Roman annals," and for which the plea of custom
Perhaps the original work may have formed the can be offered as the only palliation.
Perhaps the original work may have formed the can be offered as the only palliation.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
C.
54, his friends made a final attempt to procure where the Samnite Pontii are also mentioned.
him the long-desired honour. He was opposed PONTIANUS. 1. Mentioned in one of
by the praetors, M. Cato and P. Servilius Isau- Cicero's letters (ad Att. xii. 44. & 2), appears to
ricus, and by the tribune Q. Mucius Scaevola, who have been a friend of Mustela, and to have been
urged that he was not entitled to the privilege, defended upon some occasion by Cicero.
because he had not received the imperium by a 2. P. AUFIDIUS PONTIANUS, of Amiternum,
lex curiata ; but he was supported by the consul spoken of by Varro. (R. R. ii. 9. $ 6. )
Appius, and by most of the praetors and tribunes ; 3. Ser. OCTAVIUS LAENAS PONTIANUS, consul
and as there was no hope of prevailing upon the A. D. 131, with M. Antonius Rufinus.
senate to grant the favour, his former legate, Serv. 4. PONTIANUS, consul suffectus in A. D. 135.
Sulpicius Galba, brought the matter before the 5. PROCULUS PONTIANUS, consul A. D. 238.
people, and obtained from them a resolution, passed PO'NTICUS, a Roman poet, and a contempo.
contrary to law before daylight, in virtue of which rary of Ovid and Propertius, wrote an heroic
Pomptinus at length entered the city in triumph. poem on the Theban war, and hence is compared
(Sall. Cat. 45 ; Cic. in Cat. iii. 2, de Prov. Cons. to Homer by Propertius (Ovid, Trist. iv. 10. 47;
13, in Pison. 14, ad Att. iv, 16, v. 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, Propert. i. 7, i. 9. 26. )
10, 14, ad Q. Fr. iii. 4. $ 6 ; Dion Cass. xxxvii. PONTI'DIA is mentioned twice in Cicero's
47, xxxix. 65; Liv. Epit. 103. )
letters (ad Att. v. 21. § 14. vi. 1. $ 10), from
In B. C. 51 Pomptinus accompanied Cicero as which it appears that Cicero had entered into
legate to Cilicia, but he did not remain there negotiations with her for the marriage of his
longer than a year, according to the stipulation he daughter Tullia to her son.
had previously made with Cicero. (Cic. ad Att. PONTI'DIUS. 1. C. PONTIDIUS, is mentioned
v. 21. & 9, vi. 3, ad Fam. ii. 15. § 4, iii. 10. § 3, by Velleius Paterculus (ii. 16) as one of the
xv. 4. $ 9. ) There is considerable variation in leaders in the Social or Marsic war, B. C. 90. There
the orthography of the name. We find him called can be no doubt that he is the same person as
Pomptinius, Pomtinius, Pomtinus and Pontinius, Appian calls (B. C. i. 40) C. Pontilius; and as the
as well as Pomptinus, which seems the preferable name of Pontidius occurs elsewhere, the ortho-
form.
graphy in Velleius seems preferable.
POʻMPYLUS (Nou úros), a slave of Theo- 2. M. PONTIDIUS, of Arpinum, was an orator
phrastus, who also became celebrated as a philo- of some distinction, speaking with fluency, and
sopher. (Diog. Laërt. v. 36 ; Gell. ii. 18 ; Macrob. acute in the management of a case, but vehement
Sut. i. 11. )
and passionate (Cic. Brut. 70, comp. de Orat.
PONNANUS, the author of an epigram in the ii. 68. )
Latin Anthology (No. 539, ed. Meyer) on a TI. PONTIFICIUS, a tribune of the plebs,
picture respecting the death of Cleopatra, but of B. C. 480, attempted to introduce an agrarian law.
whom nothing is known.
(Liv. ii. 44. )
PONTIA. 1. A woman in the reign of Nero, PONTI'LIUS. (PONTIDIUS, No. 1. )
who obtained an infamous notoriety as the mur- PONTI'NIUS. (PovPTINUS. )
derer of her own children (Juv. vi. 638, &c. ; PO'NTIUS. 1. A friend of Scipio Africanus
.
j
## p. 496 (#512) ############################################
4. 96
PONTIUS.
PONTIUS.
