386, 384, 380, 377, 370,
first law is said to have made a plebiscitum binding and 367.
first law is said to have made a plebiscitum binding and 367.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
1.
An Athe-
tell whether he makes Potanjon the occasional dis- nian sculptor, whose name is preserved on an in-
ciple of Plotinus, or Plotinus of Potamon. Suidas, scription which was affixed to the portrait-statue
in the article aiperis, evidently quotes Laërtius, but of a certain Nymphodotus, in the palaestra at
in Ποτάμων he states, that he lived προ Αυγούστου, | Athens. (Böckh, Corp. Inscr. No. 270, vol. i.
kal Her' ajtóv. Whatever meaning these words p. 375. The inscription, as explained by Böckh,
may have--for that is one of the points of dis reads thus, Eikova tvoe Hodeivos . τεύξας
cussion in this question—the two articles are irre-Shkaro, which can only mean that Potheinus was
concileable. Indeed, Suidas exhibits his usual con both the sculptor and the dedicator of the statue.
fusion in this name. He makes (s. v. neobávat) That artists not unfrequently dedicated their own
Potamon the rhetorician (No. 2], a philosopher, works, is shown by Welcker, Kunstblatt, 1827,
and we need not encumber the question with his No. 83 ; comp. R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn,
unsupported authority on a point of chronology. p. 392).
Yet, to accommodate his statement with those of 2. Á vase-painter, whose name appears on a
Laërtius and Porphyrius, Gloeckner and Harless beautiful vessel, in the ancient style, representing
suppose three Potamons. For this, or even for the the contest of Thetis and Peleus, which was found
supposition that there were two, there seems no in 1833 at Ponte dell' Abbadia, and is now in the
necessity. Setting aside the authority of Suidas, museum at Berlin. It is doubtful whether the
remembering the uncertainty of the time of Laërtius name inscribed on the vase is Modeīvos or lleidivos;
to determine which his mention of Potamon may but it looks more like the latter. (Levezow, Ver.
furnish a new element, - we cannot but attach zeichniss, No. 1005, p. 246 ; Gerhard, Berlins Ant.
much weight to the statement of Porphyrius, the Bildwerke, No. 1005, p. 291 ; R. Rochette, Lettre à
contemporary of Plotinus, and who refers to Pota. M. Schorn, pp. 56, 57. )
[P. S. )
mon, as a well-known name. We should, there- POTHI'NUS, an eunuch, the guardian of the
fore, conclude that the Potamon mentioned by young king Ptolemy, and the regent of the king-
Laërtius and Porphyrius are the same, and, on a dom, recommended the assassination of Pompey,
minute investigation of the passage where he is when the latter fled for refuge to Egypt after the
mentioned by the latter author, that he was older loss of the battle of Pharsalia in B. C. 48 (Lucan,
than Plotinus, and entrusted his children to his riii. 484, &c. ). He plotted against Caesar when
guardianship. He may have brought from Alex. he came to Alexandrin, later the same year. It
0
VOL. UL
## p. 514 (#530) ############################################
514
POTITUS.
· POTITUS
was Pothinus who placed Achillas over the Egyp. I the celebmted P. Valerius Publicola ; but it is s
tian forces, with directions to seize a favourable matter of dispute whether he was his brother or
opportunity for attacking Caesar, but he himself his nephew. Dionysius, it is true, calls him (viii.
