person
M. Aemilius Avianius
Avianius
also: M. Aemilio, M. Aemilius, M. Aemilius Avianius, M. Avianius
Roman businessman with a household (domus) at Sicyon in Achaea; accompanied Cicero on his Cilician proconsulship (51-50 BC) and remained in the Greek east on commercial business. Cicero recommends him and his household to Servius Sulpicius in Fam. 13.21. Otherwise unknown.
Reading notes
- Ad Familiares 13.2 §1 his patron M. Aemilius
Under Roman social custom, a freed slave or dependent craftsman owed loyalty to his patron, who in turn was expected to advocate for him. This M. Aemilius was Evander's patron and a personal friend of Cicero's, making Cicero doubly motivated to intervene.
- Ad Familiares 13.21 §1 M. Aemilius Avianius has shown me regard from his earliest youth
M. Aemilius Avianius is known only from this letter; his cognomen Avianius may indicate family ties to the Italian mercantile family of that name. He was based at Sicyon, a city in Achaea south-west of Corinth, and conducted business in the Greek-speaking east.
- Ad Familiares 13.27 §2 both in his own name and in that of his patron Aemilius Avianius
C. Avianius Hammonius was the freedman and business agent (procurator) of M. Aemilius Avianius. Writing on behalf of the absent patron was a standard role for a freedman-procurator, who managed the patron's affairs and acted as his representative in dealings with third parties.
- Ad Familiares 13.27 §2 almost the most grateful of all those who consider themselves to owe me anything
Gratitudo (gratitude) and its active expression were cardinal virtues in Roman amicitia; being called gratissimus (most grateful) is the highest social praise Cicero could bestow on a client or friend, positioning the man as an ideal participant in the reciprocal gift-exchange that bound Roman aristocratic society.