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The gens Potitia was an ancient patrician family at ancient Rome. None of its members ever attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state, and the gens is known primarily as a result of its long association with the rites of Hercules, and for a catastrophic plague that was said to have killed all of its members within a single month, at the end of the fourth century BC. However, a few Potitii of later times are known from literary sources and inscriptions.^[1]

Origin

The story of the Potitii is inextricably intertwined with that of the Pinarii. According to legend, Hercules came to Italy a generation before the Trojan War, and was received by the families of the Potitii and the Pinarii. He instructed them in a form of worship by which they honoured him for generations. The priesthood of this cult was carried out exclusively by members of these two families, as a sacrum gentilicium—the sacred duty of a particular gens.^[2]^[3]^[4] Michael Grant suggests that the worship overseen by these families was originally introduced to Italy by the Phoenicians, and was devoted to one of the Phoenician gods, who afterwards became assimilated with Hercules.^[5]

The position of the Potitii in this cult was superior to that of the Pinarii, who were excluded from partaking of the entrails of the sacrifice, supposedly because they had arrived late to the sacrificial banquet given by Hercules. The two families are said to have carried out their religious obligations for centuries, as hereditary priests of Hercules, until the period of the Samnite Wars, at the end of the fourth century BC.^[2]^[3]

Destruction

In 312 BC, Appius Claudius Caecus, during his censorship, attempted to persuade the Potitii and the Pinarii to instruct the public slaves in these rites. The Pinarii refused, but the Potitii accepted Claudius' offer of 50,000 pounds of copper.^[6] Niebuhr explains that Claudius' intention was to introduce the worship of Hercules, formerly sacra privata, into the religion of the Roman state, thus making them sacra publica. However, because no flamen could be appointed for a foreign god, it was necessary to entrust the rites to slaves.^[7]^[8]

For their impiety, Hercules sent a plague that carried off the entire gens in the span of thirty days; twelve families and thirty grown men perished, and Claudius himself was struck blind, which is how he obtained his cognomen.^[i]^[6]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13] There is some uncertainty as to the chronology of this legend; Claudius could hardly have been blinded during his censorship, as he went on to be consul in 307, and again in 296 BC, and was then nominated dictator in 292 and 285. Niebuhr suggests that the Potitii may instead have died in a terrible plague that struck Rome in 292.^[7]

The disappearance of an entire gens was extraordinary; together with the fact that no magistrates or other important Potitii are mentioned in surviving records, this has led some historians to suspect that they were not in fact a distinct gens, but instead a branch of another patrician family that became extinct around the period of the Samnite Wars, such as the Valerii Potiti, whose surname, Potitus, might have been mistaken for a nomen, Potitius. However, the ancient historians unanimously describe the Potitii as a gens.^[5] There are also a few indications that some Potitii survived the destruction of the gens. Cicero mentions a Publius Potitius who lived in the first century BC, and others are known from inscriptions.^[ii]^[14]

In popular culture

The Potitii are the focus of the novels Roma and Empire, by Steven Saylor. These novels follow the history of Rome, up to the reign of Hadrian, and concern the fortunes of the Potitii and Pinarii, through the passing down of a family heirloom. As depicted by Saylor, the Potitii who suddenly died were in fact murdered, a clever and ruthless killer poisoning them one by one and never being discovered.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

Potitia, named in an inscription from Rome.^[15]
Potitia, mentioned in an inscription from Tarraco in Hispania.^[16]
Potitia, named in an inscription from Ateste in Venetia and Histria.^[17]
Publius Potitius,^[iii] one of the guardians of the son of Publius Junius, custodian of the temple of Castor, who died in 80 BC. After five years, the boy's guardians and stepfather became embroiled in a dispute with Verres, who extracted considerable sums of money, supposedly to make extensive repairs to the temple, which in fact was in sound condition.^[14]
Potitia Alpina, the mother of Titus Tincius Alpinus, a municipal official at Lugdunum in Gallia Lugdunensis, to whom she dedicated a monument.^[19]
Marcus Potitius Aurelianus, buried at Tichilla in Africa Proconsularis, aged eighty-five.^[20]
Lucius Potitius Bulicus, husband of Potitia Secundina and father of Potitia Paterna, buried at Nemausus in Gallia Narbonensis.^[21]
Potitia L. f. Paterna, daughter of Lucius Potitius Bulicus and Potitia Secundina.^[21]
Potitius Romulus, an artisan and silversmith buried at Lugdunum, aged twenty years, five months, with a monument dedicated by his wife, Martinia Lea.^[22]
Potitia Secundina, wife of Lucius Potitius Bulicus and mother of Potitia Paterna.^[21]
Roscius Potitius Memmianus, a man of senatorial rank, erected a monument to his mother, Seia Potitia Consortiana, at Thibaris in Africa Proconsularis.^[23]
Seia Potitia Consortiana, the mother of Roscius Potitius Memmianus, buried at Thibaris.^[23]

