decemvir

American  

[dih-sem-ver] / dɪˈsɛm vər /

noun

plural

decemvirs, decemviri

1. a member of a permanent board or a special commission of ten members in ancient Rome, especially the commission that drew up Rome's first code of law.

2. a member of any council or ruling body of ten.

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decemvir British  

/ dɪˈsɛmvə /

noun

1. (in ancient Rome) a member of a board of ten magistrates, esp either of the two commissions established in 451 and 450 _bc to revise the laws

2. a member of any governing body composed of ten men

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Other Word Forms

• decemviral adjective

Etymology

Origin of decemvir

1570–80; < Latin, originally plural decemvirī, equivalent to decem ten + virī men

Example Sentences

Beati sunt mortui: here rest, we know, the priestess Mammia, the decemvir Aricius, Libella the aedile, and a host of other citizens with whose names the student or the lover of Pompeii is familiar.

From The Naples Riviera by Vaughan, Herbert M. (Herbert Millingchamp)

The great man at Rome during the period of the Samnite wars was Appius Claudius—great grandson of the decemvir, and the proudest aristocrat that had yet appeared.

From Ancient States and Empires by Lord, John

For this man, formerly distinguished at home and abroad, had been so altered by his office of decemvir and the influence of his colleagues that he chose rather to be like Appius than like himself.

From Roman History, Books I-III by Livius, Titus

Virginius had returned to the camp, where the soldiers, having heard of the fall of the decemvir, proceeded to hit him, as usual, when down, renouncing the authority of Appius and his colleagues.

From The Comic History of Rome by Becket, Gilbert Abbott ?

The fact of his presiding at the meeting should have been a bar to his being elected a decemvir.

From The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livius, Titus