remained with the young king in the quarters of 77) his brother * ; but it has been conjectured by
Caesar. But as he was here detected in carrying Glareanus, Gelenius, and Sylburg, that we ought
on a treasonable correspondence with Achillas, he to read αδελφιδούς Ο αδελφόπαις instead of άδελ-
was put to death by order of Caesar. (Caes. B. C. pós ; and this conjecture is confirmed by the fact
iii. 108, 112 ; Dion Cros. xlii. 36, 39 ; Plut. Caes. that Dionysius elsewhere (viii. 87) speaks of bim
48, 49; Lucan, x. 333, &c. 515, &c. )
as the son of Marcus, whereas we know that the
POTHOS (1160os), a personification of love or father of Publicola was Volusus. If Potitus was
desire, was represented along with Eros and His the son of Marcus, he was probably the son of the
meros, in the temple of Aphrodite at Megara, by M. Valerius who was consul B. c. 505, four years
the hand of Scopas. (Paus. i. 43. § 6 ; Plin. H. after the kings were expelled, and who is described
N. xxxvi. 4, 7. )
[L. S. ) in the Fasti as M. Valerius Vol. f. Volusus. More
POTITIA GENS, one of the most ancient pa- over, seeing that Potitus was consul a second time
trician gentes at Rome, but it never attained any B. C. 470, that is, thirty-nine years after the ex-
historical importance. The Potitii were, with the pulsion of the kings, it is much more likely that
Pinarii, the hereditary priests of Hercules at Rome: he should have been a nephew than a brother of
the legend which related the establishment of the the man who took such a prominent part in the
worship of this god, is given under Pinaria Gens. events of that time. We may, therefore, conclude
It is further stated that the Potitii and Pinarii con- with tolerable certainty that he was the nephew of
tinued to discharge the duties of their priesthood Publicola.
till the censorship of App. Claudius (B. C. 312), Potitus is first mentioned in B. C. 485, in which
who induced the Potitii, by the sum of 50,000 year he was one of the quaestores parricidii, and, in
pounds of copper, to instruci public slaves in the conjunction with his colleague, K. Fabius, im-
performance of the sacred rites ; whereat the god peached Sp. Cassius Viscellinus before the people.
was so angry, that the whole gens, containing (VISCELLINUS. ) (Liv. ii. 41 ; Dionys. viii. 77. )
twelve families and thirty grown up men, perished He was consul in B. C. 483, with M. Fabius Vibu-
within a year, or, according to other accounts, lanus (Liv. ii. 42 ; Dionys. viii. 87), and again in
within thirty days, and Appius himself became 470 with Ti. Aemilius Mamercus. In the latter
blind (Liv. ix. 29 ; Festus, p. 237, ed. Müller ; year he marched against the Aequi ; and as the
Val. Max i. 1. & 17). Niebuhr remarks that if enemy would not meet him in the open field, he pro-
there is any truth in the tale respecting the de- ceeded to attack their camp, but was prevented
struction of the Potitia gens, they may have perished from doing so by the indications of the divine will.
in the great plague which raged fifteen or twenty (Liv. ii. 61, 62; Dionys. ix. 51, 55. )
years later, since such legends are not scrupulous 2. L. VALERIUS Potitus, consul with M. Ho-
with respect to chronology. The same writer ratius Barbatus, in B C. 449. Dionysius calls him
further observes that it is probable that the worship a grandson of the great P. Valerius Publicola, and
of Hercules, as attended to by the Potitii and the a son of the P. Valerius Publicola, who was
Pinarii, was a form of religion peculiar to these consul in B. C. 460, and who was killed that
gentes, and had nothing to do with the religion of year in the assault of the Capitol, which had been
the Roman state ; and that as App. Claudius seized by Herdonius (Dionys. xi. 4); and hence we
wished to make these sacra privata part of the find him described as L. Valerius Publicola Potitus.
sucra publica, he induced the Potitii to instruct But we think it more probable that he was the
public slaves in the rites, since no foreign god son or grandson of L. Valerius Potitus (No. 1]; first,
could have a flamen. (Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, because we find that Livy, Cicero, and Dionysius,
vol. iii. p. 309. )
invariably give him the surname of Potitus, and
POTI'TUS, P. AFRA'NIUS, vowed during never that of Publicola, and secondly because the
an illness of Caligula, to sacrifice his life, if the great popularity of Potitus would naturally give
emperor recovered, expecting to be rewarded for origin to the tradition that he was a lineal de
his devotion. But when Caligula got well, and scendant of that member of the gens, who took
Afranius was unwilling to fulfill his vow, the such a prominent part in the expulsion of the kings.
