person
Patiscus (agent in Cilicia, 51-50 BC)
Patiscus
also: Patiscus, Patisco
An agent or local official in Cicero's Cilician province who took charge of organising the panther hunt on behalf of the curule aedile Caelius Rufus (Fam. 2.11, 50 BC). His precise status is unknown; he may be a Roman equestrian, a local magnate, or a freedman acting for Cicero. Distinct from the proquaestor Patiscus of 43 BC (person:patiscus).
Reading notes
- Ad Familiares 2.11 §2 by the men who do the hunting; but there is a marvellous scarcity of them, and the ones there are, they say, complain bitterly that no traps are set for anything in my province except themselves
Cicero inserts a wry joke: the panthers, as if sentient, resent being the only prey in Cilicia. As curule aedile Caelius was responsible for the ludi (public games), which included wild-beast hunts (venationes) in the arena; live panthers from the East were a prized attraction.