Two Lycian Families | Anatolian Studies | Cambridge Core (original) (raw)

Extract

Perhaps the best known of all the aristocratic Lycian families is that of the Licinnii of Oenoanda, whose ramifications are set out in their genealogy (IGR. III, 500). This document, perhaps the most complete of its kind, not only reveals the complicated nexus of relationships forming the structure of such a family, but also provides much incidental information which demonstrates how its various members became prominent.

It seems probable that the earliest members of the family to bear Roman nomina, Licinnius Musaeus and Marcius Thoas, obtained the franchise under Nero and Vespasian respectively. Licinnius Musaeus will have received citizenship from the governor C. Licinnius Mucianus (a fact borne out by the name of Musaeus' grandson Mucianus), Marcius Thoas from Sextus Marcius Priscus, legatus Augusti pro praetore of Lycia and Pamphylia under Vespasian.

The first few generations of the enfranchised family produced a number of high-ranking officials of the Lycian Koinon, but were not otherwise especially significant. In the early stages of its history there was a good deal of intermarriage among members of this family—the product, perhaps, of a combination of insularity and social exclusiveness. Such marriage partners as were not chosen from within the family itself came from the higher strata of Lycian society, from families which were socially acceptable to the Licinnii and locally distinguished. For the majority of the Licinnii this remained the pattern for so long as we have any knowledge of them.

References

* See stemma I. Numbers in brackets following the names of persons in the stemma are merely for convenient reference. The stemma reproduced here is that drawn up by Heberdey, R. and Kalinka, E. (Denkschriften d. kaiserlichen Akademie d. Wissenschaften in Wien, philosophisch-historische Classe XLV (1897), 46Google Scholar) but the names are given in Latin instead of Greek.

1 For these governors see Magie, D., Roman Rule in Asia Minor (Princeton, 1950), II, 1386 fGoogle Scholar.

2 e.g. Flavia Platonis, second wife of Licinnius Thoas (5), the son of Licinnius Musaeus, was descended from an ancient Cibyratic family which claimed Spartan origin (IGR. III, 500, iGoogle Scholar; ii, 36 and note ad loc.); Marcia Lycia, first wife of Licinnius Longus (11), grandson of Licinnius Musaeus, was daughter of the Lyciarch Marcius Titianus, also of Cibyra (IGR. III, 500, iii, 25 ff.Google Scholar; 492).

5 CIL. VI, 2086Google Scholar. The only year which is excluded for the consulship is A.D. 153, when all the consuls are known. Two of the Arval brethren of 155 held the consulship in 152, L. Claudius Modestus and M. Valerius Homullus.

9 It no longer numbers federal officials amongst its ranks: the implication is not that its members failed to obtain federal office (other branches of the family continue to produce Lyciarchs and high priests); rather they disdained it.

10 Dryantianus and his wife are mentioned in connexion with the revolt of A.D. 175 in the literary evidence where his name is frequently misspelt (see PIR. 2 C 859). His son, Claudius Ca[s]sius Agrippinus, reproduces the nomen of Avidius Cassius; his daughter, Maeciana Alexandra, shows the names of both her mother (PIR. 2 A 512) and her maternal uncle Avidius Maecianus (ib. A 1406).

15 For Heliodorus see PIR. 2 A 1404; for Maecianus, ib. A 1406.

18 P. Oxy. I, no. 33, col.1 = Mitteis, L. and Wilcken, U., Grundzüge u. Chrestomathie I. 2, 34 f.Google Scholar, no. 20, col. 1, and von Premerstein, A. in Philologus Supplement XVI, 2 (1923), 42Google Scholar.

19 PIR. 2 C 828. Dessau, H. in Zeitschrift für Numismatik XXII (1900), 202Google Scholar rightly restores the nomen as Ca[s]sius rather than Ca[e]sius.

23 D. Magie, op. cit. II, 1600.

25 CIL. VI, 2086, 10 (213)Google Scholar; 2103a, 10; 2103b, 9 (214); 2104a, 9; 2104b, 28(218). He was promagister collegii in 214.

28 SHA., Vita Pert. V, for his opposition to Pertinax; ib. IX, 1 f. and Dio LXXIV, 8, 5 for the offer of the purple; SHA., Vita Pert. IV, for Pertinax' leniency.

29 See the article by Groag, E. in Jahreshefte d. österreichischen archäologischen Instituts II (1899), 206 ffGoogle Scholar.

30 loc. cit. Her hairstyle is apparently closest to the type portrayed on the coinage at this period.

