Horatia (gens)
Encyclopedia
The gens Horatia was an ancient patrician family at Rome. In legend, the gens
dates back to the time of Tullus Hostilius
, the third King of Rome
. One of its members, Marcus Horatius Pulvillus
, was consul suffectus
in 509 BC, the first year of the Republic
, and again in 507. But the most famous of the Horatii was certainly his nephew, Publius Horatius Cocles
, who held the Sublician bridge
against the army of Lars Porsena
circa 508 BC.
Horatius is said to have been derived from the hero Horatus, to whom an oak wood was dedicated. The gens was certainly of Latin origin, although there was some uncertainty as to when they arrived at Rome. A legend relates that in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, the fate of the ancient city of Alba Longa
was decided by combat between three brothers from that city and three from Rome. The historian Titus Livius
states that most sources assigned the Horatii
to Rome, and their opponents, the Curiatii, to Alba Longa. The victory of the Horatii was a pretext for the destruction of Alba Longa, and the transfer of its noble families to Rome.
Publius
, Marcus
, Lucius
, and Gaius
.
, given to the hero of the Sublician bridge. Plutarch
us supposes that it was derived from the Greek cyclops, because he had lost an eye, or because the shape of his face made it appear as if he had but one eye. Cocles is said to have been the nephew of Marcus Horatius Pulvillus, and if he left any issue, they do not seem to have carried on his surname. Other surnames appearing amongst the Horatii in later times may have been adopted by freedmen of the gens; the poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus
was the son of a libertinus, and the cognomen Flaccus is not otherwise found amongst the Horatii.
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...
dates back to the time of Tullus Hostilius
Tullus Hostilius
Tullus Hostilius was the legendary third of the Kings of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius, and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius...
, the third King of Rome
King of Rome
The King of Rome was the chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 BC, when the last king was overthrown. These kings ruled for...
. One of its members, Marcus Horatius Pulvillus
Marcus Horatius Pulvillus
Marcus Horatius Pulvillus was a figure in Ancient Rome at the time of the overthrow of the Roman monarchy. He was consul in 509 BC and again in 507 BC.-Biography:...
, was consul suffectus
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...
in 509 BC, the first year of the 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...
, and again in 507. But the most famous of the Horatii was certainly his nephew, Publius Horatius Cocles
Horatius Cocles
Publius Horatius Cocles was an officer in the army of the ancient Roman Republic who famously defended the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of Lars Porsena, king of Clusium in the late 6th century BC, during the war between Rome and Clusium.-Background:...
, who held the Sublician bridge
Pons Sublicius
The earliest known bridge of ancient Rome, Italy, the Pons Sublicius, spanned the Tiber River near the Forum Boarium downstream from the Tiber Island, near the foot of the Aventine Hill. According to tradition, its construction was ordered by Ancus Martius around 642 BC, but this date is...
against the army of Lars Porsena
Lars Porsena
Lars Porsena, in Etruscan Pursenas, was an Etruscan king known for his war against the city of Rome. He ruled over the city of Clusium...
circa 508 BC.
Origin of the gens
The nomenRoman 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...
Horatius is said to have been derived from the hero Horatus, to whom an oak wood was dedicated. The gens was certainly of Latin origin, although there was some uncertainty as to when they arrived at Rome. A legend relates that in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, the fate of the ancient city of Alba Longa
Alba Longa
Alba Longa – in Italian sources occasionally written Albalonga – was an ancient city of Latium in central Italy southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC. In legend, Romulus and Remus, founders of...
was decided by combat between three brothers from that city and three from Rome. The historian Titus Livius
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
states that most sources assigned the Horatii
Horatii
According to Livy, the Horatii were male triplets from Rome. During a war between Rome and Alba Longa during the reign of Tullus Hostilius , it was agreed that settlement of the war would depend on the outcome of a battle between the Horatii and the Curiatii...
to Rome, and their opponents, the Curiatii, to Alba Longa. The victory of the Horatii was a pretext for the destruction of Alba Longa, and the transfer of its noble families to Rome.