emperor had him decked out like a sacrificial victim, The annals of the Valeria gens recorded that L.
paraded through the streets, and then hurled down Valerius Potitus was the first person who offered
from the eminence (ex aggere) by the Colline gate. opposition to the decemvirs ; and whether this was
;
(Dion Cass. lix. 8 ; Suet. Cal. 27. )
the case or not, there can be no doubt that he took
POTI'TUS, VALERIUS. Potitus was the a leading part in the abolition of the tyrannical
name of one of the most ancient and most cele- power. He and M. Horatius are represented as
brated families of the Valeria Gens. This family, the leaders of the people against Ap. Claudius after
like many of the other ancient Roman families, dis- the murder of Virginia by her father ; and when the
appears about the time of the Samnite wars ; but plebeians had seceded to the Sacred Hill, he and
the name was revived at a later period by the Va- Horatius were sent to them by the senate, as the
leria gens, as a prienomen: thus we find mention only acceptable members, to negotiate the terms of
of a Potitus Valerius Messalla, who was consul peace. In this mission they succeeded ; the de
buffectus in B. c. 29. The practice of using extinct cemvirate was abolished, and the two friends of the
family-names as praenomens was common to other plebs, Valerius and Horatius, were elected consuls,
gentes : as for instance in the Cornelia gens, where B. C. 449. Their consulship is memorable by the
the Lentuli adopted, as a praenomen, the extinct
cognomen of Cossus. (Cossus ; LENTULUS. ] * Dionysius also calls him L. Valerius Publicola,
1. L. VALERIUS Potitus, consul B. C. 483 and but this is opposed to the Fasti, and is in itself im-
470, the founder of the family, was a relation of probable.
## p. 515 (#531) ############################################
POTITUS.
615
PRAETEXTATUS.
onartment of the celebrated Valeriac et Iloratiuc / in the Capitoline Frsti, as L. f. L. N. , and conse-
Leyes, which secured the liberties of the plebs, and qnently a son of No. 4, was consular tribune six
gave them additional power in the state. 1. The times, namely, in B. C.
386, 384, 380, 377, 370,
first law is said to have made a plebiscitum binding and 367. (Liv. vi. 6, 18, 27, 32, 36, 42. )
on the whole people, but Niebuhr supposes that 6. C. VALERIUS Potitus, a son of No. 3, judg-
the sanction of the senate and the confirmation of ing from his pracnomen, was consular tribune, B. C.
the curiae were necessary to give a plebiscitum the 370. (Liv. vi. 36. )
full force of a lex. [Comp. Philo, p. 298, a. ] 7. C. Valerius Potitus Flaccus, probably
2. The second law cnacted that whoever should son or grandson of No. 6, was consul B. C. 331,
procure the election of a magistrate without appcal with M. Claudius Marcellus. Livy says, that in
should be outlawed, and might be killed by any some annals Valerius appcared with the cognomen
one with impunity. 3. The third law declared of Potitus, and in others with that of Flaccus (Liv.
that, whoever harmed the tribunes of the plebs, viii. 18). Orosius, who mentions Valerius (iii.
the ardiles, the judices, or the decemvirs, should 10), calls himn simply Valerius Flaccus, without
be outlawed and accursed. It is doubtful who are the cognomen of Potitus. It is probable that he
meant by the judices and decemvirs : various conjec was the first of the family who assumed the sur-
tures have been made on the point by modern writers name of Flaccus, and that his descendants dropped
(Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. ii. p. 368 ; Arnold, the name of Potitus. If this supposition is correct,
Ilist. of Romc, vol. i. p. 319). After the enact the Flacci, who became afterwards a distinguished
ment of these laws, the consuls proceeded to march family of the Valeria gens, would be sprung from
against the foreign enemies of the state. The this Valerius Potitus. [FLACCUS, VALERIUS. )
people flocked to the standards of the popular con- 8. L. VALERIUS Potitus, probably a brother
suls, and fought with enthusiasm under their orders. of No. 7, was magister equitum in B. c. 331, to the
They accordingly met with great success ; Valerius dictator Cn. Quintilius Varus. ' (Liv. viii. 18. )
defeated the Aequi and the Volsci, Horatius the 9. M. VALERIUS MAXIMUS Potitus, consul
Sabines, and both armies returned to Rome covered B. c. 286. [MAXIMUS, VALERIUS, No. 6. ]
with glory. The senate, however, refused to grant POTO'NE. (PERICTIONE. )
a triumph to these traitors to their order ; where- PRACHIAS, artist. [Praxias. )
upon the centuries conferred upon them this honour PRAECI'LIUS, the name of a father and as
by their supreme authority, regardless of the oppo- son, whom Cicero recommended to Caesar in P. c.
