Verginia gens
Thegens VerginiaorVirginiawas a prominent family atancient Rome,which from an early period was divided intopatricianandplebeianbranches. Thegenswas of great antiquity. It frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of theRepublic.The first of the family who obtained theconsulshipwasOpiter Verginius Tricostusin 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the earlytribunes of the people.[1]
Origin[edit]
The orthography of thenomenVerginiusorVirginiushas been disputed since ancient times; butVerginiusis the form usually found in both manuscripts and inscriptions. Modern writers seem to favorVirginius,perhaps by analogy tovirgo,a maiden. A similar instance is presented by the nomenVergilius,which in modern times is often speltVirgilius.[2]The gens was likely ofEtruscanorigins, and may have come to Rome with theTarquins.[3]
Praenomina[edit]
The early Verginii favored thepraenominaOpiter,Proculus,Titus,Aulus,Lucius,andSpurius.In later times they used mainlyLucius, Aulus,andTitus.[4][5][6]
Branches and cognomina[edit]
All of the patrician Verginii bore thecognomenTricostus,but they were divided into various families with the surnames ofCaeliomontanus, Esquilinus,andRutilus,respectively. The surnamesCaeliomontanusandEsquilinuspresumably derive from theCaelianandEsquiline Hills,where these families probably lived.Rutilusis derived from a Latin adjective, meaning "reddish," and was probably acquired because some of the Verginii had red hair. The generalLucius Verginius Rufus,who lived in the 1st century AD, may have obtained his cognomen for the same reason. Although the plebeian Verginii are also mentioned at an early period, none of them had any cognomen. Under theEmpirethere are Verginii with other surnames.[7][8]
Members[edit]
- This list includes abbreviatedpraenomina.For an explanation of this practice, seefiliation.
Verginii Tricosti[edit]
- Opiter Verginius Tricostus, father of the consul of 502 BC.
- Opiter Verginius Opet. f. Tricostus,consulin 502 BC; together with his colleague,Spurius Cassius Vecellinus,he carried on war against theAurunci,and tookPometia,in consequence of which the consuls obtained atriumph.[9][10][11]
- Opiter Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus,according toLivius,consul in 473 BC withLucius Aemilius Mamercus;other authorities nameVopiscus Julius Iulusas the colleague of Aemilius.[12]
- Proculus Verginius Tricostus,consul in 435 BC, in which year there was a great pestilence at Rome, allowing theFidenatesandVeientesto advance deep into Roman territory. While his colleague,Gaius Julius Iuluscommanded the city's defenses, Virginius consulted thesenateand nominatedLucius Aemilius Mamercinusasdictator.[13][14]
- Lucius Verginius Tricostus,tribunus militum consulari potestatein 389 BC, the year following theGallic sack of Rome.[15]
Tricosti Caeliomontani[edit]
- Aulus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus, father of the consuls of 496 and 494 BC.
- Titus Verginius A. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus,consul in 496 BC withAulus Postumius Albus Regillensis.[16][17][18]
- Aulus Verginius A. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus,consul in 494 BC, he marched against theVolsci,whom he defeated, and took the town ofVelitrae.He was one of the envoys sent by the senate to treat with the plebs during thesecessionof that year.[19][20][21]
- Titus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus, father of the consul of 448 BC.
- Aulus Verginius A. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus,consul in 469 BC, marched against theAequi.His army was nearly destroyed in consequence of his own negligence, but through the valor of his soldiers he eventually defeated the Aequian force.[22][23][24]
- Spurius Verginius A. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus,consul in 456 BC; in his consulship theludi saecularesare said to have been celebrated for the second time.[25][26][27][28]
- Spurius Verginius S. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, a patrician youth who gave testimony againstTitus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus,during his trial in 454 BC.[29]
- Titus Verginius T. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus,consul in 448 BC.[30][31][32]
Tricosti Esquilini[edit]
- Opiter Verginius Tricostus Esquilinus,consulsuffectusin 478 BC, in the place of Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala, who died in his year of office.[33]
- Lucius Verginius Opet. f. Tricostus Esquilinus, father of the consular tribune of 402 BC.
- Lucius Verginius L. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Esquilinus,tribunus militum consulari potestatein 402 BC; the siege of Veii was entrusted to him and his colleague, Manius Sergius Fidenas, but because of their personal enmity, the Veientes were relieved, and Sergius' force was overpowered. The two tribunes were compelled to resign, and in the following year they were tried and condemned to pay a heavy fine.[34][35]
Tricosti Rutili[edit]
- Proculus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus,consul in 486 BC, marched against theAequi,but as they would not meet him in the field, he ravaged their territory. He actively opposed theagrarian lawbrought forward by his colleague,Spurius Cassius Vecellinus.[36][37]
- Titus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus,consul in 479 BC withCaeso Fabius Vibulanus;the same year theFabiiresolved to leave Rome in order to carry on the war againstVeii.Verginius was anaugur,and died during the great pestilence which devastated Rome in 463 BC.[38][39][40]
- Aulus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus, consul in 476 BC.[41][42][43]
Others[edit]
- Publius Verginius, a senator in 494 BC, during thefirst secession of the plebs,who advocated that debt relief be granted only to those plebeians who had served in the army.[44]
- Aulus Verginius,tribune of the plebsin 461 BC, he accusedCaeso,son of the dictatorCincinnatus,and after a severe struggle obtained his condemnation.[45]
- Lucius Verginius, the father of Verginia, whose tragic fate occasioned the downfall of thedecemvirs,in 449 BC; he was subsequently elected one of thetribuni plebisfor that year.
