Over the next several centuries, the Junii produced a number of very eminent men, such as Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus, three times consul and twice dictator during the period of the Samnite Wars, as well as Marcus and Decimus Junius Brutus, among the leaders of the conspiracy against Caesar. Although the Junii Bruti disappeared at the end of the Republic, another family, the Junii Silani, remained prominent under the early Empire.
Junius, the nomen of the gens, may be etymologically connected with the goddess Juno, after whom the month of Junius was also named.
Scholars have long been divided on the question of whether the Junii were originally patrician. The family was prominent throughout the whole of Roman history, and all of the members who are known, from the early times of the Republic and on into the Empire, were plebeians. However, it seems inconceivable that Lucius Junius Brutus, the nephew of Tarquin the Proud, was a plebeian. So jealous of their prerogatives were the patricians of the early Republic, that in 450 BC, the second year of the Decemvirate, a law forbidding the intermarriage of patricians and plebeians was made a part of the Twelve Tables, the fundamental principles of early Roman law. It was not until the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia in 367 BC that plebeians were permitted to stand for the consulship.[1][2]
Still, it has been suggested that the divisions between the orders were not firmly established during the first decades of the Republic, and that as many as a third of the consuls elected before 450 may in fact have been plebeians. Even if this were not the case, the consuls chosen at the very birth of the Roman Republic may have been exceptions. On balance, it seems more likely that the Junii were at first numbered amongst the patricians, and that they afterward passed over to the plebeians; but this question may remain unsettled.[1][3]
At the end of the Republic, the Junii Silani were raised to patrician status by Augustus, and one of them even held the office of Flamen Martialis; but this family was descended from one of the Silani who had been adopted from the patrician gens Manlia. Several of them bore the surname Torquatus, the name of a great family of the Manlia gens.[4]
The praenomina favored by the early Junii were Marcus, Lucius, and Decimus. Except for the Bruti Bubulci, who favored the praenomen Gaius and may have been a cadet branch of the family, the Junii Bruti relied exclusively on these three names. Many of the other families of the Junii also used these names, although some added Gaius and others Quintus. The Junii were by far the most prominent family to make regular use of Decimus.
The names Titus and Tiberius were carefully avoided by the Junii throughout most of their history. According to tradition, these were the names of the sons of Lucius Junius Brutus, the first consul, who joined in a conspiracy by their uncles, the Vitellii, to restore the Tarquins to power. They were condemned and executed by order of their own father, and this disgrace led to the abandonment of their names by future generations. The only noteworthy exception appears to be the orator Titus Junius, who lived in the final century of the Republic.[5]
Branches and cognomina
[edit]Denarius of Decimus Junius Silanus, 91 BC. The obverse depicts a mask of Silenus within a torque, alluding to both the surname Silanus and their descent from the Manlii Torquati, and a plough, perhaps alluding to the dictator Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus. On the reverse Victoria drives a biga over a carnyx.