sition of the senate. (Liv. iii. 39–41, 49–55,61 45. (Cic. ad Fam, xiii. )
-64 ; Dionys. xi. 4, &c. 45, &c. ; Cic. de Rep. ii. PRAECONI'NUS, L. VALEYRIUS, a legatus
31, Brut. 14 ; Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. ii. pp. who was defeated and killed by the Aquitani a
345–376. ) In B. C. 446 Valerius was chosen by year before Caesar's legatus, P. Crassus, made war
the centuries one of the quaestores parricidii (Tac. upon this people, B. c. 56 (Caesar, B. G. iii. 20).
Ann. xi. 22 ; respecting the statement in Tacitus, This defeat of Praeconinus is not mentioned by
see Dict. of Antig. s. v. Quaestor).
any other writer, and we know nothing of him or
3. C. VALERIUS Potitus YOLUSUS, described of the history of the war.
in the Capitoline Fasti as L F. VOLUSI N. , was PRAENESTI'NA, a surname of the Roman
consular tribune B. C. 415 (Liv. iv. 49), and consul Fortuna, who had a temple and oracle at Praeneste.
with M'. Aemilius Mamercinus, B. C. 410. In his (Ov. Fast. vi. 62 ; Suet. Domit. 15; comp. For-
consulship he distinguished himself by his opposition TUNA. )
(L. S. )
to the agrarian law of the tribune M. Maenius ; and PRAESENS, BRU'TTIUS, to whom one of
he recovered the Arx Carventana, which had been Pliny's letters is addressed (Ep. vii
. 3. ), was pro-
taken by the Volsci, in consequence of which he bably the father of the following Praesens.
entered the city in an ovation. He was consular PRAESENS, BRU'TTIUS, the father of
tribune a second time in B. C. 407, and a third time Crispina, wife of the emperor Commodus. He is
in B. C. 404. (Liv. iv. 57, 61. )
generally supposed to be the C. Bruttius Praesens
4. L. VALERIUS Potitus, described in the Ca- who appears in the Fasti as consul for A. D. 153, and
pitoline Fasti as L. f. P. N. , consular tribune five again for A. D. 180. There is also a C. Bruttius
times, namely in B. C. 414, 406, 403, 401, 398 Praesens marked as having been consul for the
(Liv. iv. 49, 58, v. 1, 10, 14). He was also twice second time in A. D. 139, and another as consul in
consul;
first in B. C. 393, with P. Cornelius Malu- A. D. 217. (Capitolin. M. Aurel. 27 ; Lamprid.
ginensis Cossus, in which year both consuls had | Commod. 12; Censorin. 21. ) (W. R. ]
to resign, through some fault in the auspices (vitio PRAETEXTATUS, C. ASI'NIUS, consul
facti), and L. Lucretius Flavus Tricipitinus and A. D. 242, with C. Vettius Atticus. (Fasti; Ca-
Ser. Sulpicius Camerinus were chosen in their pitol. Gord. 26. )
stead ; and a second time in the following year, PRAETEXTATUS, ATEIUS. [Atrius. ]
B. C. 392, with M. Manlius, in which year both PRAETEXTATUS, SULPICIUS. 1. Q.
the consuls celebrated the great games, which had SULPICIUS PRAETEXTATUS consular tribune, B.
