Gaius Papirius Crassus

Gaius Papirius Crassus was a consul of the Roman republic in 430 BC.[1]

Papirius belonged to the ancient Papiria gens. He belonged to a relatively new branch of the Papiria known as the Crassi. The branch had first reached the consulship in 441 BC under the (presumed) brother of Gaius, a Manius Papirius Crassus. Another brother or relative would reach the consulship in 436 BC, Lucius Papirius Crassus.[2]

Career

Papirius was elected consul in 430 BC together with Lucius Julius Iulus. During the consulship an eight year long truce was signed with the Aequi and a new law was enacted allowing for the payment of fines in coin instead of livestock. The law was a response to the heavy fines levied by the censors, Lucius Papirius (Crassus?) and Publius Pinarius.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

Conflicting identity

The different ancient sources covering the year 430 BC are in disagreement in regards to the identity of both the consuls and the censors of this year. The two consuls are traditionally identified as Gaius Papirius Crassus and Lucius Julius Iulus, but the praenomens varies between sources. Cicero names them Publius Papirius and Gaius Julius; Diodorus names them Gaius Papirius and Lucius Junius; and Cassiodorus names them Lucius Papirius and Lucius Julius. The majority of our other sources do not specify a praenomen and only give the cognomen of Crassus and Iulus. Gaius and Lucius are both prominently used within the Papiria gens, while Publius as a praenomen does not see use until the late Republic, some 300 years after this consul. Following Diodorus thus gives us a Gaius Papirius Crassus as a different individual to that of the Lucius Papirius Crassus, consul of 436 BC, while if one follows Cassiodorus then this consul of 430 BC should probably be identified as the same person as the consul of 436 BC.[9][10][11][12][13]

If this is the case, then another conflict arises, as Lucius Papirius Crassus can not both be one of the consuls and one of the censors in 430 BC. The censors of 430 BC are named as Lucius Papirius and Publius Pinarius by Cicero. As the other known Lucii Papirii (Lucius Papirius Mugillanus and Lucius Papirius Mugillanus) active in this period either held the censorship previously (443 BC) or would go on to hold it (418 BC) and the first and only known repeated censor is Gaius Marcius Rutilus Censorinus (censor in 294 and 265 BC); thus making Lucius Papirius Crassus the consul of 436 BC the most likely identification of the censor and Gaius Papirius Crassus the most likely identification of the consul.[14][15][16]

See also

• Papiria gens – Ancient Roman family

References

1. Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic, 1951, vol i, pp.64
2. Broughton, vol i
3. Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, iv, 30.1-30.3
4. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, xii, 72.1
5. Cicero, De republica, ii, 60
6. Cassiodorus, Chronica
7. Chronograph of 354
8. Broughton, vol i, pp.64
9. Cicero, Rep. ii, 60
10. Livy, iv, 30.1-30.3
11. Cassiodorus
12. Diodorus, xii, 72.1
13. Broughton, vol i, pp.64
14. Cicero, Rep. ii, 60
15. Livy, iv, 30.3
16. Broughton, vol i, pp.53-54, 64, 72