The gens Scribonia was a plebeian family of ancient Rome . Members of this gens first appear in history at the time of the Second Punic War , but the first of the Scribonii to obtain the consulship was Gaius Scribonius Curio in 76 BC.
20-582: The nomen Scribonius belongs to a large class of gentilicia derived from cognomina ending in -o , most of which were of plebeian origin. The root of the name is scribo , a writer. The only praenomina known to have been used by the main families of the Scribonii are Lucius , used by the Scribonii Libones, and Gaius , used by the Curiones. Other praenomina are practically non-existent among
40-672: A member of a Roman gens , and in its later form, as an indicator of status, the nomen continued to be used for several decades after the collapse of Imperial authority in the west. The last datable example of a nomen gentilicium belongs to a Julia Rogatiana, who died at Volubilis in AD 655. In the east, nomina such as Flavius continued until the early 8th century; Flavius Basilius was Pagarch of Aphrodito in Egypt in 710. Constitutio Antoniniana The Constitutio Antoniniana ( Latin for "Constitution [or Edict] of Antoninus"), also called
60-515: A penal status that denied them the citizenship usually bestowed with manumission . The exclusion is most often taken to refer to the former slaves who had been treated as criminals by their master but for whatever reason were freed from ownership. The Roman jurist Ulpian ( c. 170 – 223) states in the Digest : "All persons throughout the Roman world were made Roman citizens by an edict of
80-428: A result, vast numbers of new citizens assumed the nomen Aurelius , in honour of their patron (whose full name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus), including several emperors: seven of the eleven emperors between Gallienus and Diocletian ( Claudius Gothicus , Quintillus , Probus , Carus , Carinus , Numerian and Maximian ) bore the name Marcus Aurelius . The one exclusion to the universal grant occurs in
100-468: A vexed passage referring to dediticii , a class of technically free people who lacked either full Roman citizenship or Latin rights . In the Imperial era, there were two categories of dediticii : the peregrini dediticii ("foreigners under treaty") who had surrendered and former slaves who were designated libertini qui dediticiorum numero sunt, freedmen who were counted among the dediticii because of
120-748: The Edict of Caracalla or the Antonine Constitution , was an edict issued in AD 212 by the Roman emperor Caracalla . It declared that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given full Roman citizenship (and by extension all free women in the Empire were to be given the same rights as Roman women, such as the jus trium liberorum ). In the century before Caracalla, Roman citizenship had already lost much of its exclusiveness and become more available between
140-521: The nomina of important families in this manner during imperial times. In the 4th century, Aurelius was surpassed in number by Flavius , and other names became quite common, including Valerius , Claudius , Fabius , Julius and Junius . Those names no longer had any utility in indicating one's patrilineal ancestry and became largely perfunctory. They could be changed to indicate rank or status, and even abbreviated, much as praenomina had been. Both in its original form, identifying an individual as
160-493: The Emperor Antoninus Caracalla" (D. 1.5.17). The context of the decree is still subject to discussion. According to historian and politician Cassius Dio ( c. AD 155 – c. AD 235), the main reason Caracalla passed the law was to increase the number of people available to tax. In the words of Cassius Dio: "This was the reason why he made all the people in his empire Roman citizens; nominally he
180-577: The Scribonii after the first of the family was chosen curio maximus in 174 BC. Nomen gentilicium The nomen gentilicium (or simply nomen ) was a hereditary name borne by the peoples of Roman Italy and later by the citizens of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire . It was originally the name of one's gens (family or clan) by patrilineal descent. However, as Rome expanded its frontiers and non-Roman peoples were progressively granted citizenship and concomitant nomen ,
200-582: The Scribonii appearing in history; the only exception is Marcus , found among one or two of the later Libones, who seem to have adopted it from the Livii . The two main families of the Scribonii under the Republic bore the cognomina Libo and Curio . Other surnames are found under the Empire . Libo , the only surname of the Scribonii to occur on coins, is apparently derived from libere , to sprinkle or pour, and
220-602: The analyses of more recent scholars, the Constitutio Antoniniana marks a major milestone in the provincialisation of Roman law, meaning that the gap between private law in the provinces and private law in Italia narrowed. This is because, in granting citizenship to all men in the provinces, much private law had to be re-written to conform with the law that applied to Roman citizens in Rome. To these scholars, it therefore also marks
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#1733092831635240-406: The elder" and "Julia the younger"). The nomen gentilicium , or "gentile name" designated a Roman citizen as a member of a gens . A gens , which may be translated as "race", "family", or "clan", constituted an extended Roman family, all of whom shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. Particularly in the early Roman Republic , the gens functioned as a state within
260-562: The inhabitants throughout the different provinces of the Roman Empire and between nobles such as kings of client countries. Before the Edict, however, a significant number of provincials still were non-Roman citizens and held instead the Latin rights . Therefore, being a Roman citizen remained a well sought-after status till 212. Veterans of the Auxilia were also granted Roman citizenship on discharge. As
280-419: The latter lost its value in indicating patrilineal ancestry. For men, the nomen was the middle of the tria nomina ("three names"), after the praenomen and before the cognomen . For women , the nomen was often the only name used until the late Republic. For example, three members of gens Julia were Gaius Julius Caesar and his sisters Julia Major and Julia Minor ("Julia
300-464: The number of men able to serve in the legions, as only full citizens could serve as legionaries in the Roman army . In scholarly interpretations that agree with a model of moral degeneration as the reason for the fall of the Roman Empire, most famously the model followed by British historian Edward Gibbon , the edict came at a cost to the auxiliaries, which primarily consisted of non-citizen men. In
320-416: The spot where the whetstone of the augur Attius Navius had stood, in the time of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus . The Puteal Scribonianum was dedicated by one of the Scribonii Libones, probably either the praetor of 204 BC, or the tribune of the plebs in 149. It was renovated by Lucius Scribonius Libo, either the praetor of 80 BC, or his son, the consul of 34. Curio became hereditary in one branch of
340-465: The state, observing its own sacred rites and establishing private laws, which were binding on its members although not on the community as a whole. Although the other peoples of Italy also possessed nomina (plural of nomen ), the distinction between Romans and the non-Roman peoples of Italy disappeared as various communities were granted the Roman franchise and, after the Social War (91–87 BC) , that
360-511: Was extended to most of Italy. Possession of the nomen gentilicium then identified a man as a Roman citizen. The nomen was an essential element of Roman nomenclature throughout Roman history, but its usefulness as a distinguishing element declined precipitously following the Constitutio Antoniniana , which effectively granted the nomen "Aurelius" to vast numbers of newly-enfranchised citizens. Countless other "new Romans" acquired
380-462: Was honoring them, but his real purpose was to increase his revenues by this means, in as much as aliens did not have to pay most of these taxes." However, few of those that gained citizenship were wealthy, and while it is true that Rome was in a difficult financial situation, it is thought that this could not have been the sole purpose of the edict. Cassius Dio generally saw Caracalla as a bad, contemptible emperor. Another goal may have been to increase
400-462: Was probably given to an ancestor of the family who poured libations . The Scribonii Libones were long associated with a sacred structure in the forum known as the Pueal Scribonianum or Puteal Libonis , frequently depicted on their coins. So called because it resembled a puteal , or wellhead, the structure enclosed a "bidental", a place that had been struck by lightning, or in one tradition
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