.
minor, was mentioned by Cicero in his work De deliverance, the consuls and the other commanders
Fato. (Macrob. Sut. ii. 12, or Cic. Frag. p. 235, swore, in the name of the republic, to a humiliating
ed. Orelli. )
peace. The Roman state however refused to ratify
2. Detected in adultery, and dreadfully pu- the treaty, and sent back the consuls and the other
nished by the husband, P. Cernius. (Val. Max. vi. conimanders to Pontius, who, however, refused to
1. & 13. )
accept them. The name of Pontius does not occur
3. T. PONTIUS, a centurion possessing great again for nearly thirty years, but as Livy rarely
bodily strength, mentioned by Cicero (de Senect. mentions the names of the Samnite generals, it is
10), is perhaps the same as the Pontius of whom not improbable that Pontius may have commanded
Lucilius speaks (ap. Cic. de Fin. i. 3).
them on many other occasions. At all events
4. Pontius, one of Caesar's soldiers, was taken we find him again at the hend of the Samnite
prisoner by Scipio, the father-in-law of Pompey, forces in B. c. 292, in which year he defeated the
but preferred death rather than deserting his old Roman army under the command of the consul
general. (Val. Max. iii. 8. $ 7. )
Q. Fabius Gurges. This disaster, when nothing
5. Pontius, one of the companions of Antony but victory was expected, so greatly exasperated
in his revels. (Cic. Phil. xiii. 2. $ 3. )
the people that Fabius would have been deprived
PO'NTIUS, a deacon of the African Church, of his imperium, had not his father, the celebrated
the tried friend and constant companion of Cyprian, Fabius Maxinus, offered to serve as his legate during
drew up a narrative of the lite and sufferings of the the remainder of the war. It was in the same year
martyred bishop, which is styled an excellent pro- that the decisive battle was fought, which brought
duction (egregium volumen) by Jerome. If the the war to a conclusion. The Samnites were en-
piece extant under the name of Pontius, entitled tirely defeated, and Pontius was taken prisoner.
De Vita et Passione S. Cypriani, be genuine, it in the triumph of the consul, Pontius was led in
certainly does not merit such high commendation, chains, and afterwards beheaded, an act which
since it is composed in an ambitious declamatory Niebuhr characterises as “the greatest stain in the
style, full of affectation and rhetorical ornaments.
Roman annals," and for which the plea of custom
Perhaps the original work may have formed the can be offered as the only palliation. (Liv. ix. ,
basis of what we now possess, which has probably &c. , Epit. xi. ; Appian, Samn. iv. &c. ; Cic. de
been built up into its present form by the labour of Senect. 12, de Off. ii. 21 ; Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome,
various hands. It will be found attached to all the vol. iii. pp. 215, &c. , 397, &c. )
most important editions of Cyprian, and is con- M. PO'NTIUS LAELIANUS, consul A. D.
tained also in the Acta Primorum Martyrum of 163 with Pastor.
Ruinart, 4to. Paris, 1690, and fol. Amst. 1713. PONTIUS LUPUS, a Roman eques, who
The Acta Pontii are preserved in the Miscellanea continued to plead in the courts after he had lost
of Baluze, 8vo. Par. 1678, vol. ii. p. 121, and in his sight. (Val. Max. viii. 7. $ 5. )
the Acta Sanctorum under 8th March, the day PO'NTIUS NIGRI'NUS. (NIGRINUS. )
marked as his festival in the Roman Martyrologies. POʻNTIUS PAULI'NUS. [PAULINUS, p.
(Hieron. de Viris IV. 68 ; Schönemann, Bibl. Pa- 114. )
trum Lat. vol. i. c. iii. $ 6. )
[W. R. ) PO'NTIUS PILATUS, was the sixth procu-
PO'NTIUS AUFIDIA'NUS, a Roman eques, rator of Judaea, and the successor of Valerius
killed his daughter when she had been guilty of a Gratus. He held the office for ten years in the
breach of chastity. (Val. Max. vi. 1. $ 3. ) reign of Tiberius, and it was during his government
POʻNTIUS COMI'NIUS. (COMINIUS. ) that Christ taught, suffered, and died. By his tyran-
PO’NTIUS FREGELLA'NUS, was deprived nical conduct he excited an insurrection at Jerusalem,
of his rank as senator, a. D. 36, as one of the and at a later period commotions in Simaria also,
agents of the notorious Albucilla in her adulteries. which were not put down without the loss of life.
