Minucia gens

The gens Minucia was an ancient Roman family, which flourished from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The gens was apparently of patrician origin, but was better known by its plebeian branches. The first of the Minucii to hold the consulship was Marcus Minucius Augurinus, elected consul in 497 BC.[2]

Obverse of a coin of the Minucia gens, depicting the head of Pallas.
Reverse of a coin of the Minucia gens, depicting a column in honour of Lucius Minucius Augurinus.
A denarius of the Minucia gens, depicting the head of Pallas on the obverse, and on the reverse a column honouring Lucius Minucius Augurinus, with the legend "C. Minuci. C. f. Augurini" (the minter of the coin).[1]

The nomen Minucius is frequently confounded with Minicius and Municius.[2] The Minucii gave their name to the street known as the Via Minucia, the Pons Minucius, a bridge on the Via Flaminia, and a columned hall on the Campus Martius. The gate known as the Porticus Minucia was named after the consul of 110 BC.

Praenomina

The Minucii used the praenomina Marcus, Publius, Quintus, Lucius, Tiberius, and Gaius. At least one early Minucius bore the praenomen Spurius. Other praenomina appear rarely, and only in the final centuries of the Republic.

Branches and cognomina

The oldest branch of the family, the Minucii Augurini, were originally patrician, but in 439 BC Lucius Minucius Augurinus went over to the plebeians, and was elected tribune of the plebs. His descendants included the consul of 305 BC and several later tribunes of the plebs. The surname was derived from the position of augur, an important priest specializing in divination. The college of augurs was held in high esteem, and membership was restricted to the patricians until around 300 BC.[2][3][4]

Some of the early Augurini bore the additional cognomen Esquilinus, presumably because they lived on the Esquiline Hill. Later surnames of the gens included Rufus, Thermus, and Basilus. The Minucii Rufi and Thermi appear from the latter part of the third century BC until the second half of the first century AD. Rufus means "red" and probably originally referred to someone with red hair.[5] Thermus, a borrowing from Greek, might refer to a bath or hot springs.[6]

The Minucii Basili appear only in the final century of the Republic. Their surname is derived from basileus, the Greek word for "king."[6] Although frequently written Basilius, the best manuscripts give Basilus.[7]

A number of plebeian Minucii had no cognomen.

Members

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

Minucii Augurini

Minucii Rufi

Dedication for Apollo at Delphi made by Marcus Minucius Rufus (proconsul in Macedonia in 106 BC), commemorating his victories.[42]

Minucii Thermi

Denarius of Quintus Minucius Thermus, 103 BC. The obverse depicts the head of Mars. The reverse shows a Roman soldier fighting a barbarian and protecting an injured comrade – a reference to a military exploit of one of his ancestors.

Minucii Basili

  • Lucius Minucius, triumvir monetalis in 133 BC, probably father of the military tribune of 86 BC.[105]
  • Lucius Minucius L. f. Basilus, a military tribune under Sulla in 86 BC, during the campaign against Archelaus.[106][107]
  • Marcus Minucius Basilus, mentioned by Cicero in his oration, pro Cluentio.[108]
  • Minucius Basilus, buried along the Via Appia. His tomb was a spot infamous for robberies.[109][110]
  • Lucius Minucius Basilus, the uncle of Marcus Satrius, whom he adopted in his will.[111]
  • Lucius Minucius Basilus, born Marcus Satrius, one of Caesar's lieutenants during the Gallic Wars; during the Civil War, he commanded part of Caesar's fleet. Notwithstanding their long friendship, he was one of Caesar's assassins in 44 BC. He was murdered by his own slaves the following year.[112][113][114][115][116]
  • Minucius Basilus, attacked by Cicero as a friend of Marcus Antonius, in the second Philippic.[117]

