Memmius

Memmius, a,

• name of a Roman gens. mox Italus Mnestheus, genus, a quo nomine Memmi, Verg. A. 5, 117. So C. Memmius, a public man, who, being adjudged guilty of ambitus, went into exile to Athens, to him Cicero addressed several letters, and to him Lucretius dedicated his poem, De Rerum Natura; cf. Lucr. 1, 42.—Hence,
• • A Memmĭădes, ae, m., one of the Memmian gens, a Memmiade, a Memmius, Lucr. 1, 26.—
  • B Memmĭānus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to a Memmius: praedia, of C. Memmius, Cic. Att. 5, 1, 1.

Memmius, a, um, Name einer röm. gens, aus der am bekanntesten C. Memmius, der, von Q. Kurtius de ambitu angeklagt und verurteilt, nach Athen ins Exil ging. An ihn sind mehrere Briefe Ciceros im 13. Buch der epp. ad fam. gerichtet; ihm widmete Lukrez sein Gedicht de rerum natura; vgl. Manut. Cic. ep. 13, 1 in. – Dav.: a) Memmiadēs, ae, f., einer aus dem memmischen Geschlechte, ein Memmiade, ein Memmius, Lucr. 1, 26. – b) Memmiānus, a, um, memmianisch, praedia, des C. Memmius (s. oben), Cic. ad Att. 5, 1. § 1.

Memmĭus, (10) ĭī, m. , nom des membres dʼune famille romaine : Lucr. 1, 42 ; Virg. En. 5, 117.

Me'mmius

1. C. Memmius Quirinus, C. F., was the aedile who first exhibited the Cerealia at Rome, as we learn from the annexed coin; but the name does not occur in any ancient writer. The obverse has C. MEMMI. C. F. Qvirinvs, with a head which may be that of Quirinus: the reverse has MEMMIVS. AED. CEREALIA. PREIMVS. Fecit, and represents Ceres sitting; a serpent at her feet; in her right hand, three ears of corn; in her left, a distaff. The date of the introduction of the Cerealia at Rome (Dionys. A. R. 7.72; Liv. 22.56; Ovid. Fast. 4.397), and consequently of the aedileship of Memmius Quirinus, is unknown, though it must have been previous to B. C. 216. (Liv. l.c.)

Me'mmius

2. C. Memmius Gallus, was praetor for the second time in B. C. 173. Sicily was his province, and he remained in it as propraetor during the next year. (Liv. 42.9, 10, 27.) The annexed coin of the Memmia gens, which bears on the reverse L. MEMMI . GAL., may have been struck by some relation of C. Memmius Gallus.

Me'mmius

3. T. Memmius, was sent by the senate in B. C. 170 as its commissioner to hear the complaints of the provincials in Achaia and Macedonia against the Roman magistrates in those districts. (Liv. 43.5.)

Me'mmius

4. Q. Memmius, was legatus from the senate to the Jewish nation about B. C. 163-2. (Maccab. 2.11.)

Me'mmius

5. C. Memmius, tribune of the plebs in B. C. 111, was an ardent opponent of the oligarchical party at Rome during the Jugurthine war. His exposure of its venality, incompetence, and traffic with Jugurtha first opened the command of the legions to the incorruptible Metellus Numidicus, and finally to the low-born but able C. Marius, and thus laid the foundation of ultimate victory and triumph. (Sal. Jug. 27, 30_34.) Among the nobles impeached by Memmius were L. Calpurnius Bestia [Bestia, No. 1], and M. Aemilius Scaurus. (Cic. de Orat. ii. 70, pro Font. 7.) Memmius was slain with bludgeons by the mob of Saturninus and Glaucia, while a candidate for the consulship in B. C. 100. (Cic. in Cat. 4.2; Appian, App. BC 1.32; Liv. Epit. 69; Flor. 3.16.) Sallust (Sal. Jug. 31) gives a speech of Mremmius which, however, is rather a dramatic than an authentic version of the original, and he had a higher opinion of the tribune's eloquence than Cicero (Cic. Brut. 36) altogether sanctions. In the " Life of Terence" (3), ascribed to Suetonius, is preserved a fragment of Memmius's speech "de Se,"--the defence, probably, at which the judices rejected the evidence of Memmius's enemy M. Aemilius Scaurts (Cic. pro Font.7), and there is another doubtful fragnent in Priscian (8.4). (Compare Ellendt, Proleg. in Cic. Brut. Ixi.; Meyer, Fragm. Rom. Orat. p. 138.) From some forensic witticisms of L. Licinius Crassus [Crassus, No. 23], it would appear that Memmius had the by-name of "Mordax." (Cic. de Orat. 2.59.240, 66.267; Quint. Inst. 6.3. § 67.)

Me'mmius

6. L. Memmiius, was an orator of some eminence during the war of Sulla with the Marian party, B. C. 87-81. (Cic. Brut. 36, 70, 89.) From Cicero (pro Sext. Rosc. 32) it would appear that Memmius was a supporter of C. Marius.

Me'mmius

7. C. Memmius, brother, probably, of the preceding (Cic. Brut. 36), married a sister of Cn. Pompey. He was Pompey's propraetor in Sicily, and his quaestor in Spain, during the Sertorian war, B. C. 76, and was slain in battle with Sertorius near Saguntum. (Cic. pro Balb. 2; Plut. Pomp. 11, Sert. 21; Oros. 5.23.)