The family names and surnames of the Junii which occur in the time of the Republic are, Brutus, Bubulcus, Gracchanus, Paciaecus, Pennus, Pera, Pullus, and Silanus. Norbanus was formerly supposed to be a surname of the Junia gens, but in fact it seems to have been a gentile name. A few Junii are mentioned without any cognomen. Many Junii appear under the Empire with other surnames, but most of them cannot be regarded as part of the gens; these included many descendants of freedmen, and of citizens enrolled during the magistracies of the various Junii.[1]
Brutus was the name of a plebeian family of the Junia gens, which claimed descent from Lucius Junius Brutus. This possibility was denied by some ancient authorities, on the grounds that the first consul was a patrician, and because his two sons preceded him in death. However, one tradition states that there was a third son, from whom the later Bruti were descended. It is not impossible that there were younger sons, or that the elder sons had children of their own. Brutus is also known to have had a brother, who was put to death by his uncle the king, and there may have been other relatives. Moreover, Niebuhr raised the possibility that Brutus himself was a plebeian. But even if he had been a patrician, as the weight of tradition holds, his descendants may still have gone over to the plebeians.[3][6][7][8]
The name of Brutus is said to have been given to Lucius because he feigned idiocy after the execution of his brother, in hope of avoiding the same fate. However, his father is also referred to as Brutus by the ancient authorities, and while this may have come about merely for narrative convenience, it is possible that the surname had already been borne by the family for some time. According to Festus, the older meaning of the adjective brutus was "serious" or "grave", in which case the surname is much the same as Severus. A less probable explanation suggests a common origin with the name with that of the Bruttii, a people of southern Italy who broke away from the Samnites in the fourth century BC, and whose name is said to have meant, "runaway slaves".[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
The surname Bubulcus refers to one who plows with oxen. The only persons known to have borne this cognomen also bore that of Brutus, and therefore may have belonged to that family, rather than a distinct stirps of the Junia gens. If so, the Bubulci were the only members of the family to use the praenomen Gaius. They appear in history during the Second Samnite War, at the same time as the other Junii Bruti emerge from two centuries of obscurity, with the agnomen Scaeva. This suggests that the family may have split into two distinct branches about this time.[17][18][19]
The origin of the cognomenPera, which appears in the middle of the third century BC, is not known, but the filiations of the two Perae suggest that they may have been descended from the Junii Bruti. Pennus, also a surname of the Quinctia gens, is probably derived from a Latin adjective meaning "sharp". This family flourished for about a century from the time of the Second Punic War.[20] The surname Gracchanus was assumed by one of the Junii in the latter part of the second century BC, on account of his friendship with Gaius Gracchus.[21]PaciaecusorPaciacus, the cognomen of another member of the gens, does not appear to be of Roman origin, although it may be that PaccianusorPacianus is the correct form.[22][23][24]
Silanus appears to be a lengthened form of Silus, "snub-nosed", which occurs as a cognomen in the Sergia and Terentia gentes, and is not connected with the Greek Silenus, who was nonetheless depicted on their coins.[i] In manuscripts the variants Syllanus and Sillanus are found. The Junii Silani first appear in history during the Second Punic War, and for the next four hundred years they occupied the highest offices of the state. From the middle of the second century BC, at least some of the Silani were descended from the patrician Manlii, from whom they inherited the additional surname Torquatus. In 30 BC, Augustus raised Marcus Junius Silanus to the patriciate. Many of this family were related to, or even descended from, Augustus and the emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.[4][25]
Marcus Junius Brutus, father of the consul of 509 BC, married Tarquinia, sister of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. Dionysius states that Tarquin had him put to death, along with his elder son, in order to obtain a family treasure; Livy states only that the son was among the Roman aristocrats put to death as potential threats to the royal authority.[27][28][29]
Marcus Junius M. f. Brutus, the elder brother of the consul Brutus, was put to death by his uncle, the king.[27][28]
Titus Junius L. f. M. n. Brutus, son of the consul of 509 BC, together with his brother, Tiberius, joined in a conspiracy of Roman aristocrats to restore Tarquin to the throne. When the plot was uncovered, their own father had them put to death for treason.[35][36][29]
Tiberius Junius L. f. M. n. Brutus, the brother of Titus, with whom he was executed for conspiring to restore the Tarquins, in 509 BC.[35][36][29]
Decimus Junius D. f. D. n. Brutus, with his brother, Marcus, exhibited the first gladiatorial combat at Rome in 264 BC.[53][54]
Marcus Junius D. f. D. n. Brutus, with his brother, Decimus, exhibited the first gladiatorial combat at Rome in 264 BC.[54]
Lucius Junius Brutus, grandfather of the consul of 178 BC.
