A
denarius of the Minucia gens, depicting the head of
Pallas on the obverse, and on the reverse a column honouring Lucius Minucius Augurinus, with the legend "C. Minuci. C. f. Augurini" (the minter of the coin).[1]
The
nomenMinucius is frequently confounded with Minicius and Municius.[2] The Minucii gave their name to the street known as the Via Minucia, the Pons Minucius, a bridge on the Via Flaminia, and a columned hall on the Campus Martius. The gate known as the Porticus Minucia was named after the consul of 110 BC.
The oldest branch of the family, the Minucii Augurini, were originally patrician, but in 439 BC
Lucius Minucius Augurinus went over to the plebeians, and was elected
tribune of the plebs. His descendants included the consul of 305 BC and several later tribunes of the plebs. The surname was derived from the position of
augur, an important priest specializing in divination. The college of augurs was held in high esteem, and membership was restricted to the patricians until around 300 BC.[2][3][4]
Some of the early Augurini bore the additional
cognomenEsquilinus, presumably because they lived on the
Esquiline Hill. Later surnames of the gens included Rufus, Thermus, and Basilus. The Minucii Rufi and Thermi appear from the latter part of the third century BC until the second half of the first century AD. Rufus means "red" and probably originally referred to someone with red hair.[5]Thermus, a borrowing from Greek, might refer to a bath or hot springs.[6]
The Minucii Basili appear only in the final century of the Republic. Their surname is derived from basileus, the Greek word for "king."[6] Although frequently written Basilius, the best manuscripts give Basilus.[7]
A number of plebeian Minucii had no cognomen.
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Quintus Minucius (Rufus), the legate of
Marcus Claudius Marcellus during the siege of
Capua in 210 BC, should probably be identified with Quintus Minucius Rufus, the consul of 197.[51][52]
Marcus Minucius Rufus, praetor peregrinus in 197 BC. He subsequently served as one of the commissioners to found a colony at
Vibo in Bruttium, and was one of the ambassadors sent to
Carthage in 193.[57][58]
Titus Minucius Rufus, served in the campaign against
Perseus, king of
Macedonia, in 171 BC.[59]
Minucius Rufus, one of the commanders of the Roman fleet in the war against
Mithridates.[70]
Quintus Minucius Rufus, an
eques at
Syracuse, who opposed
Verres and later appeared as one of the witnesses against him.[71]
Minucius Rufus, a partisan of
Gnaeus Pompeius during the
civil war, was one of the commanders of the fleet at
Oricum. He may have been the same Minucius who was praetor in 43 BC, and who perished in the proscription.[72][73][74]
Quintus Minucius M. f. Thermus, triumvir monetalis in 103 BC, was quaestor at some point before 89. In 86, he accompanied the consul
Lucius Valerius Flaccus into Asia, where Flaccus left him in command of the troops; but soon afterwards,
Gaius Flavius Fimbria deprived him of his command.[86][87][88][89][90]
(Minucius) Thermus, a candidate for the consulship of 64 BC, probably identical with the consul of that year,
Gaius Marcius Figulus, having perhaps been adopted just before the election.[93][94]
Aulus Minucius Thermus, twice defended by
Cicero in 59 BC. He had previously held a
magistracy, but which is unknown, and had been popular.[95]
Minucius Basilus, buried along the Via Appia. His tomb was a spot infamous for robberies.[107][108]
Lucius Minucius Basilus, the uncle of Marcus Satrius, whom he adopted in his will.[109]
Lucius Minucius Basilus, born Marcus Satrius, one of Caesar's lieutenants during the
Gallic Wars; during the
Civil War, he commanded part of Caesar's fleet. Notwithstanding their long friendship, he was one of Caesar's assassins in 44 BC. He was murdered by his own slaves the following year.[110][111][112][113][114]
Minucius Basilus, attacked by Cicero as a friend of Marcus Antonius, in the second Philippic.[115]
Marcus Minucius Faesus, one of the first
augurs elected from the plebs after the extension of the lex de Sacerdotiis in 300 BC.[120][121]
Publius Minucius (Q. f.), one of two Minucii who served as military tribunes under the consul
Lucius Cornelius Merula, in the war with the
Boii, 193 BC.[122][123]
Quintus Minucius Q. f., one of two Minucii who served as military tribunes under the consul Lucius Cornelius Merula, in the war with the Boii, 193 BC. He then became ambassador in 174 and was praetor circa 164.[122][124][123]
Minucius, died intestate before
Gaius Verres became praetor urbanus, in 75 or 74 BC. Verres interfered with the inheritance of his property by his gens, an action which Cicero derided in his oration, In Verrem.[125]
Gaius Minucius Reginus, a partisan of Pompeius during the Civil War, he was prefect of Zeta in 46 BC.[126][127]
Gnaeus Minucius, a person about whose political opinions Cicero wrote to
Cornificius in 43 BC.[128]
Minucius Pacatus, better known as Irenaeus, an Alexandrian grammarian, probably in the time of
Augustus.[129][130]
Minucius Acilianus, the son of Macrinus, and a friend of the younger Pliny, who had held the ranks of quaestor, tribune, and praetor, probably should be Minicius Acilianus.[131][133]
^The tradition that he was elected tribune immediately upon becoming a plebeian seems improbable, since there were already ten tribunes; but that he became a plebeian seems to be confirmed by the fact that several other Minucii were subsequently elected to this office.
^There is some uncertainty as to whether the tribune of the plebs and the consul of 110 are the same person; one of them might be Marcus' brother, Quintus Minucius Rufus.
Appianus Alexandrinus (
Appian), Bella Mithridatica (The Mithridatic Wars), Bellum Civile (The Civil War), Bellum Hannibalicum (The War with Hannibal), Hispanica (The Spanish Wars), Punica (The Punic Wars), Syriaca (The Syrian Wars).
Barthold Georg Niebuhr, The History of Rome, Julius Charles Hare and Connop Thirlwall, trans., John Smith, Cambridge (1828).
Henricus Meyerus, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta ab Appio inde Caeco usque ad Q. Aurelium Symmachum (Fragments of Roman Orators from Appius Claudius Caecus to Quintus Aurelius Symmachus), L. Bourgeois-Mazé, Paris (1837).