tell whether he makes Potanjon the occasional dis- nian sculptor, whose name is preserved on an in-
ciple of Plotinus, or Plotinus of Potamon. Suidas, scription which was affixed to the portrait-statue
in the article aiperis, evidently quotes Laërtius, but of a certain Nymphodotus, in the palaestra at
in Ποτάμων he states, that he lived προ Αυγούστου, | Athens. (Böckh, Corp. Inscr. No. 270, vol. i.
kal Her' ajtóv. Whatever meaning these words p. 375. The inscription, as explained by Böckh,
may have--for that is one of the points of dis reads thus, Eikova tvoe Hodeivos . τεύξας
cussion in this question—the two articles are irre-Shkaro, which can only mean that Potheinus was
concileable. Indeed, Suidas exhibits his usual con both the sculptor and the dedicator of the statue.
fusion in this name. He makes (s. v. neobávat) That artists not unfrequently dedicated their own
Potamon the rhetorician (No. 2], a philosopher, works, is shown by Welcker, Kunstblatt, 1827,
and we need not encumber the question with his No. 83 ; comp. R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn,
unsupported authority on a point of chronology. p. 392).
Yet, to accommodate his statement with those of 2. Á vase-painter, whose name appears on a
Laërtius and Porphyrius, Gloeckner and Harless beautiful vessel, in the ancient style, representing
suppose three Potamons. For this, or even for the the contest of Thetis and Peleus, which was found
supposition that there were two, there seems no in 1833 at Ponte dell' Abbadia, and is now in the
necessity. Setting aside the authority of Suidas, museum at Berlin. It is doubtful whether the
remembering the uncertainty of the time of Laërtius name inscribed on the vase is Modeīvos or lleidivos;
to determine which his mention of Potamon may but it looks more like the latter. (Levezow, Ver.
furnish a new element, - we cannot but attach zeichniss, No. 1005, p. 246 ; Gerhard, Berlins Ant.
much weight to the statement of Porphyrius, the Bildwerke, No. 1005, p. 291 ; R. Rochette, Lettre à
contemporary of Plotinus, and who refers to Pota. M. Schorn, pp. 56, 57. )
[P. S. )
mon, as a well-known name. We should, there- POTHI'NUS, an eunuch, the guardian of the
fore, conclude that the Potamon mentioned by young king Ptolemy, and the regent of the king-
Laërtius and Porphyrius are the same, and, on a dom, recommended the assassination of Pompey,
minute investigation of the passage where he is when the latter fled for refuge to Egypt after the
mentioned by the latter author, that he was older loss of the battle of Pharsalia in B. C. 48 (Lucan,
than Plotinus, and entrusted his children to his riii. 484, &c. ). He plotted against Caesar when
guardianship. He may have brought from Alex. he came to Alexandrin, later the same year. It
0
VOL. UL
## p. 514 (#530) ############################################
514
POTITUS.
· POTITUS
was Pothinus who placed Achillas over the Egyp. I the celebmted P. Valerius Publicola ; but it is s
tian forces, with directions to seize a favourable matter of dispute whether he was his brother or
opportunity for attacking Caesar, but he himself his nephew. Dionysius, it is true, calls him (viii.
