Nephele Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 The Licinii were the most illustrious of Republican Rome's plebeian gentes, attaining the magisterial rank of consul in 364 BCE (with C. Licinius Stolo) when the patricians had formerly dominated this office. The plebeian Licinii, however, were not without their patrician connections. M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASCLEPIADES Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Salve, Lady N The Licinii were the most illustrious of Republican Rome's plebeian gentes, attaining the magisterial rank of consul in 364 BCE (with C. Licinius Stolo) when the patricians had formerly dominated this office. Were the emperors Valerian and Gallienus truly Licinii? Was Egnatius their surname? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesar CXXXVII Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Stolo - Meaning "useless sucker." While comedic possibilities abound for such a name, the "useless sucker" in this case refers to a vegetative shoot or twig springing from the root of a tree. Pliny wrote in his Naturalis Historia (17.1) that the first member of the Licinii to bear this name of "Stolo" (most likely the consul of 364 BCE) received this name due to his having been somewhat of a horticulturist and having discovered the best method for trimming vines and clearing away useless shoots. -- Nephele This is the best ! Gaius Licinius Useless Sucker, a Roman consul ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted November 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Salve, Lady NThe Licinii were the most illustrious of Republican Rome's plebeian gentes, attaining the magisterial rank of consul in 364 BCE (with C. Licinius Stolo) when the patricians had formerly dominated this office. Were the emperors Valerian and Gallienus truly Licinii? Was Egnatius their surname? This topic really deals solely with the Licinii of the Republic. By the time of the Empire, the aristocracy was playing fast and loose with the old, established customs of Roman nomenclature. Although, the cognomen "Valerianus" suggests that the emperor had been adopted into the Licinia gens, and indeed Smith's Dictionary states that the father of the emperor Valerianus had been named Valerius. But Valerianus could have just as easily been born a Licinian. After all, the emperors Vespasianus and Domitianus had been born Flavians. I suspect the surname of "Egnatius" was derived from the maternal side of the family. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted November 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 This is the best ! Gaius Licinius Useless Sucker, a Roman consul ! Thank you. That's got to be an unforgettable name, all right. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Interesting as always! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Paulinus Maximus Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 I always look forward to your "Surnames" Neph and this one is as good as the rest, I have to agree with Caesar though, Stolo (useless sucker) has to be the best one yet. I know quite a few people I could attach that cognomen to, male and female!!! Quality as always Neph! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Great work, Nephele! I love these lists that you've been compiling; they always offer nice leads to other discoveries. It's interesting to note, for example, that beyond the large number of consuls produced by this plebeian family is also a very large number of seminal laws, including the opening of the higher magistracies to plebs. BTW, what is the relation between the name Licinus and Licinius? There was an L. Porcius Licinus, who passed the lex Porcia that protected citizens from degrading punishment like flogging and crucifixion when outside Rome (hence, the controlling law cited by Cicero in his rousing speech against Verres). Any connection between the two? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted December 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2008 Thank you, MPC, GPM, and Ursus. BTW, what is the relation between the name Licinus and Licinius? There was an L. Porcius Licinus, who passed the lex Porcia that protected citizens from degrading punishment like flogging and crucifixion when outside Rome (hence, the controlling law cited by Cicero in his rousing speech against Verres). Any connection between the two? The relation between the nomen gentilicium "Licinius" and the cognomen "Licinus" is that these are two forms of the same name (possibly of Etruscan origin). Smith's Dictionary notes that the name was found throughout the cities of Latium -- Tusculum being the home of the plebeian Porcii Licini, and Lanuvium the home of the plebeian Licinii Murenae. But the name Licinius/Licinus wasn't exclusive to plebeians, as the consuls of 273 BCE and 246 BCE -- C. Fabius Licinus and M. Fabius Licinus respectively -- were both patrician. Would you know, MPC, if either of these patrician Fabian consuls had been the same sort of champions of the lower classes, as were the Licinii and L. Porcius Licinus? -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 thank you Nephele for another excellent article on the surnames of the Republic, it has now its own page... cheers viggen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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