Footnotes

^ Caecus means "blind".
^ The presence of a surname, Potitianus, in several inscriptions implies that others were adopted from the Potitia gens, or descended from it through the female line.
^ Alternate readings of his name are Titius, Tettius, and Tertius. The C. D. Yonge translation (1903) calls him "Publius Potitius"; the William Peterson Edition (Latin, 1916) gives his name as "Publius Titius", but notes the other possible readings.^[18]

References

^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 514 ("Potitia Gens").
^ ^a ^b Livy, i. 7.
^ ^a ^b Dionysius, i. 38–40.
^ Macrobius, iii. 6.
^ ^a ^b Grant, Roman Myths.
^ ^a ^b Livy, ix. 29.
^ ^a ^b Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. i. p. 88, vol. iii. p. 309.
^ Göttling, Geschichte der Römische Staatsverfassung, p. 178.
^ Festus, p. 237, ed. Müller.
^ Valerius Maximus, i. 1. § 17.
^ Servius, Ad Virgilii Aeneidem, viii. 268.
^ Macrobius, iii. 6.
^ Hartung, Die Religion der Römer, vol. ii. p. 30.
^ ^a ^b Cicero, In Verrem (second oration), i. 133–139 (s. 50–58).
^ CIL XV, 5457.
^ CIL II, 4970.
^ AE 1997, 678.
^ Cicero, In Verrem, second action, i. 135 ff., C. D. Yonge (trans.), Bell, London (1903); William Peterson (ed.), Clarendon Press, Oxford (1916).
^ CIL XIII, 1922.
^ CIL VIII, 1381.
^ ^a ^b ^c CIL XII, 3835.
^ CIL XIII, 2024.
^ ^a ^b AE 1913, 13.

Bibliography

Marcus Tullius Cicero, In Verrem.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia (Roman Antiquities).
Titus Livius (Livy), History of Rome.
Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
Sextus Pompeius Festus, Epitome de M. Verrio Flacco de Verborum Significatu (Epitome of Marcus Verrius Flaccus' On the Meaning of Words).
Maurus Servius Honoratus (Servius), Ad Virgilii Aeneidem Commentarii (Commentary on Vergil's Aeneid).
Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Saturnalia.
Barthold Georg Niebuhr, The History of Rome, Julius Charles Hare and Connop Thirlwall, trans., John Smith, Cambridge (1828).
Johann Adam Hartung, Die Religion der Römer (The Religion of the Romans), Palm und Enke, Erlangen (1836).
Karl Wilhelm Göttling, Geschichte der Römischen Staatsverfassung von Erbauung der Stadt bis zu C. Cäsar's Tod (History of the Roman State from the Founding of the City to the Death of Caesar), Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, Halle (1840).
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
Theodor Mommsen et alii, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated CIL), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
René Cagnat et alii, L'Année épigraphique (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated AE), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
Michael Grant, Roman Myths (1971).

[9] Caecus means "blind".

[15] The presence of a surname, Potitianus, in several inscriptions implies that others were adopted from the Potitia gens, or descended from it through the female line.

[21] Alternate readings of his name are Titius, Tettius, and Tertius. The C. D. Yonge translation (1903) calls him "Publius Potitius"; the William Peterson Edition (Latin, 1916) gives his name as "Publius Titius", but notes the other possible readings.^[18]

[DGRBM_Potitia_Gens-1] Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 514 ("Potitia Gens").

[Livy_i_7-2] Livy, i. 7.

[Dionysius_i_38-3] Dionysius, i. 38–40.

[4] Macrobius, iii. 6.

[Grant-5] Grant, Roman Myths.

[Livy_ix_29-6] Livy, ix. 29.

[Niebuhr_88-7] Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. i. p. 88, vol. iii. p. 309.

[8] Göttling, Geschichte der Römische Staatsverfassung, p. 178.

[10] Festus, p. 237, ed. Müller.

[11] Valerius Maximus, i. 1. § 17.

[12] Servius, Ad Virgilii Aeneidem, viii. 268.

[13] Macrobius, iii. 6.

[14] Hartung, Die Religion der Römer, vol. ii. p. 30.

[Cicero-16] Cicero, In Verrem (second oration), i. 133–139 (s. 50–58).

[17] CIL XV, 5457.

[18] CIL II, 4970.

[19] AE 1997, 678.

