US

 

Catalogue Raisonné of J. L. Speranza’s Publications – H. P. Grice e J. L. Speranza: La Conversazione – I Verbali: US

 

Speranza, J. L. (n. d.). ‘H. P. Grice e J. L. Speranza: La Conversazione – I Verbali: Usio – Ossia: Grice ed Usio – Grex griceiana – verbalia: Usio -- H. P. GRICE E J. L. SPERANZA -- GREX -- VERBALIA: USIO The gens Usia was an obscure plebeian family of ancient Rome. No members of this gens are mentioned by Roman writers, but several are known from inscriptions.  Members This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation. Lucius Usius Lascivos, one of several persons named in an inscription from Tergeste in Venetia and Histria, dating from the first half of the first century.[1] Lucius Usius L. l. Evangelus, a freedman buried at Tergeste, in a family sepulchre dating from the first half of the second century, built by Lucius Usius Philippus for himself and several other persons, including Evangelus and other Usii.[2][3] Lucius Usius L. f. Fidus, buried at Tergeste, in a tomb dating from the first half of the second century, built by his father, Lucius Usius Philippus, for himself, Fidus, and several other persons, including other Usii.[2][3] Lucius Usius L. l. Philippus, a freedman who built a family sepulchre at Tergeste, dating from the first half of the second century, for himself and his son, Lucius Usius Fidus, as well as Lucius Usius Thasus, Lucius Usius Venustus, the freedwomen Tullia Cypare and Attia Cogitata, the freeman Lucius Usius Evangelus, and Cossutia Tyche.[2][3] Lucius Usius Thasus, a child buried at Tergeste, aged five, in a tomb dating from the first half of the second century, built by Lucius Usius Philippus for himself, his son, Fidus, and several other persons including Thasus and other Usii.[2][3] Lucius Usius Venustus, buried at Tergeste, in a tomb dating from the first half of the second century, built by Lucius Usius Philippus for himself and several other persons, including Venustus and other Usii.[2][3] Undated Usii Gaius Usius L. f. Maximus, named in an inscription from Fundi in Latium.[4] Titus Usius Threptus, dedicated a tomb at Rome for his close friend, Gaius Licinius Heraclida.[5] See also List of Roman gentes References  CIL V, 577.  CIL V, 647.  Inscriptiones Italiae, x. 4–171.  CIL X, 6283.  CIL VI, 38546. Bibliography Inscriptiones Italiae (Inscriptions from Italy), Rome (1931-present). Theodor Mommsen et alii, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated CIL), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). Category: Roman gentes And from THIS gens? Thanks

 

Speranza, J. L. (n. d.). ‘H. P. Grice e J. L. Speranza: La Conversazione – I Verbali: Usio – Ossia: Grice ed Usio – Grex griceiana – verbalia: Usio The Usii are a tiny gens, but in a curious way they take us right back to Grice's central concerns, because almost everything we know about them concerns households, freedmen, naming, and commemorative intentions rather than politics or warfare. [GREXv3 | Word] Unlike:  Umbricius Melior (the haruspex), Umbrius Primus (the grammarian), Urseius Ferox (the jurist),  the Usii leave no theoretical writings. Instead, they leave inscriptions. And an inscription is already a communicative act. A Roman epitaph says, in effect:  "I intend that future readers know this person existed."  In Gricean language, it is almost pure meaningNN:  I produce this inscription intending you to recognize that I intend you to remember X.   The obvious hero is:  Lucius Usius Philippus  the freedman who erected a family sepulchre at Tergeste for himself, his son, freedmen, freedwomen, children, and dependants. [GREXv3 | Word] What interests me is not the monument itself but the social network encoded in it. The tomb includes:  Lucius Usius Fidus, Lucius Usius Evangelus, Lucius Usius Thasus, Lucius Usius Venustus, several women and freedpersons. [GREXv3 | Word]  This is almost a conversational community frozen in stone. One may imagine:  libertus → familia → memoria  The very act of listing names creates a community of remembrance.  And the names themselves are delightful. Consider:  Fidus  ("faithful").  Evangelus  ("bearer of good news").  Venustus  ("graceful", "charming").  Thasus  (probably reflecting Greek origin). These are almost little character sketches. A Roman inscription often preserves more pragmatics than semantics. The names are not merely labels. They are social presentations.  From a Grice-Speranza perspective, however, the most entertaining member may be:  Titus Usius Threptus, who dedicated a tomb to his close friend, Gaius Licinius Heraclida. [GREXv3 | Word]  There is something deeply conversational in that. Not:  father, son, patron, client,  but:  friend.  The inscription itself is an utterance continuing beyond death. One could almost reconstruct: Threptus:  Amicus erat. (He was my friend.)  +> Remember him. +> Remember us. +> Friendship itself deserves commemoration. This would have appealed to Grice, whose philosophy often takes cooperative interaction among persons as basic.  You may also enjoy a small etymological puzzle. Unlike:  Umbrius, Urbanius, Urseius,  the nomen:  Usius  is frustratingly opaque. The source gives no clear derivation and ancient scholars do not seem to have had one either. [GREXv3 | Word] That puts it in an interesting category. Many Roman names are transparent:  Scrofa = sow. Ursius = bear. Urbanus = city fellow.  But some names have become pure proper names. The original meaning has vanished. A Gricean would observe:  the descriptive content has disappeared; the referential function remains.  Almost a lesson in the evolution of proper names.  And since we have been speaking of:  conventio, conversatio, cooperation,  there is something fitting in the fact that the surviving Usii chiefly appear in communal tombs and family inscriptions. No great legal theory. No grand political action. Just the continuing effort to say:  "These people belonged together."  That may not be Roman law. It may not be Roman philosophy. Yet it is one of the most fundamental communicative acts in Roman civilization:  memory addressed to unknown future readers.  A Gricean might say that the epitaph is the extreme case of a communicative intention: the speaker produces an utterance for an audience he will never meet and cannot answer back. The Usii, obscure though they are, are still conversing with us precisely because their intentions succeeded. (Ha.)