Roscius

Roscĭus, i, m., the name of a Roman gens.

• I L. Roscius, a Roman ambassador, slain in a revolt at Fidenae, Liv. 4, 17, 2.—
• II L. Roscius Otho, a friend of Cicero, who, when tribune of the people, A. U.C. 686, carried through a law that fourteen rows of seats in the theatre next to those of the senators should be appropriated to the knights, Cic. Mur. 19, 40; Liv. Epit. 99; Ascon. ap. Cornel. p. 784; Vell. 2, 32, 3; Plin. 7, 30, 31, § 117; Juv. 14, 324. The law just referred to was called Lex Roscia, Cic. Phil. 2, 18, 44; Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 62; Tac. A. 15, 32.—
• III Q. Roscius Gallus, a freedman from Lanuvium, a very celebrated actor, the intimate friend of Cicero, who defended him in an oration still extant. His excellence soon became proverbial: videtisne, quam nihil ab eo (sc. Roscio) nisi perfecte, nihil nisi cum summā venustate fiat, etc.... Itaque hoc jam diu est consecutus, ut in quo quisque artificio excelleret, is in suo genere Roscius diceretur, Cic. de Or. 1, 28, 130; 59, 251; id. Arch. 8, 17; cf. id. Brut. 84, 290; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 82. — Hence,
• • B Roscĭā-nus, a, um, adj., Roscian: imitatio senis, Roscius’s, Cic. de Or. 2, 59, 242.—
• IV Sex. Roscius, of Ameria, defended by Cicero, A. U. C. 674, in an oration still extant, Cic. Off. 2, 14, 51; id. Brut. 90, 312.—
• V Lucius Roscius, who commanded a legion under Caesar, Caes. B. G. 7, 53; id. B. C. 1, 10.

Rōscius, a, um, Name einer röm. gens, aus der am bekanntesten I) Q. Roscius, aus Lanuvium, der größte Schauspieler in Rom zu seiner Zeit, vertrauter Freund und Lehrer Ciceros in der Vortragskunst, Cic. de or. 1, 124 u. 129 sq.; Arch. 17. – appellat., ein Roscius = ein Meister in seinem Fache, s. Cic. de or. 1, 130; Brut. 290. – Dav. Rōsciānus, a, um, roscianisch, imitatio, Cic. de or. 2, 242. – II) Sex. Roscius aus Ameria, der, des Vatermordes angeklagt, von Cicero in einer noch vorhandenen Rede verteidigt wurde, Cic. Brut. 312. – dah. die Rede Rōsciāna, ae, f. (verst. oratio), Mart. Cap. 5. § 441. – III) L. Roscius Otho, Freund Ciceros und Volkstribun, Verf. der lex Roscia, Cic. Mur. 40. – Dav. Rōscius, a, um, roscisch, lex, durch das die Ritter besondere Sitze im Theater bekamen, Cic. Phil. 2, 44.

Rōscĭus, (8) ĭī, m. , nom dʼune famille rom.; not^t L. Roscius Othon, auteur de la loi qui réglait les places au théâtre : Cic. Mur. 40 || Q. Roscius, célèbre comédien, ami de Cicéron qui plaida pour lui : Cic. Arch. 17 ; de Or. 1, 130 || Sext. Roscius dʼAmérie, défendu par Cicéron : Cic. Off. 2, 51 || L. Roscius, lieutenant de César : Cæs. G. 5, 24, 2 ; 5, 24, 7 ; 5, 53, 6 ; || -ĭānus, a, um, de Roscius : Cic. de Or. 2, 242.

Ro'scius

1. L. Roscius, a Roman ambassador sent to Fidenae in B. C. 438. He and his three colleagues were killed by the inhabitants of Fidenae, at the instigation of Lar Tolumnius, king of the Veientes. The statues of all four were erected in the Rostra at Rome. (Liv. 4.17; Cic. Phit. 9.2; Plin. Nat. 34.6. s. 11.)

Roscius , Sex.

