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Publicia gens

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Denarius of Gaius Publicius, 80 BC. The obverse depicts a head of Roma, while on the reverse Hercules is strangling the Nemean lion, perhaps an allusion to the famous Temple of Hercules at Cora.

The gens Publicia (Pūblicia),[1] occasionally found as Poblicia or Poplicia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in history during the period following the First Punic War, and the only one to achieve the consulship was Marcus Publicius Malleolus in 232 BC.[2]

Origin

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The nomen Publicius belongs to a class of gentilicia derived from words ending in -icus.[3] The root, publicus, is a Latin adjective meaning "of the people".[4] Although the Publicii are not mentioned at Rome prior to the third century BC, they claimed descent from a legendary figure from the time of the kings. Ancus Publicius of Cora was said to have been one of the generals of the Latin League, together with Spurius Vecilius of Lavinium, in a war against the Romans during the reign of Tullus Hostilius, the third King of Rome, who claimed dominion over the cities of Latium following the destruction of Alba Longa.[5]

Praenomina

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Apart from Ancus, a name found only in antiquity, the praenomina associated with the Publicii appearing in history are Lucius, Gaius, Marcus, Quintus, and Gnaeus, all of which were among the most common names throughout Roman history.

Branches and cognomina

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There were two main branches, or stirpes, of the Publicii under the Republic, distinguished by the cognomina Malleolus and Bibulus.[2] The surname Malleolus is a diminutive of malleus, a hammer, which was used as an emblem on coins of this family.[6][7] The Publicii Malleoli flourished from the middle of the third century BC to the beginning of the first. Bibulus refers to a tippler, one known for drinking.[8] Members of this family are mentioned in the time of the Second Punic War. Other surnames are found in imperial times.[2] One family of the Publicii lived at Adria in Sabinum.[9]

Members

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This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

Early Publicii

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Publicii Malleoli

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Denarius of Gaius Publicius Malleolus, late 90s BC. The obverse depicts a head of Mars and a hammer, alluding to the surname Malleolus. On the reverse is a naked warrior between a trophy and a ballot, with the inscription "C. Malleolus".

