# Cispius

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'''Cispius''' is the ''[nomen](/source/Roman_naming_conventions)'' of the [Roman](/source/ancient_Rome) ''[gens Cispia](/source/Cispia_(gens))''.

==Cispius Laevus==

The ''[Mons Cispius](/source/Mons_Cispius)'', or Cispian Hill, is one of several summits of the [Esquiline Hill](/source/Esquiline_Hill) in Rome. The grammarian [Festus](/source/Sextus_Pompeius_Festus) says that it was named for a Cispius Laevus of [Anagnia](/source/Anagnia), of the ''Publilia'' voting tribe (''tribus''). This Cispius may be legendary.<ref>[Ronald Syme](/source/Ronald_Syme), "Senators, Tribes and Towns," ''Historia'' 13 (1964), pp. 107, 115.</ref>

==Marcus Cispius==

Marcus Cispius was a [tribune of the ''plebs''](/source/tribune) in 57 BC, and was among those tribunes who actively supported [Cicero](/source/Cicero) in his efforts to overturn the legislation that brought about his exile.<ref>[Cicero](/source/Cicero), ''[Post Reditum in Senatu](/source/Post_Reditum_in_Senatu)'' 21; ''Pro Sestio'' 76.</ref> Earlier, however, Cicero had brought a civil suit in which he spoke against Cispius, his brother, and their father. Sometime after Cispius's tribunate, most likely in early 56, he was defended by Cicero on a charge of electoral corruption (''[ambitus](/source/ambitus)'') and convicted.<ref>Michael C. Alexander, ''Trials in the Late Roman Republic, 149 BC to 50 BC'' (University of Toronto Press, 1990), pp. 127, 136; W. Jeffrey Tatum, ''The Patrician Tribune'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1999), pp. 178 and 318, note 203.</ref> Cicero calls him "a man of character and principle."<ref>''Vir optimus et constantissimus'' (''Pro Sestio'' 76), as translated by [Ronald Syme](/source/Ronald_Syme), ''The Roman Revolution'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1939), p. 81.</ref> The two men maintained their friendship in the 50s; in 55, Cicero wrote a [letter of recommendation](/source/letter_of_recommendation)<ref>''Ad familiares'' 13.6.2.</ref> to the proconsul of [Africa](/source/Africa_(Roman_province)), [Q. Valerius Orca](/source/Quintus_Valerius_Orca), on behalf of men associated with Cispius.<ref>John Nicholson, "The Delivery and Confidentiality of Cicero's Letters," ''Classical Journal'' 90 (1994), pp. 47–48.</ref> Cispius may have been a [praetor](/source/praetor)<ref>''[CIL](/source/Corpus_Inscriptionum_Latinarum)'' 4, 1278.</ref> sometime after 54.<ref>General sources on Marcus Cispius: [Cicero](/source/Cicero), ''Pro Sestio'' 76, ''Pro Plancio'' 77–75; [Bobbio Scholiast](/source/Bobbio_Scholiast) 165 [Stangl](/source/Thomas_Stangl); ''MRR''<sup>2</sup> pp. 202, 544.</ref>

==Lucius Cispius (Laevus)==

Lucius Cispius, probably with the ''[cognomen](/source/cognomen)'' Laevus, was a commander of the fleet (''[praefectus classis](/source/praefectus_classis)'') in 46 BC, serving under [Julius Caesar](/source/Julius_Caesar). He took part in the [blockade of Thapsus](/source/Battle_of_Thapsus). Cispius was not of [senatorial](/source/Roman_senate) rank, and has been tentatively linked to a [pottery manufacturing](/source/Arretine_ware) family in [Arretium](/source/Arretium). It is possible that he was the son of Marcus Cispius (above), though this filiation would place them on opposite sides in the [civil war](/source/Caesar's_civil_war).<ref>[T.P. Wiseman](/source/T.P._Wiseman), ''New Men in the Roman Senate'' (Oxford University Press, 1971), no. 120, p. 224, as cited by [Elizabeth Rawson](/source/Elizabeth_Rawson), "Caesar, Etruria and the ''Disciplina Etrusca''," ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 68 (1978), p. 151.</ref>  In 43, a Cispius Laevus was a [legate](/source/legatus) of [Munatius Plancus](/source/Munatius_Plancus), carrying dispatches to Rome for him; this man was most likely Caesar's naval commander.<ref>Cicero, ''Ad familiares'' 10.18.1–2 and 21.3; ''MRR''<sup>2</sup> pp. 351, 544, and ''MRR''<sup>3</sup> p. 53; Ronald Syme, review of Broughton, ''Classical Philology'' 50 (1955), p. 135, and "Senators, Tribes and Towns," p. 115.</ref>

==See also==
* [Cispia (gens)](/source/Cispia_(gens))

==References==
Unless otherwise noted, dates, offices and citations of ancient sources are from [T.R.S. Broughton](/source/T.R.S._Broughton), ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'' (American Philological Association, 1951, 1986), vol. 1; vol. 2 (1952); vol. 3 (1986); abbreviated ''MRR''.
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Category:Ancient Roman prosopographical lists
Category:Ancient Roman families
Category:Cispii

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