- Verginia L. f.,was taken into custody by Marcus Claudius, a client ofAppius Claudius Crassus,who claimed her as his slave. According to legend, the judgment of Appius that Verginia was indeed a slave led to the downfall of the decemvirs.
- Aulus Verginius,tribunus plebisin 395 BC, together with his colleague, Quintus Pomponius Rufus, opposed a measure to establish acolonyatVeii.Two years later, the tribunes were condemned and fined for their position.[46]
- Aulus Verginius, one of the patrician Verginii; his daughter, Verginia, went over to the plebeians.
- Verginia A. f.,a patrician by birth, married the plebeianLucius Volumnius Flamma Violens,who was consul in 307 and 296 BC. She dedicated a chapel in which plebeian women could honor the goddessPudicitia,after being excluded from her worship by the patricians on account of her marriage to a plebeian.[47]
- Lucius Verginius,military tribunein 207 BC, during theSecond Punic War.He brought the captured messengers ofHasdrubalto the consul,Gaius Claudius Nero.[48]
- Verginius, according toPlutarchus,thetribunus plebiswho accusedSullain 87 BC; according toCicero,his name wasMarcus Vergilius.[49][50]
- Verginius, an orator proscribed by thetriumvirsin 43 BC; he escaped toSicilyby promising large sums of money to his slaves, and then to the soldiers who were sent to kill him.[51]
- Verginius Capito, the master of a slave who escaped from the citadel atTarracinaduring the war betweenVitelliusandVespasian,in AD 69, and betrayed the citadel toLucius Vitellius,the emperor's brother.[52]
- Verginius Flavus, a rhetorician, who flourished during the first century AD; he was one of the teachers ofAulus Persius Flaccus.[53][54]
- Lucius Verginius Rufus,consul in AD 63, 69, and 97; a general inGermaniaat the death ofNero,he three times refused the demand of his soldiers to claim the imperial dignity.
- Verginius Romanus, a contemporary ofPliny the Younger,was an author of comedies and mimi-iambi, which were much praised by Pliny.[55]
See also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,William Smith,Editor.
- ^Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,William Smith,Editor.
- ^Ogilvie,Commentary,p. 277.
- ^Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,William Smith,Editor.
- ^T. Robert S. Broughton,The Magistrates of the Roman Republic(1952).
- ^Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft.
- ^Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,William Smith,Editor.
- ^D.P. Simpson,Cassell's Latin & English Dictionary(1963).
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,ii. 17.
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,v. 49.
- ^T. Robert S. Broughton,The Magistrates of the Roman Republic(1952).
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,ii. 54.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,iv. 21.
- ^Diodorus Siculus,Bibliotheca Historica,xii. 49.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,vi. 1.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,ii. 21.
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,vi. 2.
- ^T. Robert S. Broughton,The Magistrates of the Roman Republic(1952), vol. 1 p. 12
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,ii. 28-30
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,vi. 34, 42, 69.
- ^Quintus Asconius Pedianus,in Cornel.,p. 76, ed.Orelli.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,ii. 63
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,ix. 56.
- ^Diodorus Siculus,Bibliotheca Historica,xi. 70.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,iii. 31.
- ^Diodorus Siculus,Bibliotheca Historica,xii. 4.
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,x. 31.
- ^Censorinus,De Die Natali,17.
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,x. 40.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,iii. 65.
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,xi. 51.
- ^Diodorus Siculus,Bibliotheca Historica,xii. 27.
- ^Fasti Capitolini.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,v. 8, 9, 11, 12.
- ^T. Robert S. Broughton,The Magistrates of the Roman Republic(1952), vol. 1 p. 83 and note.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,ii. 41.
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,viii. 68, ix. 51.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,ii. 48, 49, iii. 7.
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,ix. 14.
- ^T. Robert S. Broughton,The Magistrates of the Roman Republic(1952).
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,ii. 51.
- ^Dionysius of Halicarnassus,Romaike Archaiologia,ix. 25.
- ^T. Robert S. Broughton,The Magistrates of the Roman Republic(1952).
- ^Livy,Ab urbe condita,ii. 29-30.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,iii. 11-13.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,v. 29.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,x. 23.
- ^Titus Livius,Ab Urbe Condita,xxvii. 43.
- ^Marcus Tullius Cicero,Brutus,48.
- ^Plutarchus,Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans,"Sulla," 10.
- ^Appianus,Bellum Civile,iv. 48.
- ^Publius Cornelius Tacitus,Historiae,iii. 77, iv. 3.
- ^Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus,De Claris Rhetoribus,"Persius."
- ^Burmann,Praefat. ad. Cic. Herennium.ed. Schütz, p. xiv.
- ^Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus,Epistulae,vi. 21.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1870).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
Bibliography[edit]
- T. Robert S. Broughton,The Magistrates of the Roman Republic,American Philological Association, 1951–1952.
- Robert Maxwell Ogilvie,Commentary on Livy, books 1–5,Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965.