Publicii Bibuli

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Others

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Denarius of Marcus Publicius, 46–45. The obverse depicts Roma, whilst the reverse shows Hispania bestowing the palm-branch of victory to a soldier on a ship, alluding to the arrival of the Pompeians in Spain after their defeat at Thapsus.
  • Gaius Publicius, remarked that a certain Publius Mummius was "a man for all occasions," a figure of speech recorded by Cato the Elder, and subsequently mentioned by Cicero in his dialogue on oratory. Glandorp suggests that he might the same person as Gaius Publicius Bibulus, tribune of the plebs in 209 BC.[29]
  • Lucius Publicius, a slave merchant, and a friend of Sextus Naevius, whom Cicero mentions in 81 BC.[30]
  • Marcus Publicius M. f. Scaeva, a senator in 73 BC.[31][32]
  • Publicius, a seer mentioned by Cicero.[33]
  • Publicius, an eques who gained notoriety for ambitus, or electoral bribery, about 70 BC.[34]
  • Publicia, became Flaminica Martialis in 69 BC, as her husband, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Niger, was inaugurated as Flamen Martialis.[35][36]
  • Quintus Publicius Q. f., praetor circa 67 BC, presided over the trial of Decimus Matrinius, whom Cicero defended.[37][38]
  • Gaius Publicius Q. f., triumvir monetalis in 80 BC, probably the brother of Quintus Publicius, the praetor.[39]
  • Quintus Publicius Q. f. Q. n., a senator buried at Verona, had been legatus pro praetore in an uncertain province.[40]
  • Publicius Gellius, a jurist, who had been one of the pupils of Servius Sulpicius Rufus. He might perhaps be the same person as Quintus Publicius, the praetor.[41][42]
  • Publicius, a member of the conspiracy of Catiline.[43]
  • Marcus Publicius, a legatus pro praetore serving under the younger Pompeius in Spain from 46 to 45 BC, minted coins prior to the Battle of Munda.[44]
  • Gnaeus Publicius Menander, a freedman, whom Cicero mentions in his oration, Pro Balbo.[45]
  • Gnaeus Publicius Regulus, one of the duumviri quinquennales at Corinth in from AD 50 to 51. He issued a series of bronze coins during his magistracy.[46]
  • [[[Publicius Certus]] [ca], denounced Helvidius Priscus for disloyalty during the reign of Domitian, resulting in Helvidius' death. He was made praefectus aerarii, and promised the consulship, but was accused by Pliny the Younger following the death of Domitian, and was deprived of his position, dying shortly thereafter.[47]
  • Lucius Publicius Celsus, consul in AD 113, and subsequently put to death by Hadrian, is apparently a mistake for Lucius Publilius Celsus.[48][49]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Chapter 3, Charles E. Bennett (1907) The Latin Language – a historical outline of its sounds, inflections, and syntax. Allyn & Bacon, Boston.
  2. ^ a b c Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 600 ("Publicia Gens").
  3. ^ Chase, p. 126.
  4. ^ New College Latin and English Dictionary, s. v. publicus.
  5. ^ a b Dionysius, iii. 34.
  6. ^ Chase, p. 113.
  7. ^ a b Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 333–336.
  8. ^ Chase, p. 111.
  9. ^ Sorricchio, Hatria = Atri, p. 311.
  10. ^ a b c d Broughton, vol. I, pp. 219, 220 (note 3), 225.
  11. ^ Tacitus, Annales, ii. 49.
  12. ^ Festus, p. 238 (ed. Müller).
  13. ^ Ovid, Fasti, v. 279, ff.
  14. ^ Varro, De Lingua Latina, v. 158 (ed. Müller).
  15. ^ Velleius Paterculus, i. 14.
  16. ^ Zonaras, viii, p. 401, ff.
  17. ^ Mattingly, 1922, p. 231.
  18. ^ Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 298, 299.
  19. ^ Livy, Epitome, 58.
  20. ^ Cicero, Rhetorica ad Herennium, i. 13.
  21. ^ Orosius, v. 16.
  22. ^ Cicero, In Verrem, i. 15, 36.
  23. ^ Broughton, vol. II, p. 80.
  24. ^ Livy, xxii. 53.
  25. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 251.
  26. ^ Livy, xxvii. 20, 21.
  27. ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia, i. 7.
  28. ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 286, 289 (note 4).
  29. ^ Cicero, De Oratore, ii. 67.
  30. ^ Cicero, Pro Quinctio, 6.
  31. ^ SIG, 747.
  32. ^ Broughton, vol. II, p. 115.
  33. ^ Cicero, De Divinatione, i. 50, ii. 55.
  34. ^ Pseudo-Asconius, In Ciceronis in Verrem, p. 135 (ed. Orelli).
  35. ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia, iii. 13.
  36. ^ Broughton, vol. II, p. 135.
  37. ^ Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 45.
  38. ^ Broughton, vol. II, p. 143, 150 (note 3).
  39. ^ Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, p. 396.
  40. ^ Wiseman, pp. 158–159.
  41. ^ Digesta, 1. tit. 2. s. 2. § 44; 31. s. 50. § 2; 35. tit. 1. s. 51. § 1; 38. tit. 17. s. 2. § 8.
  42. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 236 ("Publicius Gellius").
  43. ^ Cicero, In Catilinam, ii. 2.
  44. ^ Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, p. 479.
  45. ^ Cicero, Pro Balbo, 11.
  46. ^ Amandry, pp. 56, 73.
  47. ^ Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, ix. 13.
  48. ^ Cassius Dio, lxviii. 16, lxix. 2.
  49. ^ Aelius Spartianus, "The Life of Hadrian", 4, 7.

Bibliography

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