Canuleia (gens)
Encyclopedia
The gens Canuleia was a plebeian
family at Rome
. Although members of the gens
are known throughout the period of the Roman Republic
, none of them ever obtained the consulship
. Nevertheless, they were a senatorial
family, and furnished several tribunes of the plebs
.
Gaius
, Lucius
, and Marcus
, the three most common names throughout Roman history.
.
Plebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
family at Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. Although members of the gens
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
are known throughout the period of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, none of them ever obtained the consulship
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
. Nevertheless, they were a senatorial
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
family, and furnished several tribunes of the plebs
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
.
Praenomina used by the gens
The Canuleii used the praenominaPraenomen
The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
Gaius
Gaius (praenomen)
Gaius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Gaia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Gavia...
, Lucius
Lucius (praenomen)
Lucius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Lucia . The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Lucia and Lucilia, as well as the cognomen Lucullus...
, and Marcus
Marcus (praenomen)
Marcus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Marca or Marcia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Marcia, as well as the cognomen Marcellus...
, the three most common names throughout Roman history.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
The only surname of the Canuleii is Dives, referring to one who possesses great wealth. None of the other Canuleii mentioned in history are known to have borne cognominaCognomen
The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
.
Members of the gens
- Gaius CanuleiusGaius CanuleiusGaius Canuleius, according to Livy book 4, was a tribune of the plebs in 445 BC. He introduced a bill proposing that intermarriage between patricians and plebians be allowed...
, tribunus plebisTribuneTribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
in 445 BC, proposed the lex CanuleiaLex CanuleiaThe Lex Canuleia is a law of the Roman Republic passed in the year 445 BC. Named after the tribune Gaius Canuleius, who proposed it, it abolished a corresponding prohibition in the Twelve Tables and allowed marriage between patricians and plebeians, with children inheriting the father's social status...
, restoring the right of patricians and plebeiansPlebsThe plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
to intermarry. His proposal that the consulshipRoman consulA consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
should be opened to the plebeians led to the appointment of the first tribuni militum consulari potestateTribuni militum consulari potestateThe tribuni militum consulari potestate , in English commonly also Consular Tribunes, were tribunes elected with consular power during the "Conflict of the Orders" in the Roman Republic, starting in 444 BC and then continuously from 408 BC to 394 BC and again from 391 BC to 367 BC.According to the...
in the following year. - Marcus Canuleius, tribunus plebis in 420 BC, accused Gaius Sempronius Atratinus, consul in 423, of misconduct during the Volscian war. Canuleius and his colleagues also brought the subject of an assignment of the public land before the senate.
- Lucius Canuleius, one of five senatorial legatesLegatusA legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
sent to the AetoliaAetoliaAetolia is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania.-Geography:...
ns in 174 BC. - Lucius Canuleius Dives, praetorPraetorPraetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
in 171 BC, obtained HispaniaHispaniaAnother theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
as his province; the senate commissioned him to look into complaints of extortion by previous governors, and assist in the establishment of a colony at Carteia. - Canuleius, a Roman senatorRoman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
, who had been one of the ambassadors sent into EgyptPtolemaic KingdomThe Ptolemaic Kingdom in and around Egypt began following Alexander the Great's conquest in 332 BC and ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. It was founded when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt, creating a powerful Hellenistic state stretching from...
before 160 BC. - Gaius Canuleius, tribunus plebis in 100 BC, accused his colleague, Publius Furius, who was so detested that the people tore him to pieces before he could defend himself.
- Lucius Canuleius, one of the publicanPublicanIn antiquity, publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects...
i engaged in farming the duties paid on imported and exported goods at the harbor of Syracuse, during the administration of VerresVerresGaius Verres was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. It is not known what gens he belonged to, though some give him the nomen Licinius.-As governor:...
. - Marcus Canuleius, was defended by Quintus HortensiusQuintus HortensiusQuintus Hortensius Hortalus was a Roman orator and advocate.At the age of nineteen he made his first speech at the bar, and shortly afterwards successfully defended Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, one of Rome's dependants in the East, who had been deprived of his throne by his brother. From that time...
and Gaius Aurelius CottaGaius Aurelius CottaGaius Aurelius Cotta was a Roman statesman and orator; not to be confused with Gaius Aurelius L.f. Cotta who was Consul in 252 with Publius Servilius Q.f. Geminus....
on an unknown occasion. - Canuleius, mentioned by CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
in 49 BC. - Lucius Canuleius, one of Caesar'sJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
legates in 48 BC, during the Civil WarCaesar's civil warThe Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...
, was sent into EpirusEpirusThe name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
to collect grain.