31 For Regalian, who was proclaimed in Illyricum by the army of Moesia in A.D. 260 see SHA., Trig. Tyr. X. For Sulpicia Dryantilla's relation to Regalian, see Eckel, J., Doctrina Numorum Veterum VII (1828), 463 f.Google Scholar, and Dessau, H. in Zeischrift für Numismatik XXII (1900), 199 fGoogle Scholar.

32 e.g. Tiberius Claudius Dryantianus (20) has the cognomen of Claudius Dryantianus, husband of Julia Lysimacha (17). Licinnia Flavilla (38) has that of Licinnia Flavilla (16). Licinnia Platonis (33) has that of Flavia Platonis, wife of Licinnius Thoas (5). Claudius Longus (42) has that of his grandfather, Licinnius Longus (11). Flavia Lycia (45) has that of her grandmother, Licinnia Ge Lycia (34). Licinnius Fronto (54) is called after Licinnius Fronto (13). Claudia Vettia Agrippina (23) and Sulpicia Agrippina (28) have the same cognomen as Claudius Agrippinus (18).

35 He is probably mentioned in an inscription from Ephesus (Forsch. Ephes. III (1923), 106, no. 17Google Scholar), where Ulpius Lollianus Onesimus is described as [πρ]ογόνων ὑ[πα]τικῶν Κλήμετος κ[α]ὶ Κλημεντε[ί]ν[ο]υ.

37 Ib. III, 500, iii, 17.

39 Because Claudius Titianus has been identified by C. S. Walton with the proconsul of Cyprus from Patara and by others with members of the Vilii family from Patara (on which see below), it is often stated that he came from Patara (e.g. by Lambrechts, P. in La composition du sénat romain de l'accession au trône d'Hadrien à la mort de Commode (117–192) (Antwerp, 1936), 97, no. 513)Google Scholar. In fact there is no reference to his origo in IGR. III, 500Google Scholar, the only place, except the above inscription, where Claudius Titianus is mentioned.

40 The first husband of Licinnia Ge Lycia (34) was from Pinara; her second from Cadyanda (IGR. III, 500, iii, 71 ff.Google Scholar). Claudius Dryantianus, husband of Julia Lysimacha (17) was from Patara (ib. 500, ii, 65).

42 For the status of Bithynia-Pontus in the second century see JRS. LIV (1964), 103Google Scholar, also D. Magie, op. cit. II, 1591 ff.; 1599. In A.D. 165–6 Bithynia was under a legatus pro praetore, Avitus, Lollianus (IGR. III, 84Google Scholar; Klio XIII (1913), 80, no. 4Google Scholar). This man is perhaps to be identified with L. Hedius Rufus Lollianus Avitus (PIR. 2 H 40).

43 All the Vilii of this family, with the exception of Ti. Claudius Flavianus Titianus Q. Vilius Proculus L. Marcius Celer M. Calpurnius Longus and his daughter Vilia Procla, spell the nomen Velius. But as most modern authorities refer to them as Vilii, this spelling has been used. Other persons of the same nomen, but not, apparently, related to this family, call themselves Vilii. For the two nomina see Schulze, W., Zur Geschichte lateinischer Eigennamen (Berlin, 1933Google Scholar).

45 OGI. 563, note ad loc.

49 The note to TAM. II, 667–8Google Scholar states that the stone is in two parts, the break being after ξένον and before Κα]τίλιου Σευήρου. Although these two parts were found at a great distance from one another the French editors had no hesitation in joining them together. Briefly, the arguments against joining the two are (i) the difference in measurements between the two stones; (ii) the fact that I has ἄνδρα] μεγαλόφρονα while II ἄνδρα σεμνὸν καὶ μεγαλόφρονα which seems needless repetition. Therefore it appears that there are two different stones, but the general tenor of both inscriptions is so alike that they seem to have referred to the same man. Since Catilius Severus was an outstanding character, he is contrasted with the other governors with whom the honorand was on good terms. The dating of TAM. II, 408Google Scholar, to A.D. 147 would agree with the reference to Catilius Severus (cos. II in A.D. 120) reasonably enough. The restoration of IGR. III, 513Google Scholar, (making a reference to D. Rupilius Severus, legatus Augusti pro praetore of Lycia in A.D. 151) is considered to be wrong, presumably because it exceeds the space available on the stone.

51 By the imperial titulature.

62 Les trafiquants italiens dans l'Orient hellénique (Paris, 1919) (see index)PIR. 2 C 1032).

70 Lycians seem to have been entering the senate from the time of Trajan onwards—the earliest seems to be Claudianus (TAM. II, 282

Google Scholar; for his date see PIR. 2 C 753)—but it is not until the mid second century that they appear in any number.