remained with the young king in the quarters of 77) his brother * ; but it has been conjectured by
Caesar. But as he was here detected in carrying Glareanus, Gelenius, and Sylburg, that we ought
on a treasonable correspondence with Achillas, he to read αδελφιδούς Ο αδελφόπαις instead of άδελ-
was put to death by order of Caesar. (Caes. B. C. pós ; and this conjecture is confirmed by the fact
iii. 108, 112 ; Dion Cros. xlii. 36, 39 ; Plut. Caes. that Dionysius elsewhere (viii. 87) speaks of bim
48, 49; Lucan, x. 333, &c. 515, &c. )
as the son of Marcus, whereas we know that the
POTHOS (1160os), a personification of love or father of Publicola was Volusus. If Potitus was
desire, was represented along with Eros and His the son of Marcus, he was probably the son of the
meros, in the temple of Aphrodite at Megara, by M. Valerius who was consul B. c. 505, four years
the hand of Scopas. (Paus. i. 43. § 6 ; Plin. H. after the kings were expelled, and who is described
N. xxxvi. 4, 7. )
[L. S. ) in the Fasti as M. Valerius Vol. f. Volusus. More
POTITIA GENS, one of the most ancient pa- over, seeing that Potitus was consul a second time
trician gentes at Rome, but it never attained any B. C. 470, that is, thirty-nine years after the ex-
historical importance. The Potitii were, with the pulsion of the kings, it is much more likely that
Pinarii, the hereditary priests of Hercules at Rome: he should have been a nephew than a brother of
the legend which related the establishment of the the man who took such a prominent part in the
worship of this god, is given under Pinaria Gens. events of that time. We may, therefore, conclude
It is further stated that the Potitii and Pinarii con- with tolerable certainty that he was the nephew of
tinued to discharge the duties of their priesthood Publicola.
till the censorship of App. Claudius (B. C. 312), Potitus is first mentioned in B. C. 485, in which
who induced the Potitii, by the sum of 50,000 year he was one of the quaestores parricidii, and, in
pounds of copper, to instruci public slaves in the conjunction with his colleague, K. Fabius, im-
performance of the sacred rites ; whereat the god peached Sp. Cassius Viscellinus before the people.
was so angry, that the whole gens, containing (VISCELLINUS. ) (Liv. ii. 41 ; Dionys. viii. 77. )
twelve families and thirty grown up men, perished He was consul in B. C. 483, with M. Fabius Vibu-
within a year, or, according to other accounts, lanus (Liv. ii. 42 ; Dionys. viii. 87), and again in
within thirty days, and Appius himself became 470 with Ti. Aemilius Mamercus. In the latter
blind (Liv. ix. 29 ; Festus, p. 237, ed. Müller ; year he marched against the Aequi ; and as the
Val. Max i. 1. & 17). Niebuhr remarks that if enemy would not meet him in the open field, he pro-
there is any truth in the tale respecting the de- ceeded to attack their camp, but was prevented
struction of the Potitia gens, they may have perished from doing so by the indications of the divine will.
in the great plague which raged fifteen or twenty (Liv. ii. 61, 62; Dionys. ix. 51, 55. )
years later, since such legends are not scrupulous 2. L. VALERIUS Potitus, consul with M. Ho-
with respect to chronology. The same writer ratius Barbatus, in B C. 449. Dionysius calls him
further observes that it is probable that the worship a grandson of the great P. Valerius Publicola, and
of Hercules, as attended to by the Potitii and the a son of the P. Valerius Publicola, who was
Pinarii, was a form of religion peculiar to these consul in B. C. 460, and who was killed that
gentes, and had nothing to do with the religion of year in the assault of the Capitol, which had been
the Roman state ; and that as App. Claudius seized by Herdonius (Dionys. xi. 4); and hence we
wished to make these sacra privata part of the find him described as L. Valerius Publicola Potitus.
sucra publica, he induced the Potitii to instruct But we think it more probable that he was the
public slaves in the rites, since no foreign god son or grandson of L. Valerius Potitus (No. 1]; first,
could have a flamen. (Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, because we find that Livy, Cicero, and Dionysius,
vol. iii. p. 309. )
invariably give him the surname of Potitus, and
POTI'TUS, P. AFRA'NIUS, vowed during never that of Publicola, and secondly because the
an illness of Caligula, to sacrifice his life, if the great popularity of Potitus would naturally give
emperor recovered, expecting to be rewarded for origin to the tradition that he was a lineal de
his devotion. But when Caligula got well, and scendant of that member of the gens, who took
Afranius was unwilling to fulfill his vow, the such a prominent part in the expulsion of the kings.
emperor had him decked out like a sacrificial victim, The annals of the Valeria gens recorded that L.