(Tac. Ann. vi. 48. )
The Samaritans complained of his conduct to
POʻNTIUS, HERE'NNIUS, the father of C. Vitellius, the governor of Syria, who deprived him
Pontius, was an old man living at Caudium, when of his office, and sent him to Rome to answer be-
his son defeated the Roman army in the neigh- fore the emperor the accusations that were brought
bourhood of that town in B. C. 321. The Samnites against him. As Pilatus reached Rome shortly
sent to ask his advice how they should avail them after the death of Tiberius, which took place on
selves of their extraordinary good fortune. The the 15th of March, 4. D. 37, he was probably de-
reply which
gave is related at length by Livy posed in the preceding year A. D. 36, and would
(ix. 1, 3 ; comp. Appian, Samn. iv. 3. ) It would therefore have entered upon his duties as procura-
appear from Cicero (de Senect. 12), that there was tor in A. D. 26. Eusebius states that Pilatus put
a tradition which supposed Herennius Pontius and an end to his own life at the commencement of the
Archytas of Tarentum to have been friends ; and reign of Caligula, worn out by the many misfor-
Niebuhr supposes that Nearchus had written a tunes he had experienced. (Tac. Ann. xv. 44 ;
dialogue in which Archytas, the Samnite Pontius, Matthew, xxvii ; Mark, xr; Luke, iii. 1, xxiii. ;
and Plato, were speakers. (Hist. of Rome, vol. iii. John, xviii. xix. ; Joseph. Antiq. xviii. 3. § 1, &c. ,
note 373. )
xviii. 4. § 1, &c. , B. Jud. ii. 9. 2; Euseb. H. E.
C. PO'NTIUS, son of HERE'NNIUS, the ii. 7. ) The early Christian writers refer frequently
general of the Samnites in B. c. 321, defeated the to an official report, made by Pilatus to the empe-
Roman army under the two consuls T. Veturius ror Tiberius, of the condemnation and death of
Calvinus and Sp. Postumius Albinus in one of the Christ. (Just. Mart. Apol. i. pp. 76, 84 ; Tertull.
mountain passes in the neighbourhood of Caudium. A pol. 5 ; Euseb. H. E. ii. 2 ; Oros. vii. 4 ; Chry-
The survivors, who were completely at the mercy sost. Homil
. VIII. in Pasch. ) It is not at all impro-
of the Samnites, were dismissed unhurt by Pon- bable that such a report was made ; but considering,
tius. They had to surrender their arms, and to on the one hand, the frequency of forgeries in the early
pass under the yoke ; and as the price of their Christian Church, and on the other, that it was no
## p. 497 (#513) ############################################
POPILLIA.
497
PORCIA.
а
prort of the policy of the imperial government to with a double l in the Capitoline Fasti, this form is
publish such reports, we may reasonably question the to be preferred. There are no coins to decide the
genuineness of the document At all events there question ; for those which Goltzius has published,
can be no doubt that the acts of Pilate, as they are spurious. The Popillia gens is one of the great
are called, which are extant in Greek (Fabric. plebeian gentes that rose into eminence after the
Apocr. vol. i. pp. 237, 239, vol. iii. p. 456, &c. ), as passing of the Licinian laws, which threw open
well as his two Latin letters to the emperor (Fabric. the consulship to the plebeian order. The first
Apocr, vol. i. p. 298, &c. ), are the productions of member of it who obtained the consulship was M.
a later age. (Comp. Winer, Biblisches Rcalwör- Popillius Laenas, in 1. c. 359, and he was the first
terbuch, art. Pilatus. )
plebeian who obtained the honour of a triumph.
POʻNTIUS TELESI'NUS. 1. A Samnite, The only family of the Popillii mentioned under
appears to have been appointed general of the the republic, is that of Laenas: the majority of
Samnite forces in the Social war after the death of the few Popillii, who occur without a surname, and
Pompaedius Silo. At all events he was at the who are given below, may have belonged to the
head of the Samnite army in B. C. 82, in which same family, and their cognomen is probably omitted
year Carbo and the younger Marius were con- through inadvertence.
buls. Marius and the brother of Telesinus were POPI'LLIUS. 1. T. POPILLIUS, a legatus in
besieged in Praeneste by Sulla. Telesinus him- the Roman army engaged in the siege of Capua,
self, at the head of an army of 40,000 men, B. c. 211. (Liv. xxvi. 6. )
had marched to the neighbourhood of Praeneste, 2. P. POPILLIUS, one of the three ambassadors
apparently with the intention of relieving the sent to king Syphax in Africa, in B. c. 210. (Liv.