2 Sex. Roscius, of Ameria, a town in Umbria, now Amelia, was accused of the murder of his father in B. C. 80, and was defended by Cicero in an oration which is still extant, and which was the first that the orator delivered in a criminal cause. The following are the circumstances under which the prosecution arose. Sex. Roscius had a father of the same name, who was one of the most wealthy citizens of Ameria. The father bore an unblemlished character, but had for certain reasons incurred the enmity of two of his relations and fellow-towvnsmen, T. Roscius Magnus and T. Roscius Capito, who not onlly hated the person, but coveted the wealth of their neighbour. Sextus frequently visited Rome, where he lived on terms of intimacy with Metellus, Servilius, and other Roman nobles. On one of these visits to the capital he was assassinated near the Palatine baths, as he was returning in the evening from a banquet. His enemy, Magnus, who was at Rome at the time, and who had doubtless hired the assassins, immediately diately despatched a messenger with the news to Capito at Ameria, but without informing the younger Sextus, who was likewise at Ameria, of the death of his father. Four days afterwards Chrysogonus, the freedman and favourite of Sulla, who was at Volaterrae in Etruria, was likewise acquainted with the event. He learnt that the property whlich Roscius had left behind him was considerable, consisting of not less than thirteen farms, lying for the most part on the Tiber, as well as of ready money and other valuables. Forthwith a bargain was struck between Chrysogonus and the two Roscii; and the name of Sextus was placed on the proscription list, notwithstanding an edict of Sulla, that none of the proscribed should be pursued after the first of June, B. C. 81. But as the name of Sextus was now on the list, his property was confiscated; Capito obtained three of the farms, and the remaining ten were purchased by Chrysogonus for 2000 denarii, though they were worth in reality 250 talents; and Magnus was likewise well rewarded for his share in the business. Such a barefaced act of villany excited the utmost indignation at Ameria. The decuriones of the town accordingly sent ten of the principal citizens to Sulla to acquaint him with the real state of the case, and to beg that the name of Roscius might be erased from the proscription list, in order that his son might thus regain possession of his hereditary property. Alarmed at the turn that matters were taking, Chrysogonus had an interview with the deputation, and pledged his word that their request should be complied with; and they, probably more than half-afraid of facing the dictator, were contented to receive the promise, and returned home without seeing Sulla. These half-measures, how. ever, only exposed the younger Roscius to still greater peril. The robbers saw that they had no security for their property as long as he was alive. They therefore laid snares for his life, and he only escaped the fate of his father by flying to Rome and taking refuge in the house of Caecilia, the daughter of Metellus Balearicus. here he was quite safe from private assassination. Disappointed of getting rid of him secretly, his enemies resolved to murder him judicially. They accordingly hired a certain C. Erucius to accuse him of the murder of his father, and they paid a sufficient number of witnesses to swear to the fact. They felt sure of a verdict against the accused, as they did not believe that any person of influence would undertake his defence; and even if he could obtain an advocate, they were convinced that his counsel would not dare, by speaking of the sale of the proprty, to bring any accusation against the powerful freedman of Sulla. In this, however, they were disappointed. Cicero, who was burning for distinction, saw that this was a most favourable opportunity for gaining glory, and readily undertook the defence. He did not hesitate to attack Chrysogonus with the utmost severity, and so evident was the guilt of the accusers, and so clear the Innocence of the accused, that the judices had no alternative left but the acquittal of Roscius. It was the first trial for murder that had come before the judices since the judicia had been taken from the equites and restored to the senators by Sulla, and they were unwilling to give to the popular party such a handle against them as the condemnation of Roscius would have supplied. Besides which Sulla allowed the court to exercise an unbiassed judgment, and did not interfere for the sake of gratifying the wishes of his favourite. Cicero's speech was greatly admired at the time, and though at a later period he found fault with it himself, as bearing marks of youthful exaggeration, it displays abundant evidence of his great oratorical powers. (Comp. Cic. Ora>t. 30, de Off 2.14 ; Plut. Cic. 3; Drumann, Geschichte Roms, vol. v. pp. 234-244.)

Ro'scius

3. Q. Roscius, the most celebrated comic actor at Rome, was a native of Solonium, a small place in the neighbourhood of Lanuvium. His sister was married to Quintius, whom Cicero defended in B. C. Bl. (Cic. pro Qttint. 24, 25.) A tale was told, that in his infancy he was found in the folds of a serpent, and that this foreshadowed his future eminence. His extraordinary skill in acting procured him the favour of many of the most distinguished Roman nobles, and, among others, of the dictator Sulla, who presented hint with a gold ring, the symbol of equestrian rank. Like his celebrated contemporary, the tragic actor Aesopus, Roscius enjoyed the friendship of Cicero, who constantly speaks of him in terms both of admiration and affection, and on one occasion calls him his amores ct deliciae. Roscius paid the greatest attention to his art, and obtained excellence in it by the most careful and elaborate study. It is to this that Horace alludes, when he says (Ep. 2.1. 82) : Quae gravis Aesopus, quae doctus Roscius egit.

