Amicitia ''Laelius de Amicitia'' (or simply ''De Amicitia'') is a treatise on friendship (''amicitia'') by the Roman statesman and author Marcus Tullius Cicero, written in 44 BC. Background The work is written as a dialogue between prominent figures of th ...

'', ''Orator ad M. Brutum'', ''

Paradoxa Stoicorum The ''Paradoxa Stoicorum'' ( en, Stoic Paradoxes) is a work by the academic skepticism, academic skeptic philosopher Cicero in which he attempts to explain six famous Stoicism, Stoic sayings that appear to go against common understanding: (1) vir ...

'', ''Pro Gaio Cornelio'', ''Pro Murena''. *

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

, ''

Bibliotheca Historica ''Bibliotheca historica'' ( grc, Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, ) is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, a ...

'' (Library of History). * 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 in ...

), ''

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

'' (History of Rome). * Strabo, ''

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman ...

''. *

Marcus Velleius Paterculus Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; c. 19 BC – c. AD 31) 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 per ...

, ''Compendium of Roman History''. *

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: '' Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus' ...

, ''

Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia'') by Valerius Maximus (c. 20 BC – c. AD 50) was written arou ...

'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings). * Gaius Plinius Secundus (

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

), ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. ...

'' (Natural History). *

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 historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

, ''

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 ...

'', '' Historiae''. *

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ...

us, ''

Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Plutarch's ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', commonly called ''Parallel Lives'' or ''Plutarch's Lives'', is a series of 48 biographies of famous men, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, probably writt ...

''. *

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

, ''

De Vita Caesarum ''De vita Caesarum'' ( Latin; "About the Life of the Caesars"), commonly known as ''The Twelve Caesars'', is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The ...

'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars). *

Lucius Annaeus Florus Three main sets of works are attributed to Florus (a Roman cognomen): ''Virgilius orator an poeta'', an Epitome of Roman History and a collection of 14 short poems (66 lines in all). As to whether these were composed by the same person, or set of ...

, ''Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum Omnium Annorum DCC'' (Epitome of Livy: All the Wars of Seven Hundred Years). * Appianus Alexandrinus (

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Ancient Greeks, Greek historian with Ancient Rome, Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of ...

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

, ''Noctes Atticae'' (Attic Nights). *

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: * Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of ...

, ''

Description of Greece Pausanias ( /pɔːˈseɪniəs/; grc-gre, Παυσανίας; c. 110 – c. 180) was a Greek traveler and geographer of the second century AD. He is famous for his ''Description of Greece'' (, ), a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece ...

''. * 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 on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

), ''Roman History''. * Eutropius, ''Breviarium Historiae Romanae'' (Abridgement of the History of Rome). *

Paulus Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal) ...

, ''Historiarum Adversum Paganos'' (History Against the Pagans). *

Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

, ''Saturnalia''. * Priscianus Caesariensis (

), ''Institutiones Grammaticae'' (Institutes of Grammar). *

Joannes Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ζωναρᾶς ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Greek historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he ...

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

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). *

Paul von Rohden Paul von Rohden (12 December 1862, Barmen – 28 February 1939, Pieterlen) was a German-Swiss schoolteacher and historian known for his research in the field of prosopography. He was the son of theologian Ludwig von Rohden (1815–1889) and the br ...

Elimar Klebs Elimar Klebs (15 October 1852 – 16 May 1918) was a German historian of ancient history. He was the brother of botanist Georg Klebs. Biography Klebs was born in Braunsberg (Braniewo), Prussia. He studied in Berlin under Theodor Mommsen ...

, &

Hermann Dessau Hermann Dessau (6 April 1856, Frankfurt am Main – 12 April 1931, Berlin) was a German ancient historian and epigrapher. He is noted for a key work of textual criticism published in 1889 on the '' Historia Augusta'', which uncovered reasons ...

, ''

Prosopographia Imperii Romani The ', abbreviated ''PIR'', is a collective historical work to establish the prosopography of high-profile people from the Roman empire. The time period covered extends from the Battle of Actium in 31 BC to the reign of Diocletian. The final vol ...

'' (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire, abbreviated ''PIR''), Berlin (1898). * T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952). {{DEFAULTSORT:Mummia (gens) Roman gentes

Praenomina

Branches and cognomina

Members

See also

Footnotes

References

Bibliography