The gens Hortensia was an ancient plebeian family in Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the fifth century BC, but from that time somewhat infrequently until the final century of the Republic. The most illustrious of the gens was the orator Quintus Hortensius, a man of great learning, and a contemporary of Cicero. Under the Empire they seem to have sunk back into obscurity.[1]

Origin

The nomen Hortensius appears to be derived from horto, a garden, and probably signifies that the first to bear the name was a gardener.[1] Chase believed the name was Latin, listing it among those nomina that either originated at Rome, or could not be shown to have come from anywhere else.[2] However, Ogilvie points to the town of Urbinum Hortense in Umbria and the cult of Jupiter Hortensis in Campania as evidence that the name could have arisen elsewhere in Italy.[3]

That the Hortensii were plebeian, despite Cicero's application of the word nobilis to the family, seems demonstrated by the fact that the first of the Hortensii to appear in history was tribune of the plebs, and the lack of any other evidence of a patrician family. From this it seems more likely that Cicero was referring to the distinguished record of the Hortensii in the service of the Roman state, rather than identifying the gens as patrician.[4][1] Ogilvie doubts the existence of Quintus Hortensius, ostensibly tribune of the plebs in 422 BC, suggesting that this story was invented at the time of the marriage of Sempronia with Lucius Hortensius, the father of the famous orator, and concluding that the Hortensii probably arrived at Rome during the fourth century BC.[3]

Praenomina

All of the Hortensii at Rome mentioned in ancient sources bore the praenomina Quintus, Lucius, or Marcus, which were very common names at all periods of Roman history. They must occasionally have used other names, but these have not been recorded. An inscription from Ferentinum suggests Aulus and Sextus.

Branches and cognomina

The only surnames found among the Hortensii are Hortalus, which seems to have originated as a nickname for the orator Hortensius, and Corbio, probably from corbis, a basket, both borne by descendants of the orator.[5][6][7][1]

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ The names of three dictators of this period have been preserved, whose years of office are unknown; one was probably dictator suffectus following Hortensius' death. They were Marcus Aemilius Barbula, Appius Claudius Caecus, and Publius Cornelius Rufinus. Mommsen thought Claudius the most likely to have succeeded Hortensius.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 525 ("Hortensia Gens").
  2. ^ Chase, p. 130.
  3. ^ a b Ogilvie, Commentary on Livy, books 1–5, p. 597.
  4. ^ Cicero, Pro Quinctio 22.
  5. ^ Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, ii. 25, iv. 15.
  6. ^ Drumann, vol. V, p. 308.
  7. ^ Chase, p. 113.
  8. ^ Livy, iv. 42.
  9. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 69.
  10. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 187.
  11. ^ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, xvi. § 37.
  12. ^ Livy, xliii. 3, 4, 7, 8.
  13. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 420.
  14. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 548.
  15. ^ Cicero, In Verrem, ii. 16, Epistulae ad Atticum, xiii. 6, 30, 32.
  16. ^ Memnon, fragmenta 32, 34 (ed. Orelli, 1816).
  17. ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Sulla", 15, 17, 19.
  18. ^ Cassius Dio, fragmentum 125.
  19. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 525 ("Hortensius" no. 6).
  20. ^ a b Valerius Maximus, v. 9. § 2.
  21. ^ Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, vi. 3, vii. 3, x. 12, 16–18, Philippicae, x. 6, 11.
  22. ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Caesar", 32.
  23. ^ Suetonius, "The Life of Caesar", 31.
  24. ^ Valerius Maximus, viii. 3. § 3.
  25. ^ Quintilian, i. 1. § 6.
  26. ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, iv. 32.
  27. ^ a b c Geiger, Joseph (June 1970). "M. Hortensius M. f. Q. n. Hortalus". The Classical Review. 20: 132–134 – via JSTOR.
  28. ^ Valerius Maximus, iii. 5. § 4. (as worded in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology).
  29. ^ Tacitus, Annales, ii. 37, 38.
  30. ^ Suetonius, "The Life of Augustus", 41.
  31. ^ Cassius Dio, liv. 17.
  32. ^ J.C. Gieben, J.C. (1991). Supplementum epigraphicum graecum. Vol. 41. p. 493. ISBN 9789050633567.
  33. ^ Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, XI. 7431.

Bibliography

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