So careful and assiduous was he in his preparations, that even in the height of his reputation, he did not venture upon a single gesture in public which he had not previously well considered and practised at home. But notwithstanding all this study, no mannerism or affectation appeared in his acting; every thing he did was perfectly natural to the character he represented; and he himself used to say that decere was the highest excellence of the art. He was considered by the Romans to have reached such perfection in his own profession, that it became the fashion to call every one who became particularly distinguished in his own art, by the name of Roscius. In his younger years Cicero received instruction from Roscius; and at a later time he and Roscius often used to try which of them could express a thought with the greatest effect, the orator by his eloquence, or the actor by his gestures. Macrobius, who relates this anecdote, goes on to say that these exercises gave Roscius so high an opinion of his art, that he wrote a work in which he compared eloquence and acting. Like Aesopus, Roscius realized an immense fortune by his profession. Macrobius says that he made a thousand denarii a day, and Pliny relates that his yearly profits were fifty millions of sesterces. He died in B. C. 62, as Cicero, in his oration for Archias (100.8), which was delivered in that year, speaks of his death as a recent event. (Cic. de Div. 1.36, 2.31, de Orat. 1.27-29, 59, 60, 2.57, 59, 3.26, 59, de Leg. 1.4, Brut. 84; Plut. Cie. 5 ; Macr. 2.10; V. Max. 8.7.7; Plin. Nat. 7.39. s. 40.) A scholiast on Cicero gives the cognomen Gallus to Q. Roscius, but it does not occur elsewhere, as far as we know. (Schol. Bob. pro Arch. p. 357, ed. Orelli.)

In B. C. 68 Cicero pleaded the cause of his friend in a civil suit before the judex C. Piso. It appears that a certain C. Fannius Chaerea had a slave of the name of Panurgus, whom he entrusted to Roscius for instruction in his art, on the agreement that whatever profits the slave might acquire should be divided between them. Panurgus was murdered by one Q. Flavius of Tarquinii, and accordingly an action was brought against him for damages, by Fannius and Roscius. Before the case came on for trial, Roscius received from Flavius a farm, which Fannius valued at 100,000 sesterces : Roscius maintained that this farm was simply a compensation for his own loss; but Fannius asserted that Roscius had no right to make terms for himself alone, and that according to the original agreement he was entitled to half of the compensation. The dispute was referred for arbitration to C. Piso, who did not give any formal decision, but at his recommendation Roscius consented to pay Fannius a certain sum of money for the trouble he had had, and Fannius, on the other hand, promised to give Roscius the half of whateverhe might receive from Flavius. Fannius now sued Flavius ; the case came on before the judex C. Cluvius, a Roman eques, who sentenced Flavius to pay 100,000 sesterces. According to the statement of Roscius he himself never received any part of this sum although he was entitled to half of it. Some years afterwards, when Flavius was dead, Fannius sued Roscius for 50,000 sesterces, as the half of the value of the estate given to Roscius on the death of Panurgus, and appealed to the agreement made before C. Piso, in support of his claim. The case came on for trial before the same C. Piso, who now acted as judex, and Cicero defended his friend in an oration, which has come down to us, though with the loss of the opening part. The date of the oration is doubtful; we have adopted the one given by Drumann, who discusses the matter at length (Geschichte Roms, vol. v. pp. 346-348). The subject of the oration has afforded matter for considerable discussion to modern jurists and scholars. Further Information

See Unterholzner, Ueber die Rede des Cicero für den Schauspieler Q. Roscius, in Savigny's Zeitschrift, vol. i. p. 248, &c.; München, Oratio M. T. C. pro Q. R. C. juridice deposita, Coloniae, 1829; and Schmidt, in his edition of the oration, Lipsiae, 1839.

Ro'scius

6. Roscius, a legate of Q. Cornificius in Africa, perished along with his commander, in B. C. 43. (Appian, App. BC 4.56.) [Cornificius, No. 3.]

Ro'scius, L. Aelia'nus

1. Consul suf fectus A. D. 100 (Fasti).

Ro'scius, L. Aelia'nus

2. Consul A. D. 223, with L. Marins Maximus, in the reign of the emperor Severus (Fasti).

Ro'scius, Cae'lius

the legatus of the twentieth legion, which was stationed in Britain at the time of Nero's death, A. D. 68. (Tac. Hist. 1.60.)

Ro'scius Re'gulus

[Regulus.]

Roscius

(1) Lucius, a Roman ambassador sent to Fidenae in B.C. 438.

(2) Sextius, of Ameria, a town in Umbria, accused of the murder of his father, and defended by Cicero (B.C. 80) in an oration which is still extant.

(3) Quintus, the most celebrated comic actor at Rome, was a native of Solonium, a small place in the neighbourhood of Lanuvium. His histrionic powers procured him the favour of many of the Roman nobles, and, among others, of the dictator Sulla , who presented him with a gold ring, the symbol of equestrian rank. Roscius enjoyed the friendship of Cicero, who constantly speaks of him in terms both of admiration and affection. Roscius was considered by the Romans to have reached such perfection in his profession that it became the fashion to call every one who became particularly distinguished in the histrionic art by the name of Roscius. He realized an immense fortune by his profession, and died in B.C. 62. See histrio.

(4) Otho. See Otho.