Laenas
Encyclopedia
Laenas was the name of a plebeian noble
family in ancient Rome
, notorious for cruelty and arrogance in the 2nd century BC. The name is said by Cicero
to be derived from laena, the sacerdotal cloak carried by Marcus Popillius Laenas
(consul 359 BC
) when he went to the Forum
to quell a popular rising. The family Laenas is therefore a branch of the family Popilli, but the only branch which rose to the consulship.
Famous holders of the name are:
Nobiles
During the Roman Republic, nobilis was a descriptive term of social rank, usually indicating that a member of the family had achieved the consulship. Those who belonged to the hereditary patrician families were noble, but plebeians whose ancestors were consuls were also considered nobiles...
family in ancient 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....
, notorious for cruelty and arrogance in the 2nd century BC. The name is said by 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...
to be derived from laena, the sacerdotal cloak carried by Marcus Popillius Laenas
Marcus Popillius Laenas
M. Popillius M.f. Laenas was a consul of the Roman Republic in the year 359 BC. While consul, he defeated a Gallic army....
(consul 359 BC
359 BC
Year 359 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Imperiosus...
) when he went to the Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
to quell a popular rising. The family Laenas is therefore a branch of the family Popilli, but the only branch which rose to the consulship.
Famous holders of the name are:
- Marcus Popillius M.f. LaenasMarcus Popillius LaenasM. Popillius M.f. Laenas was a consul of the Roman Republic in the year 359 BC. While consul, he defeated a Gallic army....
, four times plebeian consul in 359 BC359 BCYear 359 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Imperiosus...
, 356 BC356 BCYear 356 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ambustus and Laenas...
, 350 BC350 BCYear 350 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Scipio...
and 348 BC348 BCYear 348 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Corvus and Laenas...
, probable ancestor of the next consuls of that name.
- Marcus Popillius M.f. Laenas, consul in 316 BC316 BCYear 316 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rutilus and Laenas...
, possibly son of the above
- Marcus Popillius Laenas (consul 173 BC)Marcus Popillius Laenas (consul 173 BC)Marcus Popillius Laenas was a Roman statesman.He was praetor in 176 BC. He did not go to his province of Sardinia because he did not want to upset the success that the propraetor, Titus Aebutius, was enjoying...
, notable for conducting a war without the consent of the Senate, and saved from trial (by the tribunes of the plebs) by his brother. Despite this scandal, he became censor in 159 BC159 BCYear 159 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dolabella and Nobilior...
.
- Gaius Popillius LaenasGaius Popillius LaenasGaius Popillius Laenas twice served as one of the two consuls of the Roman Republic, in 172 and 158 BC. His name indicates he was of the gens of the Popilii, a name of Etruscan origin...
, consulConsulConsul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
in 172 BC172 BCYear 172 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Ligus...
and 158 BC158 BCYear 158 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lepidus and Laenas...
, and brother of the preceding (both being sons of Publius Popillius Laenas). He was sent to GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 174 BC174 BCYear 174 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paullulus and Scaevola...
to allay the general disaffection, but met with little success. He took part in the war against PerseusPerseusPerseus ,Perseos and Perseas are not used in English. the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty of Danaans there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians...
, king of Macedonia (LivyLivyTitus 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...
xliii.17, 22). When Antiochus Epiphanes, king of SyriaHistory of SyriaThe history of Syria:*Prehistory and Ancient Near East: see Pre-history of the Southern Levant, Fertile Crescent, Ebla, Mitanni*Antiquity: see Syro-Hittite states, Greater Syria, Roman Syria...
, invaded EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Laenas was sent to arrest his progress. Meeting him near AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, he handed him the decree of the SenateRoman 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...
, demanding the evacuation of Egypt. Antiochus having asked time for consideration, Laenas drew a circle round him with his staff, and told him he must give an answer before he stepped out of it. Antiochus thereupon submitted.
- Marcus Popillius Laenas, consul 139 BC139 BCYear 139 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Piso and Laenas...
- Publius Popillius Laenas, son of the preceding. When consul in 132 BC132 BCYear 132 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Rupilius...
he incurred the hatred of the democrats by his harsh measures as head of a special commission appointed to take measures against the accomplices of Tiberius GracchusTiberius GracchusTiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populares politician of the 2nd century BC and brother of Gaius Gracchus. As a plebeian tribune, his reforms of agrarian legislation caused political turmoil in the Republic. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy...
. In 123 BC123 BCYear 123 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Balearicus and Flamininus...
Gaius GracchusGaius GracchusGaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...
brought in a bill prohibiting all such commissions, and declared that, in accordance with the old laws of appeal, a magistrateMagistrateA magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
who pronounced sentence of death against a citizen, without the people's assent, should be guilty of high treasonTreasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. It is not known whether the bill contained a retrospective clause against Laenas, but he left Rome and sentence of banishment from ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
was pronounced against him. After the restoration of the aristocracy the enactments against him were cancelled, and he was recalled.