Others

  • Spurius Minucius, pontifex maximus in 420 BC.[118][119]
  • Marcus Minucius, tribune of the plebs in 401 BC, impeached two of the consular tribunes of the previous year for misconduct in the war with Veii.[120][121]
  • Marcus Minucius Faesus, one of the first augurs elected from the plebs after the extension of the lex de Sacerdotiis in 300 BC.[122][123]
  • Publius Minucius (Q. f.), one of two Minucii who served as military tribunes under the consul Lucius Cornelius Merula, in the war with the Boii, 193 BC.[124][125]
  • Quintus Minucius Q. f., one of two Minucii who served as military tribunes under the consul Lucius Cornelius Merula, in the war with the Boii, 193 BC. He then became ambassador in 174 and was praetor circa 164.[124][126][125]
  • Minucius, died intestate before Gaius Verres became praetor urbanus, in 75 or 74 BC. Verres interfered with the inheritance of his property by his gens, an action which Cicero derided in his oration, In Verrem.[127]
  • Gaius Minucius Reginus, a partisan of Pompeius during the Civil War, he was prefect of Zeta in 46 BC.[128][129]
  • Gnaeus Minucius, a person about whose political opinions Cicero wrote to Cornificius in 43 BC.[130]
  • Minucius Pacatus, better known as Irenaeus, an Alexandrian grammarian, probably in the time of Augustus.[131][132]
  • Minucius Macrinus, enrolled by Vespasian among those of praetorian rank, should probably be Minicius Macrinus.[133][134]
  • Minucius Acilianus, the son of Macrinus, and a friend of the younger Pliny, who had held the ranks of quaestor, tribune, and praetor, probably should be Minicius Acilianus.[135][136]
  • Minucius Natalis, also found as Minitius, from the time of Trajan, appears to be Lucius Minicius Natalis, consul suffectus in AD 106.[2][77]
  • Marcus Minucius Felix, a lawyer and Christian apologist of the second or third century.[137]

Footnotes

  1. The tradition that he was elected tribune immediately upon becoming a plebeian seems improbable, since there were already ten tribunes; but that he became a plebeian seems to be confirmed by the fact that several other Minucii were subsequently elected to this office.
  2. Or Titus, in Livy and Cassiodorus.
  3. There is some uncertainty as to whether the tribune of the plebs and the consul of 110 are the same person; one of them might be Marcus' brother, Quintus Minucius Rufus.

