person
Aulus Licinius Aristoteles
A. Licinius Aristoteles
also: A. Licinius Aristoteles Melitensis, Aristoteles
A Maltese (Melitensis) who was Cicero's oldest guest-friend (hospes antiquissimus) and a close intimate; he had taken Cicero's side in the civil war even longer than Cicero himself, and obtained pardon from Caesar through Cicero's intercession. Subject of the recommendation Fam. 13.52 (46 BC).
Reading notes
- Ad Familiares 13.52 §1 is my oldest guest-friend
Hospitium (guest-friendship) was a hereditary, reciprocal bond of hospitality and protection between families of different communities, here between Cicero and a Maltese household. To call Aristoteles his hospes antiquissimus is to claim the strongest non-kin obligation Roman custom recognised.