The Prosopographia Imperii Romani, 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 volume of the second edition, PIR2, vol. IX, V–Z, appeared in November 2015.
The first edition was rapidly achieved and published in Berlin in the line of the great works of scholarship from the historical school of economics which had been successful in achieving the project of a corpus of all the Latin inscriptions, the Corpus inscriptionum latinarum . Led by Elimar Klebs, Hermann Dessau and Paul von Rohden, [1] the first edition of the PIR was edited in three volumes from 1897 to 1898.
The implementation of a second edition was last updated in 1933 for publication in Berlin. The first booklet of the second edition was led by Edmund Groag and Arthur Stein [1] who brought together the letters A and B. The publication was interrupted by World War II while working on the letter F (1943). From 1952 they took the direction of Stein and then Leiva Petersen. After German unification the project found a new dynamic. It was from then on led by K. Wachtel. The fascicle concerning the letter S was then published in 2006, and T in 2009. The index of names and people integral to the PIR was in the meantime made searchable on the website of the PIR. [2]
Volume 2 of the PIR includes notes for all the well-known Roman senators, the nobles, and some civil servants not of equestrian rank, such as manumitted imperial freedmen who are attested in the literary tradition. Entries in the PIR are indexed by the initial letter of the name, then by the number of the entry, i.e. Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus corresponds to the entry PIR2 C 973: the 973rd entry under the letter C.
For periods after the third century which the PIR does not cover, there is Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire by A.H.M. Jones, J.R. Martindale, and John Morris. [1]
Claudia Augusta was the only daughter of the Roman Emperor Nero and his second wife, the Roman Empress Poppaea Sabina. Claudia and her mother were honored with the title of Augusta by Nero. She was born in Antium on 21 January 63 and later died five months after, of an unknown illness.
Julia Livia, was the daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla, and granddaughter of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. She was also a first cousin of the emperor Caligula, and niece of the emperor Claudius.
Claudia Antonia was the daughter and oldest surviving child of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the only child of his second wife Aelia Paetina. Antonia was a great great-niece of the Emperor Augustus, great-niece of the Emperor Tiberius, first cousin of the Emperor Caligula, half-sister to Claudia Octavia and Britannicus, and cousin, stepsister and sister-in-law of the Emperor Nero.
Hermann Dessau 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 to believe that this surviving text of ancient Roman imperial history had been written under circumstances very different from those previously believed.
Elimar Klebs was a German historian of ancient history. He was the brother of botanist Georg Klebs.
The gens Caetronia, occasionally written Cetronia, was a family at ancient Rome that flourished during the late Republic and early decades of the Empire. The nomen Caetronius is Etruscan in origin.
Titus Ollius was a prominent Roman citizen and the father of Poppaea Sabina, the Empress consort of the Roman Empire. His origins lay in Cupra Maritima, a town of Picenum; an inscription found there bears his name and that of three of his freedmen. Ollius was implicated in Sejanus' conspiracy against Tiberius, and committed suicide.
Paul von Rohden 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 brother of archaeologist Hermann von Rohden (1852–1916) and theologian Gustav von Rohden (1855–1942).
The gens Maecilia or Mecilia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Although of great antiquity, few members of this gens are mentioned in republican times, including two tribunes of the plebs in the first century of the Republic. The Maecilii appear again, somewhat sporadically, in imperial times, even obtaining the consulship during the early fourth century. One of the last emperors of the Western Empire was Marcus Maecilius Avitus.
Servius Cornelius Dolabella Petronianus was a Roman senator in the latter part of the first century. As the colleague of the emperor Domitian, he was one of the eponymous consuls of AD 86.
The gens Nasidiena was an obscure plebeian family at Rome. The gens is best known from Nasidienus Rufus, a wealthy eques whose dinner given for Maecenas is satirized by Horace.
The gens Nummia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens appear almost exclusively under the Empire. During the third century, they frequently obtained the highest offices of the Roman state.
The gens Oclatinia was an obscure Roman family of imperial times. It is best known from a single individual, Marcus Oclatinius Adventus, consul for the second time in AD 218, together with the emperor Macrinus. From various sources, we know that he was procurator Augustorum under Septimius Severus in AD 202, and governor of Britain between 205 and 207.
The gens Octavena was an obscure plebeian family at Rome. The gens is known primarily from a single individual, the jurist Octavenus, cited by a number of later authorities, although several other Octaveni are known from inscriptions.
The gens Ovinia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens occur in history toward the end of the Republic, and from then to at least the fourth century. They produced generations of Roman senators, with Gaius Ovinius Tertullus obtaining the consulship toward the end of the second century.
The gens Iasdia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Hardly any members of this gens appear in history, but a few are known from inscriptions. They were briefly prominent during the first half of the third century.
The gens Tigellia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Almost no members of this gens are mentioned by Roman writers, but a few are known from inscriptions.
The gens Trebelliena was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. The only member of this gens who achieved any importance in the Roman state was Titus Trebellienus Rufus, who attained the rank of praetor, and was appointed governor of Thrace by Tiberius in AD 19.
The gens Tuscenia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens appear in history, but others are known from inscriptions.