[20] Cicero, In Verrem, second action, i. 135 ff., C. D. Yonge (trans.), Bell, London (1903); William Peterson (ed.), Clarendon Press, Oxford (1916).

[22] CIL XIII, 1922.

[23] CIL VIII, 1381.

[CIL_12_3835-24] CIL XII, 3835.

[25] CIL XIII, 2024.

[AE_1913_13-26] AE 1913, 13.

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 {{short description|Ancient Roman family}}
-The '''gens Potitia''' was an ancient [[patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] family at [[ancient Rome]].  None of its members ever attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state, and the [[gens]] is known primarily as a result of its long association with the rites of [[Hercules]], and for a catastrophic plague that was said to have killed all of its members within a single month, at the end of the fourth century BC.  However, a few Potitii of later times are known from literary sources and inscriptions.<ref name="DGRBM Potitia Gens">''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 514 ("[[s:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Potitia gens|Potitia Gens]]").</ref>
+The '''gens Potitia''' was an ancient [[patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] family at [[ancient Rome]]. None of its members ever attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state, and the [[gens]] is known primarily as a result of its long association with the rites of [[Hercules]], and for a catastrophic plague that was said to have killed all of its members within a single month, at the end of the fourth century BC. However, a few Potitii of later times are known from literary sources and inscriptions.<ref name="DGRBM Potitia Gens">''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 514 ("[[s:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Potitia gens|Potitia Gens]]").</ref>
 ==Origin==
-The story of the Potitii is inextricably intertwined with that of the [[Pinaria gens|Pinarii]].  According to legend, Hercules came to Italy a generation before the [[Trojan War]], and was received by the families of the Potitii and the Pinarii.  He instructed them in a form of worship by which they honoured him for generations.  The priesthood of this cult was carried out exclusively by members of these two families, as a ''sacrum gentilicium''—the sacred duty of a particular gens.<ref name="Livy i 7">Livy, i. 7.</ref><ref name="Dionysius i 38">Dionysius, i. 38–40.</ref><ref>Macrobius, iii. 6.</ref>  [[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]] suggests that the worship overseen by these families was originally introduced to Italy by the [[Phoenicia]]ns, and was devoted to one of the Phoenician gods, who afterwards became assimilated with Hercules.<ref name="Grant">Grant, ''Roman Myths''.</ref>
+The story of the Potitii is inextricably intertwined with that of the [[Pinaria gens|Pinarii]]. According to legend, Hercules came to Italy a generation before the [[Trojan War]], and was received by the families of the Potitii and the Pinarii. He instructed them in a form of worship by which they honoured him for generations. The priesthood of this cult was carried out exclusively by members of these two families, as a ''sacrum gentilicium''—the sacred duty of a particular gens.<ref name="Livy i 7">Livy, i. 7.</ref><ref name="Dionysius i 38">Dionysius, i. 38–40.</ref><ref>Macrobius, iii. 6.</ref> [[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]] suggests that the worship overseen by these families was originally introduced to Italy by the [[Phoenicia]]ns, and was devoted to one of the Phoenician gods, who afterwards became assimilated with Hercules.<ref name="Grant">Grant, ''Roman Myths''.</ref>
-The position of the Potitii in this cult was superior to that of the Pinarii, who were excluded from partaking of the entrails of the sacrifice, supposedly because they had arrived late to the sacrificial banquet given by Hercules.  The two families are said to have carried out their religious obligations for centuries, as hereditary priests of Hercules, until the period of the [[Samnite Wars]], at the end of the fourth century BC.<ref name="Livy i 7"/><ref name="Dionysius i 38"/>
+The position of the Potitii in this cult was superior to that of the Pinarii, who were excluded from partaking of the entrails of the sacrifice, supposedly because they had arrived late to the sacrificial banquet given by Hercules. The two families are said to have carried out their religious obligations for centuries, as hereditary priests of Hercules, until the period of the [[Samnite Wars]], at the end of the fourth century BC.<ref name="Livy i 7"/><ref name="Dionysius i 38"/>
 ==Destruction==
