- Ahenobarbus
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Ahenobarbus was the name of a plebeian family of the Domitia gens in the late Republic and early Principate of ancient Rome.[1] The name means "red-beard" (literally, "bronze-beard") in Latin. According to legend, Castor and Pollux announced to one of their ancestors the victory of the Romans over the Latins at the battle of Lake Regillus, and, to confirm the truth of what they had just said, they stroked his black hair and beard, which immediately became red.[2][3][4][5]
The name may refer to:
- Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 192 BC)
- Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 162 BC)
- Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 122 BC)
- Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 96 BC), son of the same named consul of 122 BC.
- Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 94 BC)
- Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (died 81 BC)
- Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 54 BC), son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 96 BC), supporter of Pompey and character in Lucan's Pharsalia
- Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (praetor 50 BC)
- Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC). A fictionalized version of this Ahenobarbus appears in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra under the name of "Enobarbus"
- Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC), only child of the above Gnaeus Domitius and Aemilia Lepida, paternal grandfather of the Emperor Nero, maternal grandfather of Valeria Messalina (third wife of the emperor Claudius)
- Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32), father of the Emperor Nero and maternal uncle to Valeria Messalina
- The Emperor Nero was born in AD 37 to the Domitius above as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (named after Domitius's father Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 16 BC)). He was adopted by Claudius in AD 50 as official heir to the throne. He was the only child of Agrippina the Younger through her first marriage to Domitius, and through her, he was great-great grandson of the Emperor Augustus, great-grandnephew and adoptive great-grandson of the Emperor Tiberius, nephew of the Emperor Caligula, as well as great-nephew and stepson of the Emperor Claudius.
Contents
Distant Relatives to the Above
- Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, general and consul of the 1st century BC
- Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, was the name of two politicians in the 1st century AD. One was a praetor under Emperor Tiberius’ reign and the other, his son, was a general.
- Gnaeus Domitius Afer, senator, consul, and orator during the reigns of the Emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.
- Domitius Ulpianus, otherwise known as Ulpian, jurist of the 3rd century
- The 3rd century emperor Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus), was also a distant relative of the Ahenobarbus family
Family tree
The family tree below is a combination of the Ahenobarbus family tree and its relations with the members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
See also
- Domitia
- Domitius (disambiguation)
- Saint Domitius
References
- ^ Smith, William (1867), "Ahenobarbus", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, pp. 83–84, http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0092.html
- ^ Suetonius, Nero 1
- ^ Plutarch, Aemil. 25
- ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, vi. 13
- ^ Tertullian, Apol. 22
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).
Categories:- Ancient Roman families
- Prosopography of Ancient Rome
- Julio-Claudian Dynasty
- Family trees
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