Marcus Junius (L. f.) Brutus, tribune of the plebs in 195 BC, he and Publius Brutus opposed the repeal of the lex Oppia, a sumptuary law. As praetor in 191, he dedicated the temple of the Magna Mater, and presided over the first celebration of the Megalesian Games at Rome. He was one of the ambassadors sent to Antiochus in 189.[55][56][57]
Decimus Junius Brutus, one of the triumvirs for founding a colony in the territory of Sipontum, in 194 BC.[60][61]
Marcus Junius M. f. L. n. Brutus, consul in 178 BC, was probably the son of the Marcus Brutus who as praetor had dedicated the temple of the Magna Mater in 191, although they could possibly be the same person. In his consulship, he was sent against the Istri, whom he conquered in 177. In 171 he was sent as an ambassador to the allies in Asia Minor. He was a candidate for the censorship of 169.[62][63][64]
Junia M. f. M. n., the sister of Callaicus, died at an advanced age in 91 BC. Her funeral featured actors playing her male ancestors, an honour usually reserved for men.[71][45][72]
Marcus Junius Brutus, an opponent of Sulla, committed suicide following the defeat in the civil war of 82 BC. He is probably identical to Brutus, praetor in 88 BC.[74]
Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Pennus, tribune of the plebs in 126 BC. He passed a law preventing non-Roman citizens from settling in Roman cities (the Lex Junia de Peregrinis), which was opposed by Gaius Gracchus. He died in 123 during while being aedile.[79][80][81]
Junii Silani
[edit]Denarius of Marcus Junius Silanus, 145 BC. The obverse depicts Roma in front of a donkey's head, alluding to Silenus. The Dioscuri appear on the reverse.[82]Denarius of Decimus Junius Silanus, 91 BC. The obverse depicts the head of Salus within a torque, alluding to the temple of Salus built by Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus in 307 BC. On the reverse, Victoria drives a biga.
Marcus Junius Silanus, prefect in Naples in 216 BC; praetor, then propraetor, in Etruria from 212 to 211, and propraetor in Spain between 210 and 206.[83][84]
Marcus Junius M. f. Silanus, prefect of the allies, fell in battle against the Boii in 196 BC.[85][86]
Marcus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus, triumvir monetalis in 145 BC. He was probably the tribune of the plebs who carried a lex Junia de repetundis of uncertain date.[82][89][ii]
Decimus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus Manlianus, the natural son of Titus Manlius Torquatus (consul in 165 BC), was adopted by Decimus Junius Silanus. He was praetor in 141, and obtained Macedonia as his province, where he received bribes. His natural father organised a private court in his house to judge him; banished from his father's house, Manlianus committed suicide soon after.[90][91][92][93]
Marcus Junius M. f. D. n. Silanus, triumvir monetalis in 116 or 115 BC, then praetor in Asia circa 102.[94][95][iii]
Decimus Junius L. f. D. n. Silanus, triumvir monetalis in 91 BC.[97]
Marcus Junius D. f. D. n. Silanus, praetor in 77, and proconsul in Asia in 76.[98][99][iv]
Decimus Junius M. f. Silanus, aedile by 70 BC, praetor circa 67, and consul in 62. He was the stepfather of Marcus Junius Brutus, the tyrannicide.[100][v]
Marcus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus, consul in 25 BC. He may be the same man as the legate under Lepidus and Mark Antony in 43 BC, the proquaestor under Antony from 34 to 33 BC, and moneyer in 33 indicating that he was also an augur.[103][104]
Lucius Junius M. f. D. n. Silanus, perhaps an augur before 31 BC, was praetor circa 24, and an unsuccessful candidate for the consulship in 21.[105][106][107]
Marcus Junius M. f. D. n. Silanus, son of the Marcus Junius Silanus who was consul in 25 BC, and the father of Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, consul in AD 19.
Gaius Junius M. f. (D. n.) Silanus, the father of Gaius Junius Silanus, consul in AD 10, and Marcus Junius Silanus, consul in AD 15.