-In 312 BC, [[Appius Claudius Caecus]], during his [[Roman censor|censorship]], attempted to persuade the Potitii and the Pinarii to instruct the public slaves in these rites.  The Pinarii refused, but the Potitii accepted Claudius' offer of 50,000 pounds of copper.<ref name="Livy ix 29">Livy, ix. 29.</ref>  [[Barthold Georg Niebuhr|Niebuhr]] explains that Claudius' intention was to introduce the worship of Hercules, formerly ''sacra privata'', into the religion of the [[Roman Republic|Roman state]], thus making them ''sacra publica''.  However, because no [[flamen]] could be appointed for a foreign god, it was necessary to entrust the rites to slaves.<ref name="Niebuhr 88">Niebuhr, ''History of Rome'', vol. i. p. 88, vol. iii. p. 309.</ref><ref>Göttling, ''Geschichte der Römische Staatsverfassung'', p. 178.</ref>
+In 312 BC, [[Appius Claudius Caecus]], during his [[Roman censor|censorship]], attempted to persuade the Potitii and the Pinarii to instruct the public slaves in these rites. The Pinarii refused, but the Potitii accepted Claudius' offer of 50,000 pounds of copper.<ref name="Livy ix 29">Livy, ix. 29.</ref> [[Barthold Georg Niebuhr|Niebuhr]] explains that Claudius' intention was to introduce the worship of Hercules, formerly ''sacra privata'', into the religion of the [[Roman Republic|Roman state]], thus making them ''sacra publica''. However, because no [[flamen]] could be appointed for a foreign god, it was necessary to entrust the rites to slaves.<ref name="Niebuhr 88">Niebuhr, ''History of Rome'', vol. i. p. 88, vol. iii. p. 309.</ref><ref>Göttling, ''Geschichte der Römische Staatsverfassung'', p. 178.</ref>
-For their impiety, Hercules sent a plague that carried off the entire gens in the span of thirty days; twelve families and thirty grown men perished, and Claudius himself was struck blind, which is how he obtained his [[cognomen]].{{efn-lr|''Caecus'' means "blind".}}<ref name="Livy ix 29"/><ref>Festus, p. 237, ed. [[Karl Otfried Müller|Müller]].</ref><ref>Valerius Maximus, i. 1. § 17.</ref><ref>Servius, ''Ad Virgilii Aeneidem'', viii. 268.</ref><ref>Macrobius, iii. 6.</ref><ref>Hartung, ''Die Religion der Römer'', vol. ii. p. 30.</ref>  There is some uncertainty as to the chronology of this legend; Claudius could hardly have been blinded during his censorship, as he went on to be [[Roman consul|consul]] in 307, and again in 296 BC, and was then nominated [[Roman dictator|dictator]] in 292 and 285.  Niebuhr suggests that the Potitii may instead have died in a terrible plague that struck Rome in 292.<ref name="Niebuhr 88"/>
+For their impiety, Hercules sent a plague that carried off the entire gens in the span of thirty days; twelve families and thirty grown men perished, and Claudius himself was struck blind, which is how he obtained his [[cognomen]].{{efn-lr|''Caecus'' means "blind".}}<ref name="Livy ix 29"/><ref>Festus, p. 237, ed. [[Karl Otfried Müller|Müller]].</ref><ref>Valerius Maximus, i. 1. § 17.</ref><ref>Servius, ''Ad Virgilii Aeneidem'', viii. 268.</ref><ref>Macrobius, iii. 6.</ref><ref>Hartung, ''Die Religion der Römer'', vol. ii. p. 30.</ref> There is some uncertainty as to the chronology of this legend; Claudius could hardly have been blinded during his censorship, as he went on to be [[Roman consul|consul]] in 307, and again in 296 BC, and was then nominated [[Roman dictator|dictator]] in 292 and 285. Niebuhr suggests that the Potitii may instead have died in a terrible plague that struck Rome in 292.<ref name="Niebuhr 88"/>
-The disappearance of an entire gens was extraordinary; together with the fact that no [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]] or other important Potitii are mentioned in surviving records, this has led some historians to suspect that they were not in fact a distinct gens, but instead a branch of another patrician family that became extinct around the period of the Samnite Wars, such as the [[Valeria gens|Valerii]] Potiti, whose surname, ''Potitus'', might have been mistaken for a [[Nomen gentilicium|nomen]], ''Potitius''.  However, the ancient historians unanimously describe the Potitii as a gens.<ref name="Grant"/>  There are also a few indications that some Potitii survived the destruction of the gens.  [[Cicero]] mentions a Publius Potitius who lived in the first century BC, and others are known from inscriptions.{{efn-lr|The presence of a surname, ''Potitianus'', in several inscriptions implies that others were adopted into the Potitia gens, or descended from it through the female line.}}<ref name="Cicero">Cicero, ''In Verrem'' (second oration), i. 50–58.</ref>
