Quintus Hortensius Hortalus

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Quintus Hortensius Hortalus , often briefly Hortensius (* 114 BC , † 50 BC ) was a Roman senator , consul (69 BC) and orator. Until the appearance of Marcus Tullius Cicero , he was considered the most important speaker in Rome.

Hortensius belonged to a plebeian family that first started in the 2nd century BC. Is attested in senatorial offices. His father Lucius was the proconsul of Sicily and is probably the Hortensius who is attested by Lucilius . The speaker's mother, Sempronia, was a daughter of the consul from 129 BC. BC, Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus .

Hortensius appeared at a young age, before the death of the famous speaker Lucius Licinius Crassus in 91 BC. As a speaker. At this time he married Lutatia, a daughter of Quintus Lutatius Catulus , the consul in 102 BC. BC, and the Servilia, whose brother and father had also been consuls. The marriage had a daughter named Hortensia . In the alliance war Hortensius served as a soldier and military tribune . After the end of the war he resumed his work as a court speaker. In 75 he became aedile , in 72 BC. He sat as praetor before the court de repetundis .

Hortensius and Cicero often met as opponents of the litigation, for example in 70 BC. In the trial against Gaius Verres . Cicero dedicated a work to him, Hortensius , which has been lost; in the introduction to Brutus he acknowledges his contribution to Latin rhetoric .

Hortensius was a representative of the Asian style of speech, which is characterized by particularly flowery and extravagant formulation, and also wrote poetry. His musical voice made it a pleasure to listen to.

Hortensius had a remarkable memory, which enabled him to memorize the exact words of his opponent's argument without even making a note. This is how a bet was once made in which Hortensius spent a whole day watching the course of an auction. In the end, he named all the auctioned items in the correct order and named both the buyer and the price of the goods.

After Hortensius around the year 70 BC. Chr. Served his guests peacock breast to celebrate his inauguration , the bird became the culinary fashion of Rome.

In 53 BC Hortensius persuaded Cato the younger to "lend" his wife Marcia to him. Cato, who was very inclined to the arguments of the Stoa , actually divorced his wife, whom he loved very much, in order to enable Hortensius, who had fallen out with his son, to have a descendant. However, when Hortensius died a few years later without having had a child from Marcia, she returned to Cato.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cicero, in Verrem 2,3,42.
  2. ↑ Lucilius, fragment 1267 M. = 1180 W.
  3. ↑ Cicero, de oratore 3, 229 .
  4. ↑ Cicero, Brutus 301 .
  5. ^ Atkinson 1912.
personal data
SURNAME Hortensius Hortalus, Quintus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hortalus, Quintus Hortensius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman orator and politician
DATE OF BIRTH 114 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 50 BC Chr.