The Dolabellae of the Republic

Abstract

The eminent Patrician family of the Cornelii Dolabellae under the early Empire is descended from Cicero's unsatisfactory son-in-law, the consul of 44 (141). It has been adequately traced and plotted in PIR. The young man's ancestors have been less fortunate in their records. Though they produced several consuls and triumphators, we have only two complete filiations: those of the consul of 159 and the triumphator of 98. Moreover, despite Asconius' (insufficiently helpful) warning, homonymity between two men holding office in 81 has produced confusion. Drumann, in his stemma and treatment, without argument forged a pedigree for one of them (134: the cos. 81), and this has passed into modern tradition, being accepted (e.g.) as probable by Degrassi and as certain by Broughton. Sheer bad luck seems to pursue this man. At last fairly safely identified by an inscription found in Thasos, he had the misfortune of having it misreported in the Supplement (1960) to MRR. Yet the fact that has emerged about him not only clarifies his own place in the line of descent, but goes far towards enabling us to reconstruct the stemma of the whole family with fair plausibility. Confirmation or refutation will have to wait for further finds.