Clodius
Encyclopedia
Clodius is an alternate form of the Roman
nomen
Claudius
, a patrician gens
that was traditionally regarded as Sabine
in origin. The alternation of o and au is characteristic of the Sabine dialect. The feminine form
is Clodia.
, the spelling Clodius is most prominently associated with Publius Clodius Pulcher
, a popularist
politician who gave up his patrician status through adoption in order to qualify for the office of tribune of the plebs. Clodius positioned himself as a champion of the urban plebs
, supporting free grain for the poor and the right of association in guilds (collegia
); because of his ideology, Clodius has often been taken as a more "plebeian" spelling and a gesture of political solidarity. Clodius's two elder brothers, the Appius Claudius Pulcher who was consul
in 54 BC and the C. Claudius Pulcher who was praetor in 56 BC, conducted more conventional political careers and are referred to in contemporary sources with the traditional spelling.
The view that Clodius represents a plebeian or politicized form has been questioned by Clodius's chief modern-era biographer. In The Patrician Tribune, W. Jeffrey Tatum points out that the spelling is also associated with Clodius's sisters and that "the political explanation … is almost certainly wrong." A plebeian branch of the gens, the Claudii Marcelli, retained the supposedly patrician spelling, while there is some inscriptional
evidence that the -o- form may also have been used on occasion by close male relatives of the "patrician tribune" Clodius. Tatum argues that the use of -o- by the "chic" Clodia Metelli was a fashionable affectation, and that Clodius, whose perhaps inordinately loving relationship with his sister was the subject of much gossip and insinuation, was imitating his stylish sibling. The linguistic variation of o for au was characteristic of the Umbrian language
, of which Sabine
was a branch. Forms using o were considered archaic or rustic in the 50s BC, and the use of Clodius would have been either a whimsical gesture of pastoral fantasy
, or a trendy assertion of antiquarian authenticity.
include:
. Members of this branch include:
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....
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...
Claudius
Claudius (gens)
The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic...
, a patrician 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...
that was traditionally regarded as Sabine
Sabine
The Sabines were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome...
in origin. The alternation of o and au is characteristic of the Sabine dialect. The feminine form
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
is Clodia.
Publius Clodius Pulcher
During the Late RepublicRoman 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...
, the spelling Clodius is most prominently associated with Publius Clodius Pulcher
Publius Clodius Pulcher
Publius Clodius Pulcher was a Roman politician known for his popularist tactics...
, a popularist
Populares
Populares were aristocratic leaders in the late Roman Republic who relied on the people's assemblies and tribunate to acquire political power. They are regarded in modern scholarship as in opposition to the optimates, who are identified with the conservative interests of a senatorial elite...
politician who gave up his patrician status through adoption in order to qualify for the office of tribune of the plebs. Clodius positioned himself as a champion of the urban plebs
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...
, supporting free grain for the poor and the right of association in guilds (collegia
Collegium (ancient Rome)
In Ancient Rome, a collegium was any association with a legal personality. Such associations had various functions.-Functioning:...
); because of his ideology, Clodius has often been taken as a more "plebeian" spelling and a gesture of political solidarity. Clodius's two elder brothers, the Appius Claudius Pulcher who was consul
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 54 BC and the C. Claudius Pulcher who was praetor in 56 BC, conducted more conventional political careers and are referred to in contemporary sources with the traditional spelling.
The view that Clodius represents a plebeian or politicized form has been questioned by Clodius's chief modern-era biographer. In The Patrician Tribune, W. Jeffrey Tatum points out that the spelling is also associated with Clodius's sisters and that "the political explanation … is almost certainly wrong." A plebeian branch of the gens, the Claudii Marcelli, retained the supposedly patrician spelling, while there is some inscriptional
Epigraphy
Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...
evidence that the -o- form may also have been used on occasion by close male relatives of the "patrician tribune" Clodius. Tatum argues that the use of -o- by the "chic" Clodia Metelli was a fashionable affectation, and that Clodius, whose perhaps inordinately loving relationship with his sister was the subject of much gossip and insinuation, was imitating his stylish sibling. The linguistic variation of o for au was characteristic of the Umbrian language
Umbrian language
Umbrian is an extinct Italic language formerly spoken by the Umbri in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. Within the Italic languages it is closely related to the Oscan group and is therefore associated with it in the group of Osco-Umbrian languages...
, of which Sabine
Sabine
The Sabines were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome...
was a branch. Forms using o were considered archaic or rustic in the 50s BC, and the use of Clodius would have been either a whimsical gesture of pastoral fantasy
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
, or a trendy assertion of antiquarian authenticity.
Other Clodii of the Republic
In addition to Clodius and his sisters, Clodii from the Republican era include:- Clodius AesopusClodius AesopusClodius Aesopus was the most celebrated tragic actor of Ancient Rome in time of Cicero, that is, the 1st century BC, but the dates of his birth and death are not known...