paraded through the streets, and then hurled down Valerius Potitus was the first person who offered
from the eminence (ex aggere) by the Colline gate. opposition to the decemvirs ; and whether this was
;
(Dion Cass. lix. 8 ; Suet. Cal. 27. )
the case or not, there can be no doubt that he took
POTI'TUS, VALERIUS. Potitus was the a leading part in the abolition of the tyrannical
name of one of the most ancient and most cele- power. He and M. Horatius are represented as
brated families of the Valeria Gens. This family, the leaders of the people against Ap. Claudius after
like many of the other ancient Roman families, dis- the murder of Virginia by her father ; and when the
appears about the time of the Samnite wars ; but plebeians had seceded to the Sacred Hill, he and
the name was revived at a later period by the Va- Horatius were sent to them by the senate, as the
leria gens, as a prienomen: thus we find mention only acceptable members, to negotiate the terms of
of a Potitus Valerius Messalla, who was consul peace. In this mission they succeeded ; the de
buffectus in B. c. 29. The practice of using extinct cemvirate was abolished, and the two friends of the
family-names as praenomens was common to other plebs, Valerius and Horatius, were elected consuls,
gentes : as for instance in the Cornelia gens, where B. C. 449. Their consulship is memorable by the
the Lentuli adopted, as a praenomen, the extinct
cognomen of Cossus. (Cossus ; LENTULUS. ] * Dionysius also calls him L. Valerius Publicola,
1. L. VALERIUS Potitus, consul B. C. 483 and but this is opposed to the Fasti, and is in itself im-
470, the founder of the family, was a relation of probable.
## p. 515 (#531) ############################################
POTITUS.
615
PRAETEXTATUS.
onartment of the celebrated Valeriac et Iloratiuc / in the Capitoline Frsti, as L. f. L. N. , and conse-
Leyes, which secured the liberties of the plebs, and qnently a son of No. 4, was consular tribune six
gave them additional power in the state. 1. The times, namely, in B. C.
386, 384, 380, 377, 370,
first law is said to have made a plebiscitum binding and 367. (Liv. vi. 6, 18, 27, 32, 36, 42. )
on the whole people, but Niebuhr supposes that 6. C. VALERIUS Potitus, a son of No. 3, judg-
the sanction of the senate and the confirmation of ing from his pracnomen, was consular tribune, B. C.
the curiae were necessary to give a plebiscitum the 370. (Liv. vi. 36. )
full force of a lex. [Comp. Philo, p. 298, a. ] 7. C. Valerius Potitus Flaccus, probably
2. The second law cnacted that whoever should son or grandson of No. 6, was consul B. C. 331,
procure the election of a magistrate without appcal with M. Claudius Marcellus. Livy says, that in
should be outlawed, and might be killed by any some annals Valerius appcared with the cognomen
one with impunity. 3. The third law declared of Potitus, and in others with that of Flaccus (Liv.
that, whoever harmed the tribunes of the plebs, viii. 18). Orosius, who mentions Valerius (iii.
the ardiles, the judices, or the decemvirs, should 10), calls himn simply Valerius Flaccus, without
be outlawed and accursed. It is doubtful who are the cognomen of Potitus. It is probable that he
meant by the judices and decemvirs : various conjec was the first of the family who assumed the sur-
tures have been made on the point by modern writers name of Flaccus, and that his descendants dropped
(Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. ii. p. 368 ; Arnold, the name of Potitus. If this supposition is correct,
Ilist. of Romc, vol. i. p. 319). After the enact the Flacci, who became afterwards a distinguished
ment of these laws, the consuls proceeded to march family of the Valeria gens, would be sprung from
against the foreign enemies of the state. The this Valerius Potitus. [FLACCUS, VALERIUS. )
people flocked to the standards of the popular con- 8. L. VALERIUS Potitus, probably a brother
suls, and fought with enthusiasm under their orders. of No. 7, was magister equitum in B. c. 331, to the
They accordingly met with great success ; Valerius dictator Cn. Quintilius Varus. ' (Liv. viii. 18. )
defeated the Aequi and the Volsci, Horatius the 9. M. VALERIUS MAXIMUS Potitus, consul
Sabines, and both armies returned to Rome covered B. c. 286. [MAXIMUS, VALERIUS, No. 6. ]
with glory. The senate, however, refused to grant POTO'NE. (PERICTIONE. )
a triumph to these traitors to their order ; where- PRACHIAS, artist. [Praxias. )
upon the centuries conferred upon them this honour PRAECI'LIUS, the name of a father and as
by their supreme authority, regardless of the oppo- son, whom Cicero recommended to Caesar in P. c.
