Maenius
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Maenium Proper-name adjective: neuter vocative singular, Proper-name adjective: masculine genitive plural, Proper-name adjective: masculine accusative singular, Proper-name adjective: neuter genitive plural, Proper-name adjective: neuter nominative singular, Proper-name adjective: neuter accusative singular of Maenius
- the name of a Roman gens: C. Maenius, consul A. U. C. 416, Liv. 8, 13, 1.—Hence,
- A Maenĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to a Maenius, Maenian: Maenia lex, proposed by the people's tribune Maenius, A. U. C. 468, Cic. Brut. 14, 55.— Esp. freq., Maenĭa Cŏlumna, ae, f., a pillar in the Forum, at which thieves and refractory slaves were scourged, and to which bad debtors were summoned, a whipping-post, Cic. Div. in Caecil. 16, 50; id. Sest. 58, 124.—
- B Maenĭānum, i, n., a projecting gallery, balcony of a house (first made use of by a Maenius); commonly used in the plur.: Maeniana appellata sunt a Maenio censore, qui primus in Foro ultra columnas tigna projecit, quo ampliarentur superiora spectacula, Paul. ex Fest. p. 134 Müll.; Cic. Ac. 2 (Luc.), 22, 70; Suet. Calig. 18; Vitr. 5, 1, 2; Varro ap. Plin. 35, 10, 37, § 113; Dig. 50, 16, 242; Cod. Just. 8, 10, 11. —In sing.: Maenianum conscendere, Val. Max. 9, 12, 7.
1. Maenius, or according to some manuscripts Maenius, was the proposer of the law by which an addition was made to the Circensian games of the day, called instauratitius (Macr. 1.11). We learn from Livy (2.36) that this happened in B. C. 489, and we may therefore suppose that Maenius was tribune of the plebs in that year.
2. C. Maenius, tribune of the plebs B. C. 483, attempted to prevent the consuls from levying troops till they carried into effect a division of the ager publicus among the plebs; but this opposition was rendered of no effect, by the consuls withdrawing from the city and holding the levy outside the walls, at a mile beyond the gates, where the protecting power of the tribunes ceased. All who refused to obey the summons of the consuls were punished (Dionys. A. R. 8.87). The manuscripts of Dionysius have C. Manius, for which Lupus substituted Manilius, and Gelenius Maenius; but the latter is no doubt the correct conjecture. (Niebuhr, Hst. of Rome, vol. ii. p. 185, n. 410.)
3. M. Maenius, tribune of the plebs B. C. 410, was the proposer of an agrarian law, and attempted, like his predecessor [No. 2], to prevent the consuls from levying troops, till this law was passed and carried into execution. But as the consuls were supported by the nine colleagues of Maenius, they were able to enforce the levy. So great was the popularity of Maenius, that the senate resolved that consuls should be elected for the following year, and not consular tribunes, because, if the latter had been elected, Maenius would have been sure to have been one of the number. (Liv. 4.53.)
4. P. Maenius, is mentioned by Livy as consular tribune in B. C. 400, and again in B. C. 396 (Liv. 5.12, 18). The name, however, is written variously in the manuscripts. Alschefski, the latest editor of Livy, reads P. Manlius in the former of these years, but retains P. Maenius in the latter. In the Fasti Capitolini the name Maenius does not occur in either of these years, but instead of it we have P. Manlius Vulso, in B. C. 400, and Q. Manlius Vulso, in B. C. 396. The names in Diodorus (14.47, 90) differ again; and it seems to be impossible to reconcile the conflicting statements. In any case Livy is in error in designating Maelius and his colleagues as patricians.
5. M. Maenius, occurs in the old editions of Livy (6.19) as tribune of the plebs in B. C. 384, where, however, Alschefski, in accordance with the best MSS., now reads M. Menenius. In the same way, in another passage (7.16), we ought to read L. Menenius, instead of L. Macnius, as tribune of the plebs in B. C. 357.
6. C. Maenius P. F. P. N., consul, in B. C. 338, with L. Furius Camillus. [Camillus, No. 4.] The two consuls completed the subjugation of Latium; they were both rewarded with a triumph; and equestrian statues, then a rare distinction, were erected to their honour in the forum. Maenius defeated, on the river Astura, the Latin army, which had advanced to the relief of Antium, and the rostra of some of the ships of the Antiates were applied to ornament the suggestus or stage in the forum from which the orators addressed the people. In consequence of this victory, Maenius seems to have obtained the surname of Antiaticus, which, we know from coins, was borne by his descendants. [See below, No. 8.] The statue of Maenius was placed upon a column, which is spoken of by later writers under the name of Columna Maenia, and which appears to have stood near the end of the forum, on the Capitoline. (Liv. 8.13; Flor. 1.11; Plin. Nat. 34.5. s. 11, 7.60; Cic. pro Sest. 58; Becker, Handbuch der Römisch. Altertl. vol. i. p. 322; Osann, De Columna Maenia, Giessen, 1844.)
In B. C. 320 Maenius was appointed dictator, in order to investigate the plots and conspiracies which many of the Roman nobles were suspected to have formed, in conjunction with the leading men of Capua, which revolted in the following year. Maenius named M. Foslius Flaccinator as the magister equitum, and both magistrates conducted the inquiry with great vigour, and brought to light the intrigues of many of the Roman nobles of high family. The latter in their turn retorted, by bringing charges against the dictator and the magister equitum; whereupon both Maenius and Foslius resigned their offices, demanded of the consuls a trial, and were most honourably acquitted. (Liv. 9.26, comp. 34.)