Junia C. f. M. n. Torquata, a Vestal Virgin, interceded on behalf of her brother, Gaius Junius Silanus, the consul of AD 10, after he was condemned for treason in AD 22.[116]
Junius Silanus, perhaps consul suffectus in AD 189; his nomen is not complete in surviving inscriptions, and may instead be Julius.[118]
Junius Silanus, consul suffectus in AD 237, read before the senate the letter of Gordian I, in which he accepted the empire. He should perhaps be Julius Silanus, the name by which he is called in the Historia Augusta.[119]
Junius Blaesus, the maternal grandfather of Sejanus.[45]
Quintus Junius Blaesus, consul suffectus in AD 10. Governor of Africa from 21 to 23, he triumphed over Tacfarinas. When his nephew, Sejanus, was arrested and put to death for treason in AD 31, and Blaesus was accused of complicity, he chose to end his life rather than face execution.[120][45]
Quintus Junius Q. f. Blaesus, consul suffectus in AD 26. He and his brother, also of consular rank, took their own lives in AD 36, after Tiberius designated others for the priesthoods that had been promised to the Junii Blaesi.[122][123]
Lucius Junius Q. f. Blaesus, served under his father during the war against Tacfarinas. He was consul suffectus in AD 28, and put an end to himself in AD 36, as he felt himself disgraced by Tiberius.[122][123]
Junius Blaesus, governor of Gallia Lugdunensis in AD 69, was a supporter of the emperor Vitellius, who nonetheless had Blaesus poisoned because he had boasted about his descent from Mark Antony.[124]
[edit]Denarius of Marcus Junius Brutus, depicted on the obverse. The reverse depicts a pileus between two daggers, with the legend "EID MAR" (Ides of March), commemorating the assassination of Caesar.
Quintus Junius, tribune of the plebs in 439 BC, endeavored to excite the people against the murderers of Spurius Maelius.[130]
Gaius Junius C. f., triumvir monetalis in 149 BC.[132]
Marcus Junius Gracchanus, sometimes emended to M. Junius Congus Gracchanus, a noteworthy legal historian and scholar of the Roman constitution and magistracies. He was perhaps tribune of the plebs in 123 and author of a law that amended the lex Calpurnia. As his nickname implies, he was a supporter of Gaius Gracchus.[133]
Titus Junius L. f., a skilled orator in the time of Sulla, obtained the condemnation of Publius Sextius, praetor designatus, for bribery at the elections.[134]
Marcus Junius, the previous defender of Publius Quinctius, whose defense was subsequently assumed by Cicero.[135]
Gaius Junius, one of the judges in the case against Oppianicus, accused of corruption and compelled to retire from public life.[136]
Gaius Junius C. f., son of the Judge in the case against Oppianicus.[137]
Marcus Junius, a praetor, before whom Cicero defended Decimus Matrinius.[138][139]
Junius Saturninus, a historian during the time of Augustus, quoted by Suetonius.[140]
Junius Otho, tribune of the plebs in AD 37, banished by Tiberius for interceding in the question of the reward that was to be given to the accuser of Acutia, the wife of Publius Vitellius.[141]
Lucius Junius Moderatus, surnamed Columella, an important historical writer, author of De Re Rustica.
Lucius Junius Gallio, a rhetorician and friend of the elder Seneca, whose son he adopted. He was expelled from Italy because Tiberius suspected he was associated with Sejanus. He may have been related to Sejanus' uncle, Quintus Junius Blaesus, or perhaps even his brother.[142][143]
^One coin of the Silani also seems to allude to Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus, perhaps indicating descent from the Bubulci, although it was not unusual for moneyers to depict the past achievements of one's gentiles without there being a close relationship.
^Crawford assumes that he was the younger brother of Decimus, the translator of Mago, but Eilers disagrees, concluding that Decimus was probably much older than the moneyer, nor could Marcus have been the son of Decimus, who was probably childless, hence his adoption of one of the Manlii Torquati. Both Crawford and Eilers suggest that Marcus was the author of the lex Junia de repetundis passed between 149 and 123, although according to Broughton it was passed by the Marcus Junius Silanus who was consul in 109.
^Crawford was unsure about this moneyer, saying that he could have also been the Consul of 109 BC, but Eilers demonstrates that Crawford's initial suggestion was correct, and that they were two different persons.
^Broughton confuses the beginning of his career, as quaestor and proquaestor in Asia, with that of Marcus Junius Silanus, praetor circa 102.
^It is uncertain whether he is the son of the Marcus Junius Silanus who was consul in 109 BC, or the one who was praetor about 102.
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