For other uses, see Cispius (disambiguation).

Cispius is the nomen

Roman naming conventions

By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts : praenomen , nomen and cognomen...

of the Roman

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....

 gens Cispia

Cispia (gens)

The gens Cispia was a plebeian family at Rome. Although the gens was supposedly of great antiquity, the Cispii only achieved prominence toward the end of the Republic.-Origin of the gens:...

.

Cispius Laevus

The Mons Cispius, or Cispian Hill, is one of several summits of the Esquiline Hill

Esquiline Hill

The Esquiline Hill is one of the celebrated Seven Hills of Rome. Its southern-most cusp is the Oppius .-Etymology:The origin of the name Esquilino is still under much debate. One view is that the Hill was named after the abundance of holm-oaks, exculi, that resided there...

 in Rome. The grammarian Festus

Sextus Pompeius Festus

Sextus Pompeius Festus was a Roman grammarian, who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo in Gaul.He made an epitome in 20 volumes of the encyclopedic treatise in many volumes De verborum significatu, of Verrius Flaccus, a celebrated grammarian who flourished in the...

 says that it was named for a Cispius Laevus of Anagnia, of the Publilia voting tribe (tribus). This Cispius may be legendary.

M. Cispius

Marcus Cispius was a tribune 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...

 in 57 BC, and was among those tribunes who actively supported Cicero

Cicero

Marcus 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 his efforts to overturn the legislation that brought about his exile. Earlier, however, Cicero had brought a civil suit in which he spoke against Cispius, his brother, and their father. Sometime after Cispius's tribunate, most likely in early 56, he was defended by Cicero on a charge of electoral corruption (ambitus

Ambitus

In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power...

) and convicted. Cicero calls him "a man of character and principle." The two men maintained their friendship in the 50s; in 55, Cicero wrote a letter of recommendation to the proconsul of Africa, Q. Valerius Orca

Quintus Valerius Orca

Quintus Valerius Orca was a Roman praetor, a governor of the Roman province of Africa, and a commanding officer under Julius Caesar in the civil war against Pompeius Magnus and the senatorial elite...

, on behalf of men associated with Cispius. Cispius may have been a praetor

Praetor

Praetor 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...

 sometime after 54.

L. Cispius (Laevus)

Lucius Cispius, probably with the cognomen

Cognomen

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...

Laevus, was a commander of the fleet (praefectus classis) in 46 BC, serving under Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius 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....

. He took part in the blockade of Thapsus

Battle of Thapsus

The Battle of Thapsus took place on April 6, 46 BC near Thapsus . The Republican forces of the Optimates, led by Quintus Caecillius Metellus Scipio, clashed with the veteran forces loyal to Julius Caesar.-Prelude:...

. Cispius was not of 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...

 rank, and has been tentatively linked to a pottery manufacturing family in Arretium. It is possible that he was the son of Marcus Cispius (above), though this filiation would place them on opposite sides in the civil war

Caesar's civil war

The 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...

. In 43, a Cispius Laevus was a legate

Legatus

A 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...

 of Munatius Plancus, carrying dispatches to Rome for him; this man was most likely Caesar's naval commander.