town, but in reality with another object, which xxvii. 4.
him the long-desired honour. He was opposed PONTIANUS. 1. Mentioned in one of
by the praetors, M. Cato and P. Servilius Isau- Cicero's letters (ad Att. xii. 44. & 2), appears to
ricus, and by the tribune Q. Mucius Scaevola, who have been a friend of Mustela, and to have been
urged that he was not entitled to the privilege, defended upon some occasion by Cicero.
because he had not received the imperium by a 2. P. AUFIDIUS PONTIANUS, of Amiternum,
lex curiata ; but he was supported by the consul spoken of by Varro. (R. R. ii. 9. $ 6. )
Appius, and by most of the praetors and tribunes ; 3. Ser. OCTAVIUS LAENAS PONTIANUS, consul
and as there was no hope of prevailing upon the A. D. 131, with M. Antonius Rufinus.
senate to grant the favour, his former legate, Serv. 4. PONTIANUS, consul suffectus in A. D. 135.
Sulpicius Galba, brought the matter before the 5. PROCULUS PONTIANUS, consul A. D. 238.
people, and obtained from them a resolution, passed PO'NTICUS, a Roman poet, and a contempo.
contrary to law before daylight, in virtue of which rary of Ovid and Propertius, wrote an heroic
Pomptinus at length entered the city in triumph. poem on the Theban war, and hence is compared
(Sall. Cat. 45 ; Cic. in Cat. iii. 2, de Prov. Cons. to Homer by Propertius (Ovid, Trist. iv. 10. 47;
13, in Pison. 14, ad Att. iv, 16, v. 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, Propert. i. 7, i. 9. 26. )
10, 14, ad Q. Fr. iii. 4. $ 6 ; Dion Cass. xxxvii. PONTI'DIA is mentioned twice in Cicero's
47, xxxix. 65; Liv. Epit. 103. )
letters (ad Att. v. 21. § 14. vi. 1. $ 10), from
In B. C. 51 Pomptinus accompanied Cicero as which it appears that Cicero had entered into
legate to Cilicia, but he did not remain there negotiations with her for the marriage of his
longer than a year, according to the stipulation he daughter Tullia to her son.
had previously made with Cicero. (Cic. ad Att. PONTI'DIUS. 1. C. PONTIDIUS, is mentioned
v. 21. & 9, vi. 3, ad Fam. ii. 15. § 4, iii. 10. § 3, by Velleius Paterculus (ii. 16) as one of the
xv. 4. $ 9. ) There is considerable variation in leaders in the Social or Marsic war, B. C. 90. There
the orthography of the name. We find him called can be no doubt that he is the same person as
Pomptinius, Pomtinius, Pomtinus and Pontinius, Appian calls (B. C. i. 40) C. Pontilius; and as the
as well as Pomptinus, which seems the preferable name of Pontidius occurs elsewhere, the ortho-
form.
graphy in Velleius seems preferable.
POʻMPYLUS (Nou úros), a slave of Theo- 2. M. PONTIDIUS, of Arpinum, was an orator
phrastus, who also became celebrated as a philo- of some distinction, speaking with fluency, and
sopher. (Diog. Laërt. v. 36 ; Gell. ii. 18 ; Macrob. acute in the management of a case, but vehement
Sut. i. 11. )
and passionate (Cic. Brut. 70, comp. de Orat.
PONNANUS, the author of an epigram in the ii. 68. )
Latin Anthology (No. 539, ed. Meyer) on a TI. PONTIFICIUS, a tribune of the plebs,
picture respecting the death of Cleopatra, but of B. C. 480, attempted to introduce an agrarian law.
whom nothing is known.
(Liv. ii. 44. )
PONTIA. 1. A woman in the reign of Nero, PONTI'LIUS. (PONTIDIUS, No. 1. )
who obtained an infamous notoriety as the mur- PONTI'NIUS. (PovPTINUS. )
derer of her own children (Juv. vi. 638, &c. ; PO'NTIUS. 1. A friend of Scipio Africanus
.
j
## p. 496 (#512) ############################################
4. 96
PONTIUS.
PONTIUS.