+The disappearance of an entire gens was extraordinary; together with the fact that no [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]] or other important Potitii are mentioned in surviving records, this has led some historians to suspect that they were not in fact a distinct gens, but instead a branch of another patrician family that became extinct around the period of the Samnite Wars, such as the [[Valerii Potiti]], whose surname, ''Potitus'', might have been mistaken for a [[Nomen gentilicium|nomen]], ''Potitius''. However, the ancient historians unanimously describe the Potitii as a gens.<ref name="Grant"/> There are also a few indications that some Potitii survived the destruction of the gens. [[Cicero]] mentions a Publius Potitius who lived in the first century BC, and others are known from inscriptions.{{efn-lr|The presence of a surname, ''Potitianus'', in several inscriptions implies that others were adopted from the Potitia gens, or descended from it through the female line.}}<ref name="Cicero">Cicero, ''In Verrem'' (second oration), i. 133–139 (s. 50–58).</ref>
 ==In popular culture==
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 * Potitia, mentioned in an inscription from [[Tarraco]] in [[Hispania Tarraconensis|Hispania]].<ref>{{CIL|2|4970}}.</ref>
 * Potitia, named in an inscription from [[Ateste]] in [[Venetia and Histria]].<ref>{{AE|1997|678}}.</ref>
-* Publius Potitius, one of the guardians of the son of Publius Junius, custodian of the temple of [[Castor and Pollux|Castor]], who died in 80 BC.  After five years, the boy's guardians and stepfather became embroiled in a dispute with [[Verres]], who extracted considerable sums of money, supposedly to make extensive repairs to the temple, which in fact was in sound condition.<ref name="Cicero"/>
+* Publius Potitius,{{efn-lr|Alternate readings of his name are ''Titius'', ''Tettius'', and ''Tertius''.  The C. D. Yonge translation (1903) calls him "Publius Potitius"; the William Peterson Edition (Latin, 1916) gives his name as "Publius Titius", but notes the other possible readings.<ref>Cicero, ''In Verrem'', second action, i. 135 ''ff.'', C. D. Yonge (trans.), Bell, London (1903); William Peterson (ed.), Clarendon Press, Oxford (1916).</ref>}} one of the guardians of the son of Publius Junius, custodian of the temple of [[Castor and Pollux|Castor]], who died in 80 BC. After five years, the boy's guardians and stepfather became embroiled in a dispute with [[Verres]], who extracted considerable sums of money, supposedly to make extensive repairs to the temple, which in fact was in sound condition.<ref name="Cicero"/>
 * Potitia Alpina, the mother of Titus Tincius Alpinus, a municipal official at [[Lugdunum]] in [[Gallia Lugdunensis]], to whom she dedicated a monument.<ref>{{CIL|13|1922}}.</ref>
 * Marcus Potitius Aurelianus, buried at [[Testour|Tichilla]] in [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa Proconsularis]], aged eighty-five.<ref>{{CIL|8|1381}}.</ref>
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 * Roscius Potitius Memmianus, a man of [[Roman Senate|senatorial]] rank, erected a monument to his mother, Seia Potitia Consortiana, at [[Thibaris]] in Africa Proconsularis.<ref name="AE 1913 13">{{AE|1913|13}}.</ref>
 * Seia Potitia Consortiana, the mother of Roscius Potitius Memmianus, buried at Thibaris.<ref name="AE 1913 13"/>
-==Footnotes==
-{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}
 ==See also==
 * [[List of Roman gentes]]
 * [[Pinaria gens]]
+==Footnotes==
+{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}
 ==References==
-{{reflist|30em}}
+{{reflist}}
 ==Bibliography==
+{{Refbegin|30em}}
 * [[Cicero|Marcus Tullius Cicero]], ''[[In Verrem]]''.
 * [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Romaike Archaiologia'' (Roman Antiquities).
 * Titus Livius ([[Livy]]), ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri|History of Rome]]''.
-* [[Valerius Maximus]], ''[[Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX|Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium]]'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
+* [[Valerius Maximus]], ''Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium'' (Memorable Facts and Sayings).
-* [[Sextus Pompeius Festus]],  ''Epitome de M. Verrio Flacco de Verborum Significatu'' (Epitome of [[Marcus Verrius Flaccus]]' ''On the Meaning of Words'').
+* [[Sextus Pompeius Festus]], ''Epitome de M. Verrio Flacco de Verborum Significatu'' (Epitome of [[Marcus Verrius Flaccus]]' ''On the Meaning of Words'').
 * Maurus Servius Honoratus ([[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]]), ''Ad Virgilii Aeneidem Commentarii'' (Commentary on Vergil's Aeneid).
 * [[Macrobius|Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius]], ''Saturnalia''.
@@ Line 58: / Line 59: @@
 * René Cagnat ''et alii'', ''[[L'Année épigraphique]]'' (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated ''AE''), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
 * [[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]], ''Roman Myths'' (1971).
+{{Refend}}
 [[Category:Roman gentes]]