Familija Publija Kornelija Dolabele / The family of Publius Cornelius Dolabella

Abstract

Publius Cornelius Dolabella, the most famous governor of the Province of Upper Illyricum / Dalmatia, is a descendant of an eminent and ancient Roman family that has originated and belonged to the patrician gens Cornelia. Gens Cornelia had a large number of branches, including Dolabellae. Representatives of this branch of Cornelia are recorded in sources as prominent officials during the Middle Republic. Publius Cornelius Dolabella Maximus was a consul in 283 BC, followed by two more members of branch Cornelius Dolabella, but with praenomen Gnaeus, the consuls of the Republic in 159 and 81 BC. Several other members of this branch held high political, military and religious functions during the republican system. During the 2nd and 3 rd Roman civil wars, Publius Cornelius Dolabella (later sometimes called Lentulus) appeared on the political arena, who was born around 70 BC and was the consul in 44 BC. His public service was an example of unscrupulous politics in the last few years of the republican system. He died in 43 BC, when the city Laodicea was overtaken by Cassius, one of the leaders of the Republican Party. His namesake son (with his first wife Fabia, while his second wife was Tullia, the daughter of Cicero) belonged to the Octavian faction at war with Mark Antony. Our Publius Cornelius Dolabella was the son of the latter, who was a supporter of Octavian and actively worked on the public scene in the last decade of the life of Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) and in the first period of the reign of Tiberius (14-37 AD).