Footnotes
- ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita , xxv. 3.
- ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita , xxv. 3-4.
Spurius Carvilius was tribune of the people at Rome in 212 BC. Together with Lucius Carvilius (perhaps his brother), he proposed that a fine of 200,000 asses be levied against Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis, for defrauding the state. Postumius was one of the "farmers of the taxes", who made their living shipping goods to Roman forces overseas during the Second Punic War. He made a habit of sabotaging his own shipments and claiming losses from these and other imaginary shipwrecks, for which he was re-imbursed by the state. [1]
After Postumius' trial nearly escalated into a riot between the people and his supporters, the Carvilii brought capital charges before the Senate. Postumius gave surety and chose to go into exile rather than appear in person, and many of his supporters likewise chose exile over imprisonment. In this way, Spurius and Lucius Carvilius were able to halt this pernicious drain on the treasury, during a critical point in the war. [2]
The gens Baebia was a plebeian family in ancient Rome. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus, in 182 BC. During the later Republic, the Baebii were frequently connected with the patrician family of the Aemilii.
The gens Mamilia was a plebeian family at Rome during the period of the Republic. The gens was originally one of the most distinguished families of Tusculum, and indeed in the whole of Latium. It is first mentioned in the time of the Tarquins; and it was to a member of this family, Octavius Mamilius, that Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, betrothed his daughter. The gens obtained Roman citizenship in the 5th century BC, and some of its members must subsequently have settled at Rome, where Lucius Mamilius Vitulus became the first of the family to hold the consulship in 265 BC, the year before the First Punic War.
The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary Roman victory over the Latin League shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic and as part of a wider Latin War. The Latins were led by an elderly Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, who had been expelled in 509 BC, and his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, the dictator of Tusculum. The battle marked the final attempt of the Tarquins to reclaim their throne. According to legend, Castor and Pollux fought on the side of the Romans.
Tribunus plebis, rendered in English as tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune, was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate and magistrates. These tribunes had the power to convene and preside over the Concilium Plebis ; to summon the senate; to propose legislation; and to intervene on behalf of plebeians in legal matters; but the most significant power was to veto the actions of the consuls and other magistrates, thus protecting the interests of the plebeians as a class. The tribunes of the plebs were sacrosanct, meaning that any assault on their person was punishable by death. In imperial times, the powers of the tribunate were granted to the emperor as a matter of course, and the office itself lost its independence and most of its functions. During the day the tribunes used to sit on the tribune benches on the Forum Romanum.
Publius Valerius Poplicola or Publicola was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year of the Roman Republic.
Lucius Postumius Albinus was a statesman of the Roman Republic.
The gens Sempronia was a Roman family of great antiquity. It included both patrician and plebeian branches. The first of the Sempronii to obtain the consulship was Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, in 497 BC, the twelfth year of the Republic. The patrician Sempronii frequently obtained the highest offices of the state in the early centuries of the Republic, but they were eclipsed by the plebeian families of the gens at the end of the fourth century BC. The glory of the Sempronia gens is confined to the Republican period. Very few persons of this name, and none of them of any importance, are mentioned under the Empire.
Publius Furius Sp. f. M. n. Philus was a consul in 223 BC, a praetor in 216, and a censor in 214. He died the following year, before resigning his office.
Octavius Mamilius was princeps of Tusculum, an ancient city of Latium. He was the son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome. According to tradition, the gens Mamilia was descended from Mamilia, reputedly a granddaughter of Ulysses (Odysseus) and Circe. Titus Livius described Octavius as head of one of the most distinguished families of Latium, and thus an important ally of Tarquinius.
Marcus Postumius, surnamed Pyrgensis, is described by Livius as a "farmer of the taxes" during the Second Punic War, whose character for avarice and fraud were equaled only by Titus Pomponius Veientanus.
The gens Carvilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first distinguished itself during the Samnite Wars. The first member of this gens to achieve the consulship was Spurius Carvilius Maximus, in 293 BC.
Spurius Carvilius C. f. C. n., later surnamed Maximus, was the first member of the plebeian gens Carvilia to obtain the consulship, which he held in 293 BC, and again in 272 BC.
Spurius Carvilius Maximus Ruga was Roman consul in 234 and 228 BC. Spurius Carvilius Ruga, the schoolteacher, was his freedman.
Lucius Carvilius was tribune of the people at Rome in 212 BC. Together with Spurius Carvilius, perhaps his brother, he proposed that a fine of 200,000 asses be levied against Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis, for defrauding the state. Postumius was one of the "farmers of the taxes", who made their living shipping goods to Roman forces overseas during the Second Punic War. He made a habit of sabotaging his own shipments and claiming losses from these and other imaginary shipwrecks, for which he was re-imbursed by the state.
Spurius Carvilius was sent by Gnaeus Sicinius to Rome in 171 BC, when Perseus despatched an embassy to the Senate. The Senate ordered the ambassadors to quit Italy within eleven days, and Carvilius was appointed to keep watch over them, till they embarked on board their ships.
The gens Aurunculeia was a plebeian family at Rome. None of the members of this gens ever obtained the consulship; the first who obtained the praetorship was Gaius Aurunculeius, in 209 BC.
The gens Hostilia was an ancient family at Rome, which traced its origin to the time of Romulus. The most famous member of the gens was Tullus Hostilius, the third King of Rome; however, all of the Hostilii known from the time of the Republic were plebeians. Several of the Hostilii were distinguished during Punic Wars. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Aulus Hostilius Mancinus in 170 BC.
The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at Rome, which from an early period was divided into patrician and plebeian branches. The gens was of great antiquity, and frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of the Republic. The first of the family who obtained the consulship was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early tribunes of the people.
The gens Duilia or Duillia was a plebeian family at Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Duilius, tribune of the plebs in BC 470. The family produced several important statesmen over the first three centuries of the Republic, before fading into obscurity.
Spurius Servilius Priscus Structus was a Roman consul in 476 BC.