Perperna
- a Roman surname. A famous person of this name was M. Perperna, the murderer of Sertorius, who was defeated by Pompey, Liv. 44, 27, 11; id. Epit. 96; Vell. 2, 30, 1; Flor. 2, 20, 6.—Form Perpenna, Nep. Cat. 1, 1; Tac. A. 3, 62; Just. 36, 4, 9.
or Perpenna Περπέννας, the name of a Roman gens. We may infer from the termination of the word, that the Perpernae were of Etruscan origin, like the Caecinae and Spurinnae. The Perpernae are first mentioned in the latter half of the second century B. C., and the first member of the gens, who obtained the consulship, was M. Perperna in B. C. 130. There is considerable doubt as to the orthography of the name, since both Perperna and Perpenna occur in the best manuscripts ; but as we find Perperna in the Fasti Capitolini, this appears to be the preferable form. (Comp. Graevius and Garaton. ad Cie. pro Rosc. Com. 1; Duker, ad Flor. 2.20; Drakenborch, ad Liv. 44.27.) There are no coins now extant to determine the question of the orthography, although in the time of Fronto there were coins bearing this name. (Fronto, p. 249, ed. Rom.)
1. M. Perperna, was sent as an ambassador in B. C. 168 with L. Petillius to the Illyrian king Gentins, who threw them into prison, where they remained till the conquest of Gentius shortly after by the praetor Anicius. Perperna was thereupon sent to Rome by Anicius to convey the news of the victory. (Liv. 44.27, 32; Appian, App. Mac. 16.1.)
2. M. Perperna, consul in B. C. 130, is said to have been a consul before he was a citizen; for Valerius Maximus relates (3.3.5), that the father of this Perperna was condemned under the Papia lex after the death of his son, because he had falsely usurped the rights of a Roman citizen. * As to this Papia lex, the date of which has given rise to some dispute, see Papius.
M. Perperna was praetor in B. C. 135, in which year he had the conduct of the war against the slaves in Sicily, and in consequence of the advantages which he obtained over them received the honour of an ovation on his return to Rome. (Flor. 3.19; Fasti Capit.) He was consul in B. C. 130 with C. Claudius Pulcher Lentulus, and was sent into Asia against Aristonicus, who had defeated one of the consuls of the previous year, P. Licinius Crassus. Perperna, however, soon brought the war to a close. He defeated Aristonicus in the first engagement, and followed up his victory by laying siege to Stratoniceia, whither Aristonicus had fled. The town was compelled by famine to surrender, and the king accordingly fell into the consul's hands. Perperna did not however live to enjoy the triumph, which he would undoubtedly have obtained, but died in the neighbourhoood of Pergamum on his return to Rome in B. C. 129. (Liv. Epit. 59; Just. 36.4; Veil. Pat. 2.4; Flor 2.20; Oros. 5.10.) [Aristonicus, No. 2.] It was the above-mentioned Perperna who granted the right of asylum to the temple of Diana in the town of Hierocaesareia in Lydia. (Tac. Ann. 3.62.)
3. M. Perperna, son of No. 2, consul B. C. 92 with C. Claudius Pulcher, and censor B. C. 86 with L. Marcius Philippus. Perperna is mentioned by the ancient writers as an extraordinary instance of longevity. He attained the great age of ninetyeight years, and died in B. C. 49, the year in which the civil war broke out between Caesar and Pompey. He outlived all the senators who belonged to that body in his consulship, and at the time of his death there were only seven persons surviving, whom he had enrolled in the senate during his censorship. (Plin. Nat. 7.48; V. Max. 8.13.4; D. C. 41.14; the last writer gives the details a little differently.) Perperna took no prominent part in the agitated times in which he lived. In the Social or Marsic war, B. C. 90, he was one of the legates, who served under the consul P. Rutilius Lupus. (Appian, App. BC 1.40.) It was probably the same M. Perperna who was judex in the case of C. Aculeo (Cic. de Orat. 2.65), and also in that of Q. Roscius, for whom Cicero pleaded (pro Rose. Corn.1, 8). In B. C. 54, M. Perperna is mentioned as one of the consulars who bore testimony on behalf of M. Scaurus at the trial of the latter. (Ascon. in Scaur. p. 28, ed. Orelli.) The censorship of Perperna is mentioned by Cicero (Cic. Ver. 1.55), and Cornelius Nepos speaks of him (Cat. 1) as censorius.
