Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva was a Roman politician and consul in 325 BC. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva came from the Roman plebeian Junia gens. His second cognomen Scaeva is only preserved in the work of Titus Livius, [1] but his praenomen Decimus is found in the same place and is not mentioned elsewhere in Livius's work but only by Diodorus [2] as well as in Cassiodorus's chronicle.
Brutus is first mentioned in 339 BC when he held the office of Magister equitum for the dictator Quintus Publilus Philo. [3] Like Brutus, Publilus also belonged to the plebeian class, of whom very few representatives, such as Gaius Marcius Rutilus, had held the dictatorship or the position of Magister equitum up to that point. According to the ancient historian Frederick Münzer, Brutus was one of the most important plebeians of his time. [5]
In 325 BC, Brutus was the first plebeian Junii to assume the office of consul, with Lucius Furius Camillus as his colleague. [1] The previous year, the Second Samnite War had broken out, and the Vestini joined forces with the Samnites. Camillus was supposed to fight the Samnites, but, because of a supposed serious illness, he transferred command to Lucius Papirius Cursor, who had been appointed dictators. Brutus took charge of the war against the Vestini. Brutus was able to capture some otherwise unknown and probably insignificant places such as Cutina and Cingilia. Livius appears to portray the campaign of Brutus as exaggeratedly successful. [5]
In 313 BC, Brutus was probably one of the triumvirs that founded a Roman colony at Saticula in Samnium. [4] His son of the same name was consul in 292 BC together with Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges.
The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of the Tarquins, and the members of his family were among the most celebrated statesmen and generals at the beginning of the Republic. Over the next ten centuries, few gentes produced as many distinguished men, and at every period the name of Valerius was constantly to be found in the lists of annual magistrates, and held in the highest honour. Several of the emperors claimed descent from the Valerii, whose name they bore as part of their official nomenclature.
The gens Fabia was one of the most ancient patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens played a prominent part in history soon after the establishment of the Republic, and three brothers were invested with seven successive consulships, from 485 to 479 BC, thereby cementing the high repute of the family. Overall, the Fabii received 45 consulships during the Republic. The house derived its greatest lustre from the patriotic courage and tragic fate of the 306 Fabii in the Battle of the Cremera, 477 BC. But the Fabii were not distinguished as warriors alone; several members of the gens were also important in the history of Roman literature and the arts.
Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus, of the patrician Fabii of ancient Rome, was five times consul and a hero of the Samnite Wars. He was brother to Marcus Fabius Ambustus.
The gens Junia or Iunia was one of the most celebrated families of ancient Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician, and was already prominent in the last days of the Roman monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutus was the nephew of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, and on the expulsion of Tarquin in 509 BC, he became one of the first consuls of the Roman Republic.
The gens Papiria was a patrician family at ancient Rome. According to tradition, the Papirii had already achieved prominence in the time of the kings, and the first Rex Sacrorum and Pontifex Maximus of the Republic were members of this gens. Lucius Papirius Mugillanus was the first of the Papirii to obtain the consulship in 444 BC. The patrician members of the family regularly occupied the highest offices of the Roman state down to the time of the Punic Wars. Their most famous member was Lucius Papirius Cursor, five times consul between 326 and 313 BC, who earned three triumphs during the Samnite Wars. Most of the Papirii who held office under the later Republic belonged to various plebeian branches of the family. Although the most illustrious Papirii flourished in the time of the Republic, a number of the family continued to hold high office during the first two centuries of the Empire.
Lucius Papirius Cursor was a celebrated politician and general of the early Roman Republic, who was five times consul, three times magister equitum, and twice dictator. He was the most important Roman commander during the Second Samnite War, during which he received three triumphs.
The gens Quinctia, sometimes written Quintia, was a patrician family at ancient Rome. Throughout the history of the Republic, its members often held the highest offices of the state, and it produced some men of importance even during the imperial period. For the first forty years after the expulsion of the kings the Quinctii are not mentioned, and the first of the gens who obtained the consulship was Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus in 471 BC; but from that year their name constantly appears in the Fasti consulares.
Gaius Maenius was a Roman statesman and general who was elected consul in 338 BC and appointed dictator twice, in 320 BC and 314 BC.
Quintus Fabius Q. f. M. n. Maximus Gurges, the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, was consul in 292, 276, and 265 BC. After a dissolute youth and a significant military defeat during his first consulate, he was given the opportunity to salvage his reputation through the influence of his father, and became a successful general, eventually holding the highest honours of the Roman state. He was slain in battle during his third and final consulate.
The gens Postumia was a noble patrician family at ancient Rome. Throughout the history of the Republic, the Postumii frequently occupied the chief magistracies of the Roman state, beginning with Publius Postumius Tubertus, consul in 505 BC, the fifth year of the Republic. Although like much of the old Roman aristocracy, the Postumii faded for a time into obscurity under the Empire, individuals bearing the name of Postumius again filled a number of important offices from the second century AD to the end of the Western Empire.
Quintus Aulius Q. f. Q. n. Cerretanus was twice consul in the Second Samnite War, first in 323 BC with Gaius Sulpicius Longus, when he had the conduct of the war in Apulia, and a second time in 319 with Lucius Papirius Cursor, when he conquered the Ferentani and received their city into surrender.
The gens Servilia was a patrician family at ancient Rome. The gens was celebrated during the early ages of the Republic, and the names of few gentes appear more frequently at this period in the consular Fasti. It continued to produce men of influence in the state down to the latest times of the Republic, and even in the imperial period. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was Publius Servilius Priscus Structus in 495 BC, and the last of the name who appears in the consular Fasti is Quintus Servilius Silanus, in AD 189, thus occupying a prominent position in the Roman state for nearly seven hundred years.
Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus was a Roman general and statesman, he was elected consul of the Roman Republic thrice, he was also appointed dictator or magister equitum thrice, and censor in 307 BC. In 311, he made a vow to the goddess Salus that he went on to fulfill, becoming the first plebeian to build a temple. The temple was one of the first dedicated to an abstract deity, and Junius was one of the first generals to vow a temple and then oversee its establishment through the construction and dedication process.
The gens Laetoria was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear regularly throughout the history of the Republic. None of the Laetorii ever obtained the consulship, but several achieved lesser offices of the Roman state.
Lucius Julius Iullus was a member of the ancient patrician gens Julia. He was one of the consular tribunes of 438 BC, magister equitum in 431, and consul in 430 BC.
Gaius Julius Iullus was a Roman statesman and member of the ancient patrician gens Julia. He was consular tribune in 408 and 405 BC, and censor in 393.
The gens Poetelia or Poetilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of the Decemvirs, and from thence down to the Second Punic War, they regularly held the chief magistracies of the Roman state. After this, however, they fade into obscurity, and are only occasionally mentioned. The nomen Poetelius is sometimes confused with Petillius, and can be found with either a single or double 'l'.
The gens Publilia, sometimes written Poblilia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the early decades of the Republic. The lex Publilia passed by Volero Publilius, tribune of the plebs in 471 BC, was an important milestone in the struggle between the patrician and plebeian orders. Although the Publilii appear throughout the history of the Republic, the family faded into obscurity around the time of the Samnite Wars, and never again achieved positions of prominence in the Roman state.
The Battle of Imbrinium was fought in 325 BC during the Second Samnite War between the Roman Republic, led by the magister equitum, Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus and the Samnites near Imbrinium, a city in Samnium.