decem primi

Latin

Etymology

From decem (“ten”) + prīmus (“first”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈde.kem ˈpriː.miː/, [ˈd̪ɛkɛ̃ˑ ˈpriːmiː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈde.t͡ʃem ˈpri.mi/, [ˈd̪ɛːt͡ʃem ˈpriːmi]

Noun

decem prīmī m pl (genitive decem prīmōrum); second declension

(plural only)

1. the heads or presidents of the ten decuriae which usually formed the senate in an Italian city or Roman colony.
   • 70 BCE, Cicero, In Verrem 2.2.162:

     evocat ad se Centuripinorum magistratus ei decem primos

     he summons before him the magistrates of Centuripa and the ten principal citizens.

   • 80 BCE, Cicero, Pro Roscio Amerino 25:

     Itaque decurionum decretum statim fit, ut decem primi proficiscantur ad L. Sullam doceantque eum, qui vir Sex. Roscius fuerit...

     Therefore a decree of their senate is immediately passed, that the ten chief men should go to Lucius Sulla, and explain to him what a man Sextus Roscius had been;

Usage notes

• Used only during the time of the Roman Republic (509 BCE - 27 BCE). Afterwards the term decaproti was used during the Roman Empire denoting a similar group.

Declension

Indeclinable portion with a second-declension noun, plural only.

Case	Plural
Nominative	decem prīmī
Genitive	decem prīmōrum
Dative	decem prīmīs
Accusative	decem prīmōs
Ablative	decem prīmīs
Vocative	decem prīmī

References

• “decem”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• decemprimi in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Hornblower, Simon, Spawforth, Antony (1996) Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 435