4. M. Perperna Vento, son of No. 3, joined the Marian party in the civil war, and was raised to the praetorship (Perperna praetoius, Vell. 2.30), though in what year is uncertain. After Sulla had completely conquered the Marian party in Italy in B. C. 82, Perperna fled to Sicily with some troops; but upon the arrival of Pompey shortly afterwards, who had been sent thither by Sulla, Perperna evacuated the island. On the death of Sulla in B. C. 78, Perperna joined the consul M. Aemilius Lepidus in his attempt to overthrow the new aristocratical constitution, and retired with him to Sardinia on the failure of this attempt. Lepidus died in Sardinia in the following year, B. C. 77, and Perperna with the remains of his army crossed over to Spain, where the amiable disposition and brilliant genius of Sertorius had gained the love of the inhabitants of the country, and had for some time defied all the efforts of Q. Metellus Pius, who had been sent against him with a large army by the ruling party at Rome. Perperna, however, was not disposed to place himself under the command of Sertorius. He had brought with him considerable forces and large treasures; he was proud of his noble family, being both the son and grandson of a consul; and although his abilities were mean, he thought that the chief command ought to devolve upon him, and therefore resolved to carry on the war on his own account against Metellus. But his troops, who well knew on which commander they could place most reliance, compelled him to join Sertorius, as soon as they heard that Pompey was crossing the Alps in order to prosecute the war in conjunction with Metellus. For the next five years Perperna served under Sertorius, and was more than once defeated. [For details, see Sertorius.] But although Perperna acted apparently in concert with Sertorius, he and the other Roman nobles who accompanied him were jealous of the ascendency of the latter, and at last were mad enough to allow their jealousy and pride to destroy the only man who could have restored them to political power. In B. C. 72, Perperna and his friends assassinated Sertorius at a banquet. His death soon brought the war to a close. Perperna was completely defeated in the first battle which he fought with Pompey after the death of Sertorius, and was taken prisoner. Anxious to save his life, he offered to deliver up to Pompey the papers of Sertorius, which contained letters from many of the leading men at Rome, inviting Sertorius to Italy, and expressing a desire to change the constitution which Sulla had established. But Pompey refused to see him, and commanded him to be put to death and the letters to be burnt. (Appian, App. BC 1.107, 110, 113_115 ; Plut. Pomp. 10, 20, Sert. 15, 25-27; Liv. Epit. 96; Eutrop. 6.1; Flor. 3.22; Oros. 5.23; Vell. 2.30; Sail. Hist. lib. ii. iii.; Cic. Ver. 5.58.)
or Perpenna. (1) Marcus, a Roman consul in B.C. 130, who defeated Aristonicus in Asia, and took him prisoner. He died at Pergamum in the following year (Livy , Epist. 59; Vell. Paterc. ii. 4).
(2) Marcus, son of the preceding, consul in B.C. 92 and censor in 86. He lived to the age of ninety-eight years (Pliny , Pliny H. N. vii. 156).
(3) M. Perperna Vento, son of the preceding. He was a follower of Marius in the Civil War, and fled to Sicily when Sulla conquered Italy in B.C. 82. On the death of Sulla , in 78, Perperna joined the consul M. Lepidus in his attempt to overthrow the new aristocratical constitution, and retired with him to Sardinia on the failure of this attempt. Lepidus died in Sardinia in the following year (77), and Perperna with the remains of his army crossed over to Spain and joined Sertorius (q.v.). Perperna was jealous of the ascendency of Sertorius, and after serving under him some years he and his friends assassinated Sertorius at a banquet in B.C. 72. His death soon brought the war to a close. Perperna was defeated by Pompey, was taken prisoner, and was put to death (App. B. C. i. 107-115; Plut. Pomp. 10, 20).