sition of the senate. (Liv. iii. 39–41, 49–55,61 45. (Cic. ad Fam, xiii. )
-64 ; Dionys. xi. 4, &c. 45, &c. ; Cic. de Rep. ii. PRAECONI'NUS, L. VALEYRIUS, a legatus
31, Brut. 14 ; Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. ii. pp. who was defeated and killed by the Aquitani a
345–376. ) In B. C. 446 Valerius was chosen by year before Caesar's legatus, P. Crassus, made war
the centuries one of the quaestores parricidii (Tac. upon this people, B. c. 56 (Caesar, B. G. iii. 20).
Ann. xi. 22 ; respecting the statement in Tacitus, This defeat of Praeconinus is not mentioned by
see Dict. of Antig. s. v. Quaestor).
any other writer, and we know nothing of him or
3. C. VALERIUS Potitus YOLUSUS, described of the history of the war.
in the Capitoline Fasti as L F. VOLUSI N. , was PRAENESTI'NA, a surname of the Roman
consular tribune B. C. 415 (Liv. iv. 49), and consul Fortuna, who had a temple and oracle at Praeneste.
with M'. Aemilius Mamercinus, B. C. 410. In his (Ov. Fast. vi. 62 ; Suet. Domit. 15; comp. For-
consulship he distinguished himself by his opposition TUNA. )
(L. S. )
to the agrarian law of the tribune M. Maenius ; and PRAESENS, BRU'TTIUS, to whom one of
he recovered the Arx Carventana, which had been Pliny's letters is addressed (Ep. vii
. 3. ), was pro-
taken by the Volsci, in consequence of which he bably the father of the following Praesens.
entered the city in an ovation. He was consular PRAESENS, BRU'TTIUS, the father of
tribune a second time in B. C. 407, and a third time Crispina, wife of the emperor Commodus. He is
in B. C. 404. (Liv. iv. 57, 61. )
generally supposed to be the C. Bruttius Praesens
4. L. VALERIUS Potitus, described in the Ca- who appears in the Fasti as consul for A. D. 153, and
pitoline Fasti as L. f. P. N. , consular tribune five again for A. D. 180. There is also a C. Bruttius
times, namely in B. C. 414, 406, 403, 401, 398 Praesens marked as having been consul for the
(Liv. iv. 49, 58, v. 1, 10, 14). He was also twice second time in A. D. 139, and another as consul in
consul;
first in B. C. 393, with P. Cornelius Malu- A. D. 217. (Capitolin. M. Aurel. 27 ; Lamprid.
ginensis Cossus, in which year both consuls had | Commod. 12; Censorin. 21. ) (W. R. ]
to resign, through some fault in the auspices (vitio PRAETEXTATUS, C. ASI'NIUS, consul
facti), and L. Lucretius Flavus Tricipitinus and A. D. 242, with C. Vettius Atticus. (Fasti; Ca-
Ser. Sulpicius Camerinus were chosen in their pitol. Gord. 26. )
stead ; and a second time in the following year, PRAETEXTATUS, ATEIUS. [Atrius. ]
B. C. 392, with M. Manlius, in which year both PRAETEXTATUS, SULPICIUS. 1. Q.
the consuls celebrated the great games, which had SULPICIUS PRAETEXTATUS consular tribune, B.
