Novus homo or homo novus (Latin for 'new man'; novi homines or homines novi) was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul. When a man entered public life on an unprecedented scale for a high communal office, then the term used was novus civis ( novi cives) or "new citizen". History In the Early Republic, tradition held that both Senate membership and the consulship were restricted to patricians. When plebeians gained the right to this office during the Conflict of the Orders, all newly elected plebeians were naturally novi homines. With time, novi homines became progressively rarer as some plebeian families became as entrenched in the Senate as their patrician colleagues. By the time of the First Punic War, it was already a sensation that novi homines were elected in two consecutive years (Gaius Fundanius Fundulus in 243 BC and Gaius Lutatius Catulus in 242 BC). In 63 BC, Cicero became the first novus homo in more than thirty years. By the Late Republic, the distinction between the orders became less important. The consuls came from a new elite, the nobiles (noblemen), an artificial aristocracy of all who could demonstrate direct descent in the male line from a consul. List of notable novi homines Lucius Sextius Lateranus (elected 366 BC) Gaius Licinius Stolo (elected 361 BC) Marcus Popillius Laenas (elected 359, 356, 350, 348 BC) Gaius Plautius Proculus (elected 358 BC) Gaius Marcius Rutilus (elected 357, 352, 344, 342 BC) Publius Decius Mus (elected 340 BC) Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens (elected 307 BC and 296 BC) Spurius Carvilius Maximus (elected 293, 272 BC) Manius Otacilius Crassus (elected 263 BC) Gaius Duilius (elected 260 BC) Gaius Aurelius Cotta (elected 252 and 248 BC) Gaius Fundanius Fundulus (elected 243 BC) Gaius Lutatius Catulus (elected 242 BC) Gaius Flaminius (elected 223 BC and 217 BC) Marcus Porcius Cato (the Censor/Elder) (elected 195 BC) Gaius Calpurnius Piso (elected 180 BC) Gnaeus Octavius (elected 165 BC) Lucius Mummius Achaicus (elected 146 BC) Quintus Pompeius (elected 141 BC) Gaius Marius (elected 107 BC, 104–100 BC, 86 BC) Gnaeus Mallius Maximus (elected 105 BC) Titus Didius (elected 98 BC) Gaius Coelius Caldus (elected 94 BC) Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (elected 89 BC) Marcus Tullius Cicero (elected 63 BC) Marcus Vinicius (appointed suffect consul 19 BC) Gaius