Munatia (gens)

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Statue of Lucius Munatius Plancus, in the Rathaus of Basel. Plancus founded the colony of Raurica, now Basel, in 43 BC. The statue, depicting Plancus in the Renaissance version of Roman armor, is dated 1580. Plancus-Statue.jpg
Statue of Lucius Munatius Plancus, in the Rathaus of Basel. Plancus founded the colony of Raurica, now Basel, in 43 BC. The statue, depicting Plancus in the Renaissance version of Roman armor, is dated 1580.

The gens Munatia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned during the second century BC, but they did not obtain any of the higher offices of the Roman state until imperial times. [3]

The plebs were, in ancient Rome, the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census. The precise origins of the group and the term are unclear, though it may be that they began as a limited political movement in opposition to the elite (patricians) which became more widely applied.

Ancient Rome History of Rome from the 8th-century BC to the 5th-century

In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, encompassing the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire. The civilization began as an Italic settlement in the Italian Peninsula, conventionally founded in 753 BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The Roman Empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, though still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants and covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117.

In ancient Rome, a gens, plural gentes, was a family consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps. The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of an individual's social standing depended on the gens to which he belonged. Certain gentes were considered patrician, others plebeian, while some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of membership in a gens declined considerably in imperial times.

Contents

Branches and cognomina

The chief surnames of the Munatii under the Republic were Flaccus, Gratus, Plancus, and Rufus. [3] Plancus, often written Plancius, denotes a person with flat feet. [4] [5] It was the cognomen of the most important family of the Munatii. [6] Some of the Munatii do not appear to have borne cognomina. [3]

Roman Republic Period of ancient Roman civilization (509–27 BC)

The Roman Republic was the era of classical Roman civilization beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom, traditionally dated to 509 BC, and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire. It was during this period that Rome's control expanded from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.

Members

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

Munatii of the Republic

Liguria Region of Italy

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Cisalpine Gaul Roman province

Cisalpine Gaul was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts (Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Conquered by the Roman Republic in the 220s BC, it was a Roman province from c. 81 BC until 42 BC, when it was merged into Roman Italy. Until that time, it was considered part of Gaul, precisely that part of Gaul on the "hither side of the Alps", as opposed to Transalpine Gaul.

Marsyas satyr in Greek mythology

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Munatii Planci

Denarius of Lucius Plautius Plancus, 47 BC. The obverse depicts a facing head of Medusa. The reverse is a reproduction of Nicomachus of Thebes' Victory in a Quadriga, which was placed in the Temple of Jupiter by Lucius Munatius Plancus, consul in 43 BC and Plautius' natural brother. Lucius Plautius Plancus, denarius, 47 BC, RRC 453-1a.jpg
Denarius of Lucius Plautius Plancus, 47 BC. The obverse depicts a facing head of Medusa. The reverse is a reproduction of Nicomachus of Thebes' Victory in a Quadriga, which was placed in the Temple of Jupiter by Lucius Munatius Plancus, consul in 43 BC and Plautius' natural brother.

Lucius Licinius Crassus, sometimes referred to simply as Crassus Orator, was a Roman consul and statesman. He was considered the greatest orator of his day, most notably by his pupil Cicero. Crassus is also famous as one of the main characters in Cicero's work De Oratore, a dramatic dialogue on the art of oratory set just before Crassus' death in 91 BC.

Lucius Munatius Plancus politician and soldier (0087-0015)

Lucius Munatius Plancus was a Roman senator, consul in 42 BC, and censor in 22 BC with Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus. Along with Talleyrand eighteen centuries later, he is one of the classic historical examples of men who have managed to survive very dangerous circumstances by constantly shifting their allegiances.

Julius Caesar 1st-century BC Roman politician and general

Gaius Julius Caesar, known by his nomen and cognomen Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician, military general, and historian who played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He also wrote Latin prose.

Aureus of Gaius Julius Caesar and Lucius Munatius Plancus, 45 BC. A bust of Victory is depicted on the obverse, while there is a jug on the reverse. The legends tell that Caesar is dictator for the third time, and Plancus has been appointed urban prefect. C. Julius Caesar and L. Munatius Plancus, aureus, 45 BC, RRC 475-1a.jpg
Aureus of Gaius Julius Caesar and Lucius Munatius Plancus, 45 BC. A bust of Victory is depicted on the obverse, while there is a jug on the reverse. The legends tell that Caesar is dictator for the third time, and Plancus has been appointed urban prefect.

Munatii of the Empire

The conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso in AD 65 was a major turning point in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero. The plot reflected the growing discontent among the ruling class of the Roman state with Nero's increasingly despotic leadership, and as a result is a significant event on the road towards his eventual suicide and the chaos of the Year of the Four Emperors which followed.

<i>Legatus</i> general in the Roman army

A legatus was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in command of a legion.

Africa (Roman province) Africa roman province

Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northwest African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the coast of western Libya along the Gulf of Sirte. The territory was originally inhabited by Berber people, known in Latin as Mauri indigenous to all of North Africa west of Egypt; in the 9th century BC, Phoenicians built settlements along the Mediterranean Sea to facilitate shipping, of which Carthage rose to dominance in the 8th century until its conquest by the Roman Republic.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft , followed by Broughton, makes Gaius Munatius Plancus the same as Gnaeus Munatius Plancus, praetor in 43 BC, who would otherwise be his brother. However, this identification is very uncertain, as the only sources that name the praetor call him Gnaeus, while the only sources that name the proscribed Plancus call him Gaius or Lucius.

See also

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The gens Pupia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned as early as 409 BC, when Publius Pupius was one of the first plebeian quaestors, but over the course of centuries they achieved little of significance, and rarely held any of the higher offices of the Roman state.

