Tullia gens

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The gens Tullia was a family at ancient Rome, with both patrician and plebeian branches. The first of this gens to obtain the consulship was Manius Tullius Longus in 500 BC, but the most illustrious of the family was Marcus Tullius Cicero, the statesman, orator, and scholar of the first century BC. The earliest of the Tullii who appear in history were patrician, but all of the Tullii mentioned in later times were plebeian, and some of them were descended from freedmen. [1] The English form Tully, often found in older works, especially in reference to Cicero, is now considered antiquated.

Contents

Origin

The nomen Tullius is a patronymic surname, derived from the old Latin praenomen Tullus , probably from a root meaning to support, bear, or help. [2] The Tullii of the Republic sometimes claimed descent from Servius Tullius, the sixth King of Rome, who according to some traditions was the son of Servius Tullius, a prince of Corniculum who was slain in battle against the Romans under Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth Roman king. [3] However, the Roman historians report that the Tullii were one of the Alban noble families that came to Rome after the destruction of their city during the reign of Tullus Hostilius, the third King of Rome. [4] This would probably make the Tullii one of the gentes minores, the lesser patrician houses of the Republic. [1] [5]

Praenomina

The main praenomina used by the Tullii were Marcus and Lucius . To these, the Tullii Cicerones added Quintus . Manius is found only among the patrician Tullii at the beginning of the Republic, and there are individual instances of Sextus and Tiberius .

Branches and cognomina

The patrician Tullii bore the cognomen Longus, tall, but only one of them appears in history. [6] The notable plebeian families bore the surnames Decula and Cicero. The latter, among the most famous of Roman cognomina, belongs to a common class of surnames derived from familiar objects. [7] This family came from Arpinum, the inhabitants of which were granted Roman citizenship in 188 BC. Plutarch reports that the surname was given to an ancestor of the orator, who had a cleft in the tip of his nose in the shape of a chickpea, or cicer. At the beginning of his career, Cicero was urged to adopt a more auspicious surname, but he declined, stating that he would make the name famous. [8] Most other surnames found with the Tullii of the Republic belonged to freedmen, but a number of the family bore no cognomen. [1] [9]

Members

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

Early Tullii

Tullii Cicerones

Others

See also

Notes

  1. Dionysius gives his name as Marcus Atilius.
  2. Perhaps the same person as Manius Tullius Longus, the consul of 500 BC, although Longus is supposed to have died during his consulship; the connection of this name with the mysterious events of 486 is uncertain. [26]
  3. Broughton explains that Festus refers to such an incident, but the manuscript explaining it is defective. Valerius Maximus says that Publius Mucius, a tribune of the plebs, burned nine of his colleagues for conspiring with Cassius, but Broughton notes that there were probably not ten tribunes of the plebs at this period, and that most or all of the names given by Festus belong to patricians, seven of them apparently corresponding with those of former consuls, so Broughton concludes that they were not tribunes of the plebs, although they might have been military tribunes, and that the nature of the event in question is not at all certain.
  4. Livy and Zonaras give Tullius, which is preferred by modern historians, but Dionysius calls him Tullus Attius, giving the form normally used as a praenomen, while Plutarch calls him Tullus Aufidius. Attius is a known praenomen, most familiar from Attius Clausus, the Sabine nobleman who removed to Rome, where he was known as Appius Claudius. However, Attius is also found as a nomen gentilicium in imperial times.
  5. A misreading of M. Tullius appears to have led to Laurea's epigrams being attributed to Satullius and Tatullius.

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References

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Bibliography