Scipio: this member of the noble family is named Quintus Caecilus Metellus Pius Cornelianus Scipio Nasica, the father-in-law of Pompey the Great. He died supporting Pompey against Julius Caesar at Thapsus (click SPQR for coin minted by him).

Hypsaeus: Publius Plautius Hypsaeus, a minor politician and ally of Pompey the Great.

factio, -onis f.
political party, faction.

recens, recentis
of recent origin, late occurrence; new, fresh.

invidia, -ae f.
ill will, jealousy; dislike, hatred.

Milo: Titus Annius Milo was a supporter of Pompey. While campaigning for the consulship in 53 BCE, he and Clodius, bitter enemies, met on the Appian Way and in the resulting battle, Clodius was killed and further violence erupted in Rome.

cum conjunction
when, followed by the subjunctive (circumstantial clause).

ius, iuris n.
that which is legally sanctioned; a legal code; a provision of a legal code rule, law.

postulo (1)
ask, demand.

interrex, -regis m.
interrex, regent, deputy consul. The interrex is Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, a lieutenant of Caesar’s who would become with Antony and Octavian the third member of the Second Triumvirate. The office of interrex (literally “between kings”) arose after the death of Romulus; the interregnum, a period of five days, was the time that elapsed until another king could be elected. During the late Republic, an interrex was selected to hold the comitia to elect the consuls when the consuls in office were unable to do so themselves.

comitium, -i n.
an assembly of the Roman people to elect magistrates; the gerundive phrase ad comitia consulum creandorum may be translated: “to the elections of the consuls.”

id: i.e., attend the comitia for the purpose of conducting the elections.

mos, moris m.
custom. The interrex held office for only five days before another man was appointed to the position.

obsideo, -ere, -sedi, -sessum
attack; besiege, blockade.

vis, f. irregular
force, violence; vi = ablative.

ianua, -ae f.
door

imago, -inis f.
image; portrait; the death-mask of any ancestor that once held public office. These were kept on display in the atrium of noble houses and carried in funeral processions.

maiores, -um m. pl.
ancestors.

deicio, -ere, -ieci, -iectus
thrown down, overturn; destroy.

lectulus, -i m.
couch.

Cornelia, the praenomen given to females of the Cornelian gens, occurs frequently from the Republic through the Empire. There is a difficulty in that the only known wife of M. Aemelius Lepidus, the interrex and triumvir, is named Junia, the sister of M. Brutus. How ironic that not even 100 years later, one virtuous matrona cannot be distinguished from another.

castitas, -atis f.
chastity, modest behavior.

exemplum, -i n.
example, model, pattern; pro exemplo = exemplary.

frango, -ere, fregi, fractus
break, destroy.

tela, -ae f.
web, warp of a loom; loom. For additional information on Roman looms, visit “Looms and Weaving.”

vetus, -eris
ancient, old.

texo, -ere, texui, textum
weave.

diruo, -ere, dirui, dirutum
pull down, demolish.

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