LENTULUS

lentulus, the name of a roman patrician family of the cornelian gens, derived from _lentes_ ("lentils"), which its oldest members were fond of cultivating (according to pliny, _nat. hist._ xviii. 3, 10). the word _lentulitas_ ("lentulism"; cf. _appietas_) is coined by cicero (_ad fam._ iii. 7, 5) to express the attributes of a pronounced aristocrat. the three first of the name were l. cornelius lentulus (consul 327 b.c.), servius cornelius lentulus (consul 303) and l. cornelius lentulus caudinus (consul 275). their connexion with the later lentuli (especially those of the ciceronian period) is very obscure and difficult to establish. the following members of the family deserve mention.