, a tragic actor in the 50s BC who may have been a freedmanFreedmanA freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation ....
of one of the Clodii Pulchri. - Clodia PulchraClodia PulchraClodia Pulchra, also known as Claudia was the daughter of Fulvia by her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher. She was the stepdaughter of Mark Antony and half-sister of Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius....
, daughter of Clodius Pulcher and FulviaFulviaFulvia Flacca Bambula , commonly referred to as simply Fulvia, was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Through her marriage to three of the most promising Roman men of her generation, Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio and Mark Antony, she gained...
, the first wife of imperator August. - Clodia PulchraClodia PulchraClodia Pulchra, also known as Claudia was the daughter of Fulvia by her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher. She was the stepdaughter of Mark Antony and half-sister of Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius....
, daughter of Appius Clodius Pulcher, known in CatullusCatullusGaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.-Biography:...
' poems as "LesbiaLesbiaLesbia was the literary pseudonym of the great love of Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus .She was a poet in her own right, included with Catullus in a list of famous poets whose lovers "often" helped them write their verses....
".
Imperial era
People using the name Clodius during the period of the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
include:
- Caius Clodius Vestalis, possible builder of the Via ClodiaVia ClodiaVia Clodia was an ancient high-road of Italy. Its course, for the first 11 miles, was the same as that of the Via Cassia; it then diverged to the north in a northwest direction and ran on the west side of the Lacus Sabatinus, past Forum Clodii and Blera...
- Publius Clodius Thrasea PaetusPublius Clodius Thrasea PaetusPublius Clodius Thrasea Paetus, Roman senator, lived in the first century CE. Notable for his principled opposition to the emperor Nero and his interest in stoicism, he was the husband of Arria the daughter of A...
, senator and philosopher during the reign of NeroNeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death.... - Lucius Clodius MacerLucius Clodius MacerLucius Clodius Macer was a legatus of the Roman Empire in Africa in the time of Nero. He revolted in May 68, cutting off the food supply of Rome, possibly at the instigation of Calvia Crispinilla...
, a legatusLegatusA 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...
who revolted against Nero - Publius Clodius Quirinalis, from Arelate in GaulGaulGaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, teacher of rhetoricRhetoricRhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
in time of NeroNeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death.... - Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus, commonly known as Clodius AlbinusClodius AlbinusClodius Albinus was a Roman usurper proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain and Hispania upon the murder of Pertinax in 193.-Life:...
, rival emperor 196-197 - Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus, known as PupienusPupienusPupienus , also known as Pupienus Maximus, was Roman Emperor with Balbinus for three months in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited...
, co-emperor 238 - Quintus Clodius Hermogenianus OlybriusQuintus Clodius Hermogenianus OlybriusQuintus Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius was a Roman politician, praefectus urbi of Rome in 368–370 and Roman consul in 379...
, consul 379
Clodii Celsini
The Clodii Celsini continued to practice the traditional religions of antiquity in the face of Christian hegemony through at least the 4th century, when Clodius Celsinus Adelphius (see below) convertedReligious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
. Members of this branch include:
- Quintus Fabius Clodius Agrippianus CelsinusQuintus Fabius Clodius Agrippianus CelsinusQuintus Fabius Clodius Agrippianus Celsinus was proconsul of Caria in 249. He was the son of Clodius Celsinus and his wife Fabia Fuscinella , paternal grandson of Marcus Clodius Macrinus Hermogenianus , and great-grandson of Marcus Clodius Macrinius Vindex Hermogenianus Quintus Fabius Clodius...
, proconsulProconsulA proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of CariaCariaCaria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
in 249 and the son of Clodius Celsinus (b. ca. 185); see for other members of the family. - Clodius Celsinus Adelphius, praefectus urbiPraefectus urbiThe praefectus urbanus or praefectus urbi, in English the urban prefect, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and held high importance in late Antiquity...
in 351.
See also
- ClodioClodioChlodio was a king of the Salian Franks from the Merovingian dynasty. He was known as the Long-Haired King and lived in Thuringian territory at the castle of Duisburg. He became chief of the Thérouanne area in 414 AD...
the Longhair, a chieftain of the Salian FranksSalian FranksThe Salian Franks or Salii were a subgroup of the early Franks who originally had been living north of the limes in the area above the Rhine. The Merovingian kings responsible for the conquest of Gaul were Salians. From the 3rd century on, the Salian Franks appear in the historical records as...
, sometimes called "Clodius I" - Leges ClodiaeLeges ClodiaeLeges Clodiae were a series of laws passed by the Plebeian Council of the Roman Republic under the tribune Publius Clodius Pulcher in 58 BC. Clodius was a member of the patrician family Claudius; the alternate spelling of his name is sometimes regarded as a political gesture...
, legislation sponsored by Clodius Pulcher as tribune
Selected bibliography
- Tatum, W. Jeffrey. The Patrician Tribune: P. Clodius Pulcher. Studies in the History of Greece and Rome series. University of North Carolina Press, 1999. Limited preview online. Hardcover ISBN 0807824801.
Further reading
- Fezzi, L. Il tribuno Clodio. Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008. ISBN 8-8420-8715-7.