Mucia (gens)
Encyclopedia
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....
. The 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...
is first mentioned at the earliest period 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...
, but in later times the family was known primarily by its plebeian
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...
branches.
Origin of the gens
The first of the Mucii to appear in history is Gaius Mucius Scaevola, a young man at the inception of the Roman Republic. According to legend, he volunteered to infiltrate the camp of Lars PorsenaLars 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...
, the king of Clusium
Clusium
Clusium was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman city remodeled an earlier Etruscan city, Clevsin, found in the territory of a prehistoric culture, possibly also Etruscan or proto-Etruscan...
, who besieged Rome circa 508 BC, and who may in fact have captured and held the city for some time. Mucius, armed with a dagger, attempted to assassinate Porsena, but unfamiliar with Etruscan dress, he mistook the king's secretary for the king, and was captured.
Brought before the king, Mucius declared that he was but one of three hundred Roman men who had sworn to carry out this mission, or die in the attempt. As a show of bravery, it was said that he thrust his right hand into a brazier, and stood silently as it burned. Porsena was so impressed by his courage and endurance that Mucius was freed, and some traditions held that Porsena withdrew his army in fear of the threat of assassination invented by the young Roman.
Praenomina used by the gens
The chief 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...
used by the Mucii were 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...
, Quintus
Quintus (praenomen)
Quintus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout all periods of Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Quinctia and Quinctilia. The feminine form is Quinta...
, 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...
, all of which were very common throughout Roman history.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
The only major family of the Mucii bore the 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...
Scaevola. This surname is said to have been acquired by Gaius Mucius, who lost the use of his right hand following his attempt on the life of Lars Porsena, and was subsequently called Scaevola because only his left hand remained. Scaeva refers to the left, and occurs in other gentes, including the Junii. It seems possible that Scaevola arose as a diminutive of Scaeva, but in ordinary usage, scaevola referred to an amulet.
The only other important cognomen of the Mucii was Cordus, borne by some of the Scaevolae. According to some traditions, Gaius Mucius was originally surnamed Cordus, and assumed the surname Scaevola on account of his deed before Porsena. However, it may be that the tradition concerning his right hand was a later addition to the story, intended to explain the descent of the Mucii Scaevolae from one of the heroes of the Republic. Although Gaius Mucius was a patrician, the later Mucii Scaevolae were plebeians.
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.
- Gaius Mucius Scaevola, attempted the life of Lars Porsena, circa 508 BC.
- Publius Mucius Scaevola, father of the praetor of 215 BC.
- Quintus Mucius P. f. ScaevolaQuintus Mucius Scaevola (praetor 215 BC)Quintus Mucius Scaevola was a politician of the Roman Republic. He was made praetor in 215 BC, and became governor of Sardinia, a post that was extended twice, first for two years, and then for another year....
, praetor in 215 BC, received SardiniaSardiniaSardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
as his province. His command there was prolonged for three years. - Quintus Mucius Q. f. P. n. Scaevola, consul in 174 BC.
- Publius Mucius Q. f. P. n. Scaevola, consul in 175 BC, triumphedRoman triumphThe Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
over the LiguresLiguresThe Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
. - Publius Mucius (P. f. Q. n.) ScaevolaPublius Mucius ScaevolaPublius Mucius Scaevola was a prominent Roman politician and jurist. He was tribune in 141 BC, praetor in 136 BC, and consul in 133 BC....
, consul in 133 BC; two years later he succeeded his brother, Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus, as Pontifex MaximusPontifex MaximusThe Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
. He was regarded as one of the founders of the ius civileIus civileIus civile is Latin for "citizen law" . It was the body of common laws that applied to Roman citizens and the Praetores Urbani, the individuals who had jurisdiction over cases involving citizens....
. - Publius Licinius Crassus Dives MucianusPublius Licinius Crassus Dives MucianusPublius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus was the son by blood of Publius Mucius Scaevola, the consul of 175 BC, and brother of Publius Mucius Scaevola...
, Pontifex Maximus, and consul in 131 BC; he was defeated and killed by AristonicusEumenes IIIEumenes III was the pretender to the throne of Pergamon.When the Pergamene King Attalus III died in 133 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans...
. - Quintus Mucius Q. f. Q. n. ScaevolaQuintus Mucius Scaevola AugurQuintus Mucius Scaevola Augur was a politician of the Roman Republic and an early authority on Roman law. He was first educated in law by his father and in philosophy by the stoic Panaetius of Rhodes....
, called the augurAugurThe augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of...
, consul in 117 BC. - Mucia Q. f. Q. n., the elder daughter of Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the augur, married Lucius Licinius CrassusLucius Licinius CrassusLucius Licinius Crassus was a Roman consul. He was considered the greatest Roman orator of his day, by his pupil Cicero.He became consul in 95 BC. During his consulship a law was passed requiring all but citizens to leave Rome, an edict which provoked the Social War...
, the orator, who was consul in 95 BC. with her cousin, Quintus Mucius Scaevola. - Tertia Mucia Q. f. Q. n.Mucia TertiaMucia Tertia was a Roman matrona who lived in the 1st century BC. She was the daughter of Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the pontifex maximus, consul in 95 BC. Her mother was a Licinia that divorced her father to marry Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos, in a scandal mentioned by several sources...
, better known as Mucia Tertia, the younger daughter of the augur, married Gnaeus PompeiusPompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
, the triumvirFirst TriumvirateThe First Triumvirate was the political alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Unlike the Second Triumvirate, the First Triumvirate had no official status whatsoever; its overwhelming power in the Roman Republic was strictly unofficial influence, and...
. - Quintus Mucius P. f. (P. n.) ScaevolaQuintus Mucius Scaevola PontifexQuintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex , the son of Publius Mucius Scaevola was a politician of the Roman Republic and an important early authority on Roman law. He is credited with founding the study of law as a systematic discipline...
, son of the Pontifex Maximus, was consul in 95 BC, and later himself became Pontifex Maximus. He was murdered during the proscription of the younger MariusGaius Marius the YoungerGaius Marius Minor, also known in English as Marius the Younger or informally "the younger Marius" , was the adopted son of Gaius Marius, who was seven times consul, and a famous military commander. Appian first describes him as the son of the great Marius, but in a subsequent passage, he is...
. - Gaius Licinius MucianusMucianusGaius Licinius Mucianus was a general, statesman and writer of ancient Rome.His name shows that he had passed by adoption from the gens Mucia to the gens Licinia. He was sent by Claudius to Armenia with Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Under Nero he is recorded as suffect consul ca...
, consul in AD 52, 70, and 75; a general, statesman, orator, and historian praised by TacitusTacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, he was a strong supporter of VespasianVespasianVespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
.