.
minor, was mentioned by Cicero in his work De deliverance, the consuls and the other commanders
Fato. (Macrob. Sut. ii. 12, or Cic. Frag. p. 235, swore, in the name of the republic, to a humiliating
ed. Orelli. )
peace. The Roman state however refused to ratify
2. Detected in adultery, and dreadfully pu- the treaty, and sent back the consuls and the other
nished by the husband, P. Cernius. (Val. Max. vi. conimanders to Pontius, who, however, refused to
1. & 13. )
accept them. The name of Pontius does not occur
3. T. PONTIUS, a centurion possessing great again for nearly thirty years, but as Livy rarely
bodily strength, mentioned by Cicero (de Senect. mentions the names of the Samnite generals, it is
10), is perhaps the same as the Pontius of whom not improbable that Pontius may have commanded
Lucilius speaks (ap. Cic. de Fin. i. 3).
them on many other occasions. At all events
4. Pontius, one of Caesar's soldiers, was taken we find him again at the hend of the Samnite
prisoner by Scipio, the father-in-law of Pompey, forces in B. c. 292, in which year he defeated the
but preferred death rather than deserting his old Roman army under the command of the consul
general. (Val. Max. iii. 8. $ 7. )
Q. Fabius Gurges. This disaster, when nothing
5. Pontius, one of the companions of Antony but victory was expected, so greatly exasperated
in his revels. (Cic. Phil. xiii. 2. $ 3. )
the people that Fabius would have been deprived
PO'NTIUS, a deacon of the African Church, of his imperium, had not his father, the celebrated
the tried friend and constant companion of Cyprian, Fabius Maxinus, offered to serve as his legate during
drew up a narrative of the lite and sufferings of the the remainder of the war. It was in the same year
martyred bishop, which is styled an excellent pro- that the decisive battle was fought, which brought
duction (egregium volumen) by Jerome. If the the war to a conclusion. The Samnites were en-
piece extant under the name of Pontius, entitled tirely defeated, and Pontius was taken prisoner.
De Vita et Passione S. Cypriani, be genuine, it in the triumph of the consul, Pontius was led in
certainly does not merit such high commendation, chains, and afterwards beheaded, an act which
since it is composed in an ambitious declamatory Niebuhr characterises as “the greatest stain in the
style, full of affectation and rhetorical ornaments.
Roman annals," and for which the plea of custom
Perhaps the original work may have formed the can be offered as the only palliation. (Liv. ix. ,
basis of what we now possess, which has probably &c. , Epit. xi. ; Appian, Samn. iv. &c. ; Cic. de
been built up into its present form by the labour of Senect. 12, de Off. ii. 21 ; Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome,
various hands. It will be found attached to all the vol. iii. pp. 215, &c. , 397, &c. )
most important editions of Cyprian, and is con- M. PO'NTIUS LAELIANUS, consul A. D.
tained also in the Acta Primorum Martyrum of 163 with Pastor.
Ruinart, 4to. Paris, 1690, and fol. Amst. 1713. PONTIUS LUPUS, a Roman eques, who
The Acta Pontii are preserved in the Miscellanea continued to plead in the courts after he had lost
of Baluze, 8vo. Par. 1678, vol. ii. p. 121, and in his sight. (Val. Max. viii. 7. $ 5. )
the Acta Sanctorum under 8th March, the day PO'NTIUS NIGRI'NUS. (NIGRINUS. )
marked as his festival in the Roman Martyrologies. POʻNTIUS PAULI'NUS. [PAULINUS, p.
(Hieron. de Viris IV. 68 ; Schönemann, Bibl. Pa- 114. )
trum Lat. vol. i. c. iii. $ 6. )
[W. R. ) PO'NTIUS PILATUS, was the sixth procu-
PO'NTIUS AUFIDIA'NUS, a Roman eques, rator of Judaea, and the successor of Valerius
killed his daughter when she had been guilty of a Gratus. He held the office for ten years in the
breach of chastity. (Val. Max. vi. 1. $ 3. ) reign of Tiberius, and it was during his government
POʻNTIUS COMI'NIUS. (COMINIUS. ) that Christ taught, suffered, and died. By his tyran-
PO’NTIUS FREGELLA'NUS, was deprived nical conduct he excited an insurrection at Jerusalem,
of his rank as senator, a. D. 36, as one of the and at a later period commotions in Simaria also,
agents of the notorious Albucilla in her adulteries. which were not put down without the loss of life.
