Quintus Aemilius Papus

3rd-century BC Roman consul and general

Quintus Aemilius Papus (fl. 282 BC – 275 BC), a member of the Papus family of the gens Aemilia, a patrician clan, was a Roman general and statesman.

Career

Quintus Aemilius Papus was elected consul for 282 BC and 278, both times with Gaius Fabricius Luscinus as his colleague. During his first consulship, Papus successfully warred against the Boii in Northern Italy. In 280 he and Fabricius were amongst the three ambassadors who were sent to Pyrrhus of Epirus. Papus was elected censor in 275 BC, again with Luscinus as his colleague.^[1]

Family

According to William Smith, Quintus Aemilius Papus was the grandfather of Lucius Aemilius Papus.^[1] This, however, contradicts information derived from the younger man's filiation which was Lucius Aemilius Q.f. Cn.n. Papus, or Lucius Aemilius, son of Quintus, grandson of Gnaeus (or Cnaieus). Quintus was thus either father of Lucius Aemilius Papus, or a patrilineal relative.^[2]

Anecdote about Papus

Valerius Maximus, writing much later, said that

there was silver in the homes of Gaius Fabricius [Luscinus] and Quintus Aemilius Papus, the leading men of their era. Each of them had a dish for the gods and a salt cellar, but Fabricius was more elegant because he chose to put a little pedestal of horn under his dish. Papus behaved rather assertively when he inherited those items, because he decided on account of their religious significance that he would not get rid of them.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Papus 2.". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 3.
^ Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Papus 3.". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 3.
^ Valerius Maximus. (2004). Memorable Deeds and Sayings: One Thousand Tales From Ancient Rome. Indianapolis: Hackett. p. 139. ISBN 0-87220-674-2

Political offices
Preceded by Publius Cornelius Dolabella and Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus Maximus	Consul of the Roman Republic with Gaius Fabricius Luscinus 282 BC	Succeeded by Lucius Aemilius Barbula and Quintus Marcius Philippus
Preceded by Publius Sulpicius Saverrio and Publius Decius Mus	Consul of the Roman Republic with Gaius Fabricius Luscinus 278 BC	Succeeded by Publius Cornelius Rufinus and Gaius Julius Bubulcus Brutus