Lentulus

Lentulus, the name of a Roman patrician family of the Cornelian gens, derives from lentes (lentils), which its oldest members were fond of cultivating (according to Pliny, Nat. Hist. xviii. 3, 10). The word Lentulitas ("Lentulism"; cf. Appietas) is coined by Cicero (Ad Fam. iii. 7, 5 ) to express the attributes of a pronounced aristocrat. The three first of the name were L. Cornelius Lentulus (consul 327 BC), Servius Cornelius Lentulus (consul 303) and L. Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus (consul 275). Their connection with the later Lentuli (especially those of the Ciceronian period) is very obscure and difficult to establish. The following members of the family deserve mention.

• Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus, consul 146 BCE
• Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus, consul 72 BCE
• Publius Cornelius Lentulus (Sura), consul 71 BCE, executed by Cicero 63 BCE
• Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, consul 57 BCE
• Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, consul 49 BCE
• Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Cruscellio, suffect consul 38 BCE
• Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, consul 3 BCE
• Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, consul CE 26, executed by Caligula CE 39

See also Publius Lentulus, apocryphal governor of Jerusalem, supposedly the author of an epistle describing Jesus.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lentulus". Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 430–431.
•  Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Lentulus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 2. John Murray. pp. 728–734.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)