Fabricia (gens)
Encyclopedia
The gens Fabricia were a family
of ancient Rome
.
They seem to have belonged originally to the Hernican town of Aletrium, where Fabricii occur as late as the time of Cicero
. The first Fabricius who occurs in history is the celebrated Gaius Fabricius Luscinus
, who distinguished himself in the war against Pyrrhus
, and who was probably the first of the Fabricii who left his native place and settled at Rome. We know that in 306 BC, shortly before the war with Pyrrhus, most of the Hernican towns revolted against Rome, but were subdued and compelled to accept the Roman franchise without the suffrage. But three towns, Aletrium, Ferentinum, and Verulae, which had remained faithful to Rome, were allowed to retain their former constitution; that is, they remained to Rome in the relation of isopolity. C. Fabricius Luscinus probably left Aletrium either at that time or soon after, and settled at Rome, where, like other settlers from isopolite towns, he soon rose to high honours.
Besides this Fabricius, no members of his family appear to have risen to any eminence at Rome. It is likely that, being strangers, they laboured under great disadvantages, and that the jealousy of the illustrious Roman families, plebeian as well as patrician, kept them down, and prevented their maintaining the position which C. Fabricius Luscinus had gained.
Luscinus is the only cognomen
of the Fabricii that we meet with under the republic. In the time of the empire we find a Fabricius with the cognomen Veiento. There are a few without a cognomen.
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...
of 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....
.
They seem to have belonged originally to the Hernican town of Aletrium, where Fabricii occur as late as the time of 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...
. The first Fabricius who occurs in history is the celebrated Gaius Fabricius Luscinus
Gaius Fabricius Luscinus
Gaius Fabricius Luscinus Monocularis , son of Gaius, was said to have been the first of the Fabricii to move to ancient Rome, his family originating from Aletrium....
, who distinguished himself in the war against Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos or Pyrros may refer to the following figures from Greek history and mythology:* Pyrrhus or Neoptolemus, son of Achilles* Pyrrhus of Epirus , famous king, to whom the term Pyrrhic victory alludes...
, and who was probably the first of the Fabricii who left his native place and settled at Rome. We know that in 306 BC, shortly before the war with Pyrrhus, most of the Hernican towns revolted against Rome, but were subdued and compelled to accept the Roman franchise without the suffrage. But three towns, Aletrium, Ferentinum, and Verulae, which had remained faithful to Rome, were allowed to retain their former constitution; that is, they remained to Rome in the relation of isopolity. C. Fabricius Luscinus probably left Aletrium either at that time or soon after, and settled at Rome, where, like other settlers from isopolite towns, he soon rose to high honours.
Besides this Fabricius, no members of his family appear to have risen to any eminence at Rome. It is likely that, being strangers, they laboured under great disadvantages, and that the jealousy of the illustrious Roman families, plebeian as well as patrician, kept them down, and prevented their maintaining the position which C. Fabricius Luscinus had gained.
Luscinus is the only 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...
of the Fabricii that we meet with under the republic. In the time of the empire we find a Fabricius with the cognomen Veiento. There are a few without a cognomen.
Fabricii
The following other notable Fabricii are recorded in ancient sources:- C. and L. Fabricius belonged to the municipiumMunicipiumMunicipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...
of Aletrium, and were twins. According to CiceroCiceroMarcus 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...
they were both men of bad character. C. Fabricius, in particular, is described as a tool used by Oppianicus, in about 67 BC, to destroy Aulus Cluentius HabitusAulus Cluentius HabitusAulus Cluentius Habitus, a wealthy citizen of Larinum in Samnium, and subject of a Roman cause célèbre.In 74 BC he accused his stepfather Statius Albius Oppianicus of an attempt to poison him; had it been successful, the property of Cluentius would have fallen to his mother Sassia. Oppianicus was...
.
- L. Fabricius, C. F., perhaps a son of the above, was curator viarum in 62 BC, and built a new bridge of stone, which connected the city with the island in the TiberTiberThe Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...
, and which was called, after him, pons Fabricius. The time at which the bridge was built is expressly mentioned by Cassius Dio, and the name of its author is still seen on the remnants of the bridge, which now bears the name of ponte quattro capi. The scholiast on HoraceHoraceQuintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
mistakenly calls the Fabricius who built that bridge a consul. There is also a coin bearing the name of L. Fabricius.
- Q. Fabricius was tribune of the people in 57 BC, and well disposed towards Cicero, who was then living in exile. He brought before the people a motion that Cicero should be recalled, as early as the month of January of that year. But the attempt was frustrated by Publius Clodius PulcherPublius Clodius PulcherPublius Clodius Pulcher was a Roman politician known for his popularist tactics...
by armed force. In the Monumentum Ancyranum and in Cassius Dio he is mentioned as consul suffectus of the year 36 BC.