(Tac. Ann. vi. 48. )
The Samaritans complained of his conduct to
POʻNTIUS, HERE'NNIUS, the father of C. Vitellius, the governor of Syria, who deprived him
Pontius, was an old man living at Caudium, when of his office, and sent him to Rome to answer be-
his son defeated the Roman army in the neigh- fore the emperor the accusations that were brought
bourhood of that town in B. C. 321. The Samnites against him. As Pilatus reached Rome shortly
sent to ask his advice how they should avail them after the death of Tiberius, which took place on
selves of their extraordinary good fortune. The the 15th of March, 4. D. 37, he was probably de-
reply which
gave is related at length by Livy posed in the preceding year A. D. 36, and would
(ix. 1, 3 ; comp. Appian, Samn. iv. 3. ) It would therefore have entered upon his duties as procura-
appear from Cicero (de Senect. 12), that there was tor in A. D. 26. Eusebius states that Pilatus put
a tradition which supposed Herennius Pontius and an end to his own life at the commencement of the
Archytas of Tarentum to have been friends ; and reign of Caligula, worn out by the many misfor-
Niebuhr supposes that Nearchus had written a tunes he had experienced. (Tac. Ann. xv. 44 ;
dialogue in which Archytas, the Samnite Pontius, Matthew, xxvii ; Mark, xr; Luke, iii. 1, xxiii. ;
and Plato, were speakers. (Hist. of Rome, vol. iii. John, xviii. xix. ; Joseph. Antiq. xviii. 3. § 1, &c. ,
note 373. )
xviii. 4. § 1, &c. , B. Jud. ii. 9. 2; Euseb. H. E.
C. PO'NTIUS, son of HERE'NNIUS, the ii. 7. ) The early Christian writers refer frequently
general of the Samnites in B. c. 321, defeated the to an official report, made by Pilatus to the empe-
Roman army under the two consuls T. Veturius ror Tiberius, of the condemnation and death of
Calvinus and Sp. Postumius Albinus in one of the Christ. (Just. Mart. Apol. i. pp. 76, 84 ; Tertull.
mountain passes in the neighbourhood of Caudium. A pol. 5 ; Euseb. H. E. ii. 2 ; Oros. vii. 4 ; Chry-
The survivors, who were completely at the mercy sost. Homil
. VIII. in Pasch. ) It is not at all impro-
of the Samnites, were dismissed unhurt by Pon- bable that such a report was made ; but considering,
tius. They had to surrender their arms, and to on the one hand, the frequency of forgeries in the early
pass under the yoke ; and as the price of their Christian Church, and on the other, that it was no
## p. 497 (#513) ############################################
POPILLIA.
497
PORCIA.
а
prort of the policy of the imperial government to with a double l in the Capitoline Fasti, this form is
publish such reports, we may reasonably question the to be preferred. There are no coins to decide the
genuineness of the document At all events there question ; for those which Goltzius has published,
can be no doubt that the acts of Pilate, as they are spurious. The Popillia gens is one of the great
are called, which are extant in Greek (Fabric. plebeian gentes that rose into eminence after the
Apocr. vol. i. pp. 237, 239, vol. iii. p. 456, &c. ), as passing of the Licinian laws, which threw open
well as his two Latin letters to the emperor (Fabric. the consulship to the plebeian order. The first
Apocr, vol. i. p. 298, &c. ), are the productions of member of it who obtained the consulship was M.
a later age. (Comp. Winer, Biblisches Rcalwör- Popillius Laenas, in 1. c. 359, and he was the first
terbuch, art. Pilatus. )
plebeian who obtained the honour of a triumph.
POʻNTIUS TELESI'NUS. 1. A Samnite, The only family of the Popillii mentioned under
appears to have been appointed general of the the republic, is that of Laenas: the majority of
Samnite forces in the Social war after the death of the few Popillii, who occur without a surname, and
Pompaedius Silo. At all events he was at the who are given below, may have belonged to the
head of the Samnite army in B. C. 82, in which same family, and their cognomen is probably omitted
year Carbo and the younger Marius were con- through inadvertence.
buls. Marius and the brother of Telesinus were POPI'LLIUS. 1. T. POPILLIUS, a legatus in
besieged in Praeneste by Sulla. Telesinus him- the Roman army engaged in the siege of Capua,
self, at the head of an army of 40,000 men, B. c. 211. (Liv. xxvi. 6. )
had marched to the neighbourhood of Praeneste, 2. P. POPILLIUS, one of the three ambassadors
apparently with the intention of relieving the sent to king Syphax in Africa, in B. c. 210. (Liv.
town, but in reality with another object, which xxvii. 4.