Praenomina used by the gens
The Horatii favored 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...
Publius
Publius (praenomen)
Publius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and was very common at all periods of Roman history. It gave rise to the patronymic gens Publilia, and perhaps also gens Publicia. The feminine form is Publia...
, 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...
, 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 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...
.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
The Horatii of the Republic bore the surnames Barbatus, Cocles, and Pulvillus. Of these, Barbatus and Pulvillus were family names, while Cocles appears to have been a personal cognomenCognomen
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...
, given to the hero of the Sublician bridge. Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
us supposes that it was derived from the Greek cyclops, because he had lost an eye, or because the shape of his face made it appear as if he had but one eye. Cocles is said to have been the nephew of Marcus Horatius Pulvillus, and if he left any issue, they do not seem to have carried on his surname. Other surnames appearing amongst the Horatii in later times may have been adopted by freedmen of the gens; the poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
was the son of a libertinus, and the cognomen Flaccus is not otherwise found amongst the Horatii.
Members of the gens
- This list includes abbreviated praenominaPraenomenThe 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...
. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.- Publius Horatius, father of the Horatii who fought against the Curiatii, absolved his son of guilt in the death of his sister. In some versions of the story, his praenomen is Marcus.
- Publius Horatius, one of the HoratiiHoratiiAccording to Livy, the Horatii were male triplets from Rome. During a war between Rome and Alba Longa during the reign of Tullus Hostilius , it was agreed that settlement of the war would depend on the outcome of a battle between the Horatii and the Curiatii...
, three brothers who fought against the three Curiatii in the reign of Tullus Hostilius; and the sole survivor of the combat. - Horatia, sister of the Horatii, was betrothed to one of the Curiatii, and because of her display of grief was slain by her victorious brother. An ancient tomb near the Porta Capena was said to have been hers.
- Publius Horatius CoclesHoratius CoclesPublius Horatius Cocles was an officer in the army of the ancient Roman Republic who famously defended the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of Lars Porsena, king of Clusium in the late 6th century BC, during the war between Rome and Clusium.-Background:...
, one of the heroes of the Republic, defended the Sublician bridgePons SubliciusThe earliest known bridge of ancient Rome, Italy, the Pons Sublicius, spanned the Tiber River near the Forum Boarium downstream from the Tiber Island, near the foot of the Aventine Hill. According to tradition, its construction was ordered by Ancus Martius around 642 BC, but this date is...
against the army of Lars Porsena, circa 508 BC. - Quintus Horatius FlaccusHoraceQuintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
, a poet during the time of AugustusAugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
.
Horatii Pulvilli
- Marcus Horatius M. f. PulvillusMarcus Horatius PulvillusMarcus Horatius Pulvillus was a figure in Ancient Rome at the time of the overthrow of the Roman monarchy. He was consul in 509 BC and again in 507 BC.-Biography:...
, consul suffectusRoman 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...
in 509 BC, and perhaps a second time in 507. - Gaius Horatius M. f. M. n. Pulvillus, consul in 477 and 457 BC, defeated the AequiAequithumb|300px|Location of the Aequi in central Italy.The Aequi were an ancient people of northeast Latium and the central Appennines of Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long struggle for independence from Rome they were defeated and substantial Roman colonies were...
. - Lucius Horatius Pulvillus, tribunus 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 386 BC. - Marcus Horatius Pulvillus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 378 BC.
Horatii Barbati
- Marcus Horatius M. f. L. n. Barbatus, with Lucius Valerius PotitusLucius Valerius PotitusLucius Valerius Potitus was one of two consuls who were said to have replaced the decemvirs in 449 BC ....
, helped to abolish the decemvirateDecemviriDecemviri is a Latin term meaning "Ten Men" which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic...
in 449 BC; the two elected consuls for the same year; Horatius triumphed over the Sabines. - Lucius Horatius M. f. M. n. Barbatus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 425 BC.