The gens Roscia, probably the same as Ruscia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned as early as the fifth century BC, but after this time they vanish into obscurity until the final century of the Republic. A number of Roscii rose to prominence in imperial times, with some attaining the consulship from the first to the third centuries.

References

  1. ↑ Seneca the Younger, Epistulae, 91.
  2. ↑ Strabo, iv. pp. 186, 192.
  3. 1 2 3 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 1120 ("Munatia Gens").
  4. ↑ Pliny the Elder, xi. 45. s. 105.
  5. ↑ Festus, s. v. Plancae.
  6. ↑ Drumann, Geschichte Roms, vol. iv., p. 205 ff.
  7. ↑ Livy, xlii. 4.
  8. ↑ Broughton, vol. I, p. 410.
  9. ↑ Pliny the Elder, xxi. 6.
  10. ↑ Cicero, In Catilinam, ii. 2.
  11. ↑ Plutarch, "The Life of Cato Minor", 9, 30, 36, 37.
  12. ↑ Valerius Maximus, iv. 3. § 2.
  13. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xiii. 60.
  14. ↑ Hirtius, De Bello Alexandrino, 52.
  15. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, x. 12.
  16. ↑ Pliny. Natural History , XXXV.108.
  17. ↑ Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, p. 468.
  18. ↑ Cicero, De Oratore, ii. 54, Pro Cluentio, 51.
  19. ↑ Quintilian, v. 3. § 44.
  20. ↑ Caesar, De Bello Gallico, v. 24 ff., De Bello Civili, i. 40.
  21. ↑ Hirtius, De Bello Africo, 4.
  22. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, x. 1–24, xi. 9, 11, 13–15, xii. 8, Philippicae, iii. 15, xiii. 19.
  23. ↑ Plutarch, "The Life of Brutus", 19, "The Life of Antonius", 56, 58.
  24. ↑ Appian, Bellum Civile, iii. 46, 74, 81, 97, iv. 12, 37, 45, v. 33, 35, 50, 55, 61, 144.
  25. ↑ Cassius Dio, xlvi. 29, 50, 53, xlvii. 16, xlviii. 24, l. 3.
  26. ↑ Velleius Paterculus, ii. 63, 74, 83.
  27. ↑ Macrobius, ii. 2.
  28. ↑ Suetonius, De Claris Rhetoribus, 6.
  29. ↑ Pliny the Elder, vii. 10, s. 12, xiii. 3. s. 5.
  30. ↑ Solinus, i. 75.
  31. ↑ Horace, Odes, Carmina i. 7.
  32. 1 2 3 PIR, vol. I, p. 390.
  33. ↑ Broughton, vol. II, pp. 307, 329, 347, 357.
  34. ↑ Cassius Dio, xl. 49, 55, xlvi. 38.
  35. ↑ Plutarch, "The Life of Pompeius", 55, "The Life of Catiline", 48.
  36. ↑ Asconius Pedianus, In Ciceronis Pro Milone, p. 32 ff. (ed. Orelli).
  37. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, vi. 1. § 10, Epistulae ad Familiares, vii. 12, xii. 18, Philippicae vi. 4., x. 10, xi. 6, xii. 8, xiii. 12.
  38. ↑ Broughton, vol. II, p. 354.
  39. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, xvi. 16, Epistulae ad Familiares, x. 6, 11, 15, 17, 21.
  40. ↑ Pliny the Elder, xii. 3. s. 5.
  41. ↑ Valerius Maximus, vi. 8. § 5.
  42. ↑ Appian, Bellum Civile, iv. 12.
  43. ↑ Velleius Paterculus, ii. 67.
  44. ↑ Cassius Dio, xlviii. 30.
  45. ↑ Velleius Paterculus, ii. 83.
  46. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, ii. 43, 55, 75, iii. 9, 15, 17, vi. 26.
  47. ↑ Cassius Dio, lvii. 18, lviii. 22.
  48. 1 2 3 4 5 PIR, vol. I, p. 392.
  49. ↑ Cassius Dio, lvi. 28.
  50. ↑ Suetonius, "The Life of Augustus", p. 102.
  51. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, i. 28.
  52. ↑ Broughton, vol. II, p. 313.
  53. ↑ Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, p. 485.
  54. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, 15, 50.
  55. ↑ PIR, vol. I, pp. 389, 390.
  56. 1 2 3 PIR, vol. I, p. 389.
  57. ↑ CIL XIV, 4562, AE 2006, 77, AE 2009, 1799.

Bibliography

Cicero 1st-century BC Roman philosopher and statesman

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, orator, lawyer and philosopher, who served as consul in the year 63 BC. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.

De Oratore rhetorical work by Cicero

De Oratore is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BCE. It is set in 91 BCE, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, during which Marcus Antonius Orator, the other great orator of this dialogue, dies. During this year, the author faces a difficult political situation: after his return from exile in Dyrrachium, his house was destroyed by the gangs of Clodius in a time when violence was common. This was intertwined with the street politics of Rome.

Epistulae ad Atticum 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 other letters, are considered the most reliable sources of information for the period leading up to the fall of the Roman Republic. The letters to Atticus are special among Cicero's works in that they provide a candid view into his personal character — containing confession, frank self-revelation, and a record of his moods from day to day, without alteration. Traditionally spanning 16 books, the collection features letters from 68 to 44 BCE. A notable absence of early references to these particular letters suggest that they may not have been published until the middle of the first century CE, significantly later than Cicero's other letters and quite some time after the deaths of both Cicero (43 BCE) and Atticus (32 BCE).

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