Related Research Articles
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilian, although the alternate spellings of Quintillian and Quinctilian are occasionally seen, the latter in older texts.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Elder, also known as Seneca the Rhetorician, was a Roman writer, born of a wealthy equestrian family of Corduba, Hispania. He wrote a collection of reminiscences about the Roman schools of rhetoric, six books of which are extant in a more or less complete state and five others in epitome only. His principal work, a history of Roman affairs from the beginning of the Civil Wars until the last years of his life, is almost entirely lost to posterity. Seneca lived through the reigns of three significant emperors; Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula. He was the father of Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus, best known as a Proconsul of Achaia; his second son was the dramatist and Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger (Lucius), who was tutor of Nero, and his third son, Marcus Annaeus Mela, became the father of the poet Lucan.
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 Pompeia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, first appearing in history during the second century BC, and frequently occupying the highest offices of the Roman state from then until imperial times. The first of the Pompeii to obtain the consulship was Quintus Pompeius in 141 BC, but by far the most illustrious of the gens was Gnaeus Pompeius, surnamed Magnus, a distinguished general under the dictator Sulla, who became a member of the First Triumvirate, together with Caesar and Crassus. After the death of Crassus, the rivalry between Caesar and Pompeius led to the Civil War, one of the defining events of the final years 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.
Ancient Roman philosophy was heavily influenced by the ancient Greeks and the schools of Hellenistic philosophy; however, unique developments in philosophical schools of thought occurred during the Roman period as well. Interest in philosophy was first excited at Rome in 155 BCE. by an Athenian embassy consisting of the Academic skeptic Carneades, the Stoic Diogenes of Babylon, and the Peripatetic Critolaus.
Arellius Fuscus was an ancient Roman orator. He spoke with ease in both Latin and Greek, in an elegant and ornate style. Charles Thomas Cruttwell says that Arellius was an Asiatic, that is, a practitioner of an elevated oratorical style.
Marcus Porcius Latro was a celebrated Roman rhetorician who is considered one of the founders of scholastic rhetoric.
Alphius Avitus was a Latin poet believed to have flourished during the reigns of the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius, that is, the late 1st century BC or early 1st century AD. Many suppose him to be the same person with Alfius Flavus—the precocious pupil of Lucius Cestius Pius and contemporary with Seneca the Elder, who while only a boy was so renowned for his eloquence that crowds flocked to listen to his orations—and with a "Flavius Alfius", who is referred to by Pliny the Elder as an authority for a story about dolphins. This has led some scholars to conjecture that this person's full, correct name may have been "Flavus Alfius Avitus". All this is very uncertain. We know from the ancient grammarian Terentianus that Alphius Avitus composed a work about "Illustrious Men", in iambic dimeters, extending to several books; and eight lines are cited by Priscian from the second book, forming a part of the legend of the Faliscan schoolteacher who betrayed his students to Marcus Furius Camillus; besides which, three lines more from the first book are contained in some manuscripts of the same grammarian. These fragments are given in the Latin Anthology of Pieter Burman the Younger.
The gens Arellia was a plebeian family at Rome. Although of equestrian rank, this gens does not appear to have been particularly large or important, and is known primarily from three individuals.
The gens Catia was a plebeian family at Rome from the time of the Second Punic War to the 3rd century AD. The gens achieved little importance during the Republic, but held several consulships in imperial times.
The gens Cestia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome during the later Republic, and in imperial times. The first member of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Cestius Gallus in AD 35. The family's name is commemorated on two monuments, the Pons Cestius and the Pyramid of Cestius which survive into modern times.
Bruttedius Niger was a rhetor and politician of the early Roman Empire. He also wrote a historical work.
The School of the Sextii was a Roman school of philosophy. It arose around 50 BC, founded by Quintus Sextius the Elder, and later promulgated by his son, Sextius Niger. The school was of small importance and soon became extinct, lasting only until around 19 AD, due to the banishment of foreign cults. It was a philosophy in the Classical sense — a way of life; it emphasized asceticism and moral training. It characterized itself mainly as a philosophical-medical school, blending Pythagorean, Platonic, Cynic, and Stoic elements together. From the school, there are few primary sources, and secondary literature is almost non-existent.
The gens Hateria, occasionally Ateria, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, known from the last century of the Republic and under the early Empire. The most distinguished of the Haterii was Quintus Haterius, a senator and rhetorician in the time of Augustus and Tiberius. He was consul suffectus in 5 BC.
The gens Magia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned at the time of the Second Punic War. Although several of them performed useful service to the Roman state, none of the Magii ever held the consulship.
The gens Papinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned toward the end of the Republic. In imperial times, the family achieved some prominence, with Sextus Papinius Alienus holding the consulship in AD 36. The nomen Papinius is sometimes confused with the more common Papirius and Pomponius.
The gens Passiena, occasionally written Passienia, Passenia, Passennia, or Passenna, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, originally of equestrian rank, but at least one member was later admitted to the patriciate. Members of this gens appear in history from the early years of the Empire down to the third century, and several obtained the consulship, beginning with Lucius Passienus Rufus in 4 BC.
The gens Seia was a minor plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Cicero, and a few of them held various magistracies under the late Republic and into imperial times.
The gens Silia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned as early as the fifth century BC, but first to hold the consulship was Publius Silius Nerva, in the time of Augustus. The Silii remained prominent until the time of the Severan dynasty, in the early third century.
References
-
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Donne, William Bodham (1870). "Faberius". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . 2. p. 130.