In B. C. 318 Maenius was censor with L. Papirius Crassus. In his censorship he allowed balconies to be added to the various buildings surrounding the forum, in order that the spectators might obtain more room for beholding the games which were exhibited in the forum; and these balconies were called after him Maeniana (sc. aedificia). They are frequently mentioned by the ancient writers, and are described at length by Salmasius (ad Spartian. Pescenn. 12, p. 676). Comp. Paul. Diac. p. 134, ed. Müller; Cic. Ac. 4.22, who speaks of the Maenianorum umbra; Suet. Cal. 18; Vitr. 5.1; V. Max. 9.12.7; Pseudo_Ascon. in Cic. Divin. in Caecil. p. 121, ed. Orelli, who, however, absurdly mixes them up with the Columna Maenia, and with the spendthrift mentioned below [No. 11].
In B. C. 314 Maenius was a second time dictator, and again appointed M. Foslius the magister equitum. (Fasti Capit.)
7. Maenius, the proposer of the law, about B. C. 286, which required the patres to give their sanction to the election of the magistrates before they had been elected, or in other words to confer, or agree to confer, the imperium on the person whom the comitia should elect. (Cic. Brut. 14.) Pighius and Freinsheim supposed that this Maenius was a tribune of the plebs; but Niebuhr conjectures (Hist. of Rome, vol. iii. p. 421) that he may have been the same as the C. Maenius above-mentioned [No. 6], and that the high character and venerable age of the latter may have had some influence in procuring the enactment of the law.
8. P. Maienius Ant(Iaticus) Me(Gellus) or Me(Dullius), occurs on a coin, the obverse of which represents the head of Hercules, and the reverse the prow of a ship. On other coins we find only the names P. Maen. Ant .; and it is conjectured that the Megellus or Medullinus was an agnomen to distinguish this Maenius Antiaticus from other members of his family. (Eckhel, vol. v. pp. 240, 241.)
9. M. Maenius, tribune of the soldiers, fell in battle against Mago, in the country of the Insubrian Gauls, B. C. 203. (Liv. 30.18.)
10. T. Maenius, praetor urbanus B. C. 186. he served as tribune of the soldiers in B. C. 180, in the army of the praetor Q. Fulvius, against the Celtiberi. (Liv. 39.6, 8, 18. 40.35.)
11. Maenius, a contemporary of Lucilius, was a great spendthrift, who squandered all his property and afterwards supported himself by playing the buffoon. He possessed a house in the forum, which Cato in his censorship (B. C. 184 ) purchased of him, for the purpose of building the basilica Porcia. Some of the ancient scholiasts ridiculously relate, that when Maenius sold his house, he reserved for himself one column, the Columna Maenia, from which he built a balcony, that he might thence witness the games. The true origin of the Columna Maenia, and of the balconies called Maeniana, has been explained above. [See No. 6.] (Hor. Sat. 1.1. 101, 1.3. 21, Epist. 1.15. 26, &c.; Liv. 39.44; Porphyr. ad Hor. Sat. 1.3. 21; Pseudo-Ascon. in Cic. Divin. in Caecil. p. 121, ed. Or.; Becker, Handbuch der Römisch. Alterth. vol. i. p. 300.)
12. C. Maenius, praetor B. C. 180, received Sardinia as his province, and also the commission to examine into all cases of poisoning which had occurred beyond ten miles from the city. After condemning 3000 persons, he still found so many who were guilty, that he wrote to the senate to state that he must abandon either the investigation or the province. (Liv. 40.35, 43.)
13. Q. Maenius, praetor B. C. 170, was employed in the Macedonian war. (Liv. 43.8.)
Maenon (Μαίνων), a Sicilian, a native of Segesta, had fallen as a captive when a youth into the hands of Agathocles, and rose to a high place in the favour of the Syracusan monarch; notwithstanding which, he was induced by Archagathus, the grandson of Agathocles, to unite in a project against the life of the aged king. He is said to have administered poison to him by means of a quill used as a toothpick, which brought about the death of Agathocles, with the most excruciating pains. Archagathus was at the time absent from Syracuse with an army, and the people having reestablished the democracy on the death of the old king, Maenon fled from Syracuse to the camp of Archagathus, but soon after took an opportunity to assassinate the young prince, and placed himself at the head of his troops. With this mercenary force he made war on the Syracusans, and though opposed by Hicetas with an army, he obtained the powerful support of the Carthaginians, which enabled him to dictate the terms of peace. One of the conditions imposed was the return of the exiles; but though this would seem likely to have placed Maenon in a prominent position at Syracuse, we hear nothing more of him from this time. (Diod. xxi., Exc. Hoesch. pp. 491-493.) [E.H.B]
(1) Gaius. Consul B.C. 338, with L. Furius Camillus. The two consuls completed the subjugation of Latium; they were both rewarded with a triumph, and equestrian statues were erected to their honour in the Forum. The statue of Maenius was placed upon a column, called Columna Maenia, which appears to have stood near the end of the Forum, on the Capitoline. Maenius, in his censorship (B.C. 318), allowed balconies to be added to the various buildings surrounding the Forum, in order that the spectators might obtain more room for beholding the games which were exhibited there: these balconies were called after him Maeniāna (sc. aedificia).
(2) The proposer of a law, about B.C. 286, which required the patres to give their sanction to the election of the magistrates before they had been elected, or, in other words, to confer, or agree to confer, the imperium on the person whom the comitia should elect.
(3) A contemporary of Lucilius. He was a great spendthrift, who squandered all his property, and afterwards supported himself by playing the buffoon. He possessed a house in the Forum, which Cato in his censorship (184) purchased of him for the purpose of building the Basilica Porcia. Some of the scholiasts on Horace relate that when Maenius sold his house, he reserved for himself one column, the Columna Maenia, from which he built a balcony that he might thence witness the games. The true origin of the Columna Maenia and of the balconies called Maeniana has been explained above.