See also

References

  1. Eckhel, vol. v, p. 254.
  2. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 1092 ("Minucia Gens").
  3. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 419, 420 ("Augurinus, II. Minucii Augurini")
  4. Chase, p. 112.
  5. Chase, p. 110.
  6. Chase, p. 114.
  7. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 470 ("Basilus").
  8. Livy, ii. 34.
  9. Dionysius, vii. 20, 22, 23, 27–32, 38, 60, 61.
  10. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 12, 17, 19.
  11. Livy, ii. 34.
  12. Dionysius, vii. 1.
  13. Orosius, ii. 5.
  14. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 16, 17.
  15. Livy, iii. 25–29.
  16. Dionysius, x. 22.
  17. Cassius Dio, Fragmenta xxxiv. 27, p. 140 (ed. Reimar).
  18. Valerius Maximus, ii. 7. § 7, v. 2. § 2.
  19. Florus, i. 11.
  20. Zonaras, vii. 17.
  21. Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. ii, note 604.
  22. Broughton, vol. I, p. 39.
  23. Livy, iv. 12–16.
  24. Pliny the Elder, xviii. 4, xxxiv. 11.
  25. Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. ii, p. 423.
  26. Broughton, vol. I, p. 57.
  27. Livy, iii. 30.
  28. Dionysius, x. 26, 30.
  29. Broughton, vol. I, p. 41.
  30. Livy, ix. 44.
  31. Diodorus Siculus, xx. 81.
  32. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 166, 167.
  33. Livy, xxiii. 21.
  34. Broughton, vol. I, p. 249.
  35. Gellius, vii. 19.
  36. Livy, xxxviii. 55–60.
  37. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 369, 370 (note 4).
  38. Livy, xl. 35, 37.
  39. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 388, 391 (note 1).
  40. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 273–275.
  41. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 275, 276.
  42. CIL III, 14203.
  43. Eutropius, iii. 7.
  44. Orosius, iv. 13.
  45. Zonaras, viii. 20.
  46. Polybius, iii. 87, 89, 94, 101–105.
  47. Livy, xxii. 8, 12–30, 49.
  48. Plutarch, "The Life of Fabius Maximus", 4–13.
  49. Appian, Bellum Hannibalicum, 12 ff.
  50. Valerius Maximus, v. 2. § 4.
  51. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 233-235.
  52. Livy, xxvi. 33.
  53. Broughton, vol. I, p. 275.
  54. Livy, xxxi. 4, 6, 12, 13, xxxii. 1, 27–31, xxxiii. 22, 23, xxxvii. 55, xxxix. 54.
  55. Zonaras, ix. 16.
  56. Cicero, Brutus, 18.
  57. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 323, 332, 333.
  58. Livy, xxxii. 27, 28, xxxiv. 53, xxxv. 40, xxxvi. 62.
  59. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 333, 345, 348, 351.
  60. Livy, xlii. 54.
  61. Meyer, Fragmenta, p. 244 (2nd edition).
  62. Aurelius Victor, De Viris Illustribus, 65.
  63. Festus, s. v. "Osi sunt", p. 201 (ed. Müller).
  64. Florus, iii. 4. § 5; 15.
  65. Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 35.
  66. Livy, Epitome 65.
  67. Eutropius, iv. 27.
  68. Frontinus, Strategemata, ii. 4. § 3.
  69. Velleius Paterculus, ii. 8.
  70. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 521, 522 (note 3), 543.
  71. Appianus, Bella Mithridatica 17.
  72. Cicero, In Verrem, ii. 28, 30, 33, iii. 64, iv. 27, 31.
  73. Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civili, iii. 7.
  74. Appianus, Bellum Civile, ii. 54.
  75. Broughton, vol. II, pp. 283, 339.
  76. Fasti Capitolini
  77. PIR, vol. I, p. 380.
  78. Appian, Punica, 36, 44, Hispanica, 39, Syriaca, 39.
  79. Livy, xxx. 40, xxxii. 27, 29, xxxiv. 45, 54, xxxv. 3, 11, 21, xxxiii. 24, 26, 44, xxxiv. 10, 38, xxxviii. 46.
  80. Gellius, x. 3, xiii. 24.
  81. Meyer, Fragmenta, pp. 40–44 (2nd edition).
  82. Polybius, xxii. 26.
  83. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 318, 335, 346, 363.
  84. Livy, xl. 35, 36.
  85. Polybius, xxii. 26.
  86. Livy, xli. 8.
  87. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 383, 385, 389, 396.
  88. Appian, Bella Mithridatica 52.
  89. Cassius Dio, Fragmenta 129, p. 52, 31 (ed. Reimar).
  90. ILS, 8888.
  91. Broughton, vol. II, pp. 34, 56.
  92. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 324, 325.
  93. Suetonius, "The Life of Caesar", 2.
  94. Broughton, vol. II, pp. 76, 78, 81.
  95. Cicero, ad Atticum, 1.1
  96. Broughton, vol. III, pp. 138, 144.
  97. Cicero, Pro Flacco 39.
  98. Caesar, De Bello Civili, i. 12.
  99. Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, vii. 13, Philippicae, xiii. 6.
  100. Appian, Bellum Civile, v. 139.
  101. SIG, 747.
  102. Broughton, vol. II, pp. 115, 194, 228, 238, 243, 251, 262.
  103. Tacitus, Annales, vi. 7.
  104. Tacitus, Annales, xvi. 20.
  105. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 278, 279.
  106. Appian, Bella Mithridatica, 50.
  107. Broughton, vol. I, p. 55.
  108. Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 38.
  109. Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum vii. 9.
  110. Asconius Pedianus, in Ciceronis Pro Milone p. 50, ed. Orelli.
  111. Cicero, De Officiis, iii. 18.
  112. Caesar, De Bello Gallico, vi. 29, 30, vii. 92.
  113. Appianus, Bellum Civile ii. 113, iii. 98.
  114. Orosius, vi. 18.
  115. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares vi. 15.
  116. Broughton, vol. II, pp. 231, 239, 268, 282.
  117. Cicero, Philippicae ii.
  118. Livy, iv. 44.
  119. Broughton, vol. I, p. 71.
  120. Livy, v. 11, 12.
  121. Broughton, vol. I, p. 84.
  122. Livy, x. 9.
  123. Broughton, vol. I, p. 173.
  124. Livy, xxxv. 5.
  125. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 348, 405, 439, 440 (note 1).
  126. SIG, 664.
  127. Cicero In Verrem, i. 45. § 115.
  128. Caesar, De Bello Africo, 89.
  129. Broughton, vol. II, p. 303.
  130. Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares xii. 25.
  131. Suda, s. v. "Ειρηναιος", "Πακατος".
  132. Johann Albert Fabricius, Bibliotheca Graeca, vi. pp. 170, 171.
  133. Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, i. 14, ii. 16.
  134. PIR, vol. I, p. 378.
  135. Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, i. 14, ii. 16.
  136. PIR, vol. I, p. 376.
  137. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 144, 145 ("Marcus Minucius Felix")

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