Me'mmius

8. C. Memmius Gemellus, L. F., son of No. 6, was tribune of the plebs in . 100.66, when he opposed the demand of L. Lucullus for a triumph, on his return from the Mithridatic war. (Plut. Luc. 37.) Memmius was a man of profligate character. He wrote indecent poems (Plin. Ep. 5.3; Ovid. Trist. 2.433; Gel. 19.9), made overtures to Cn. Pompey's wife (Suet. Ill. Gr. 14), and, when curule aedile, in B. C. 60, seduced the wife of M. Lucullus, whence Cicero, combining this intrigue with Memmius's previous hostility to I,. Lucullus, calls him a Paris, who insulted not only Menelaus (M. Lucullus), but Agamemnon also (L. Lucullus). (Cic. ad Att.1.18.3; comp. V. Max. 6.1.13.) Memmius was praetor in B. C. 58. (Cic. ad Quint. Fr. 1.2, 5, 15.) He belonged at that time to the Senatorian party, since he impeached P. Vatinius, consul in B. C. 47 (Cic. in Vatin. 14); opposed P. Clodius (id. ad Att. 2.12); and was vehement in his invectives against Julius Caesar (Suet. Jul. 23, 49, 73; Schol. Bob. in Cic. pro Sest. p. 297, in Cic. Vatinian. p. 317, 323, Orelli); and attempted to bring in a bill to rescind the acts of his consulate. Before, however, Memmius himself competed for the consulship, B. C. 54, he had been reconciled to Caesar, who supported him with all his interest. (Cic. Att. 4.15, 17; Suet. Jul. 73.) But Memmius soon again offended Caesar by revealing a certain coalition with his opponents at the comitia. (Cic. ad Quint. Fr. 2.15, ad 4Att. 4.16,18.) Memmius was impeached for ambitus, and, receiving no aid from Caesar, withdrew from Rome to Mytilene, where he was living in the year of Cicero's proconsulate. (Cic. ad Quint. Fr. 3.2, 8, ad Fam. 13.19, ad Att. 5.11, 6.1.) Memmius married Fausta, a daughter of the dictator Sulla, whom he divorced after having by her at least one son C. Memmius [No. 9]. (Ascon. in Cic. pro Ar. Aemil. Scaur. p. 29, Orelli; Cic. pro Sull. 19.) He was eminent both in literature and in eloquence, although in the latter his indolence, his fastidious taste, and exclusive preference of Greek to Roman models rendered him less effective in the forum. (Cic. Brut. 70.) Lucretius dedicated his poem, De Rerum Natura, to this Memmius and Cicero addressed three letters to him (ad Fam. 13.1-3).

Me'mmius

9. C. Memmius, son of the preceding by Fausta, daughter of Sulla the dictator, was tribune of the plebs in B. C. 54. He prosecuted A. Gabinius, consul in B. C. 58, for malversation in his province of Syria (Cic. ad Quint. Fr. 3.1. 5, 15, 2. 1, 3. 2, pro Rabir. Post.3; V. Max. 8.1.3), and Domitius Calvinus for ambitus at his consular comitia in B. C. 54 (Cic. ad Quint. Fr. 3.2.3, 3. 2). Memmius addressed the judices in behalf of the defendant at the trial of M. Aemilius Scaurus in the same year (Ascon. in Cic. Scaurian. p. 29, Orelli). Memmius was step-son of T. Annius Milo who married his mother after her divorce by C. Memmius (No. 7). (Ascon. I. c.; Cic. pro Sull. 19.) Memmius was consul suffectus in B. C. 34, when he exhibited games in honour of one of the mythic ancestors of the Julian house, Venus Genetrix. (D. C. 49.42.)

Me'mmius

10. P. MEMMIUS, was cited a witness for the defendant at the trial of A. Caecina, B. C. 69. (Cic. pro Caec. 10.) [Caecina, No. 1.]

Me'mmius

11. P. Memmius Regulus, was supplementary consul in A. D. 31 (Fasti; D. C. 58.9), and afterwards praefect of Macedonia and Achaia, in which office he received orders from Caligula to remove to Rome the statue of the Pheidian Jupiter from Olympia. (J. AJ 19.1; Paus. 9.27; comp. D. C. 1. 6.) Memmius was the husband of Lollia Paulina, and was compelled by Caligula to divorce her. (Tac. Ann. 12.23; Suet. Cal. 25; D. C. 59.12; Euseb. in Chron.; comp. Tac. Ann. 12.1.) Memmius died in A. D. 63. (Tac. Ann. 14.47.)

Me'mmius

12. C. Memmius Regulus, son, probably, of the preceding, was consul in A. D. 63. (Fasti; Tac. Ann.15.23; Gruter, Inscr. p. 8.)

Me'mmius

13. L. Memmius Pollio, was supplementary consul in B. C. 49. Memmius was a creature of Agrippina's, the wife of Claudius, and was employed by her to promote the marriage of her son Nero with the emperor's daughter Octavia. (Tac. Ann. 12.9.)

Me'mmius

14. C. Memmius, C. F., is only known from coins of the republican period, a specimen of which is annexed. The obverse bears the head of Ceres, with c. MEMMI, C. F.: the reverse a trophy supported by a captive, with c. MEMMIVS IMPERATOR. This coin is of beautiful workmanship.

[W.B.D]

Memmius

The name of a Roman gens, which claimed descent from the Trojan Mnestheus. (1) C. Memmius, tribune of the plebs B.C. 111, an ardent opponent of the oligarchical party at Rome during the Jugurthine War. He was slain by the mob of Saturninus and Glaucia while a candidate for the consulship in 100.

(2) C. Memmius Gemellus, tribune of the plebs in B.C. 66, curule aedile in 60, and praetor in 58, was impeached for bribery, and withdrew from Rome to Mitylené. Memmius married Fausta, a daughter of the dictator Sulla , by whom he had a son. He was eminent both in literature and in eloquence, though profligate in his private character. Lucretius dedicated to him his poem De Reum Natura.