Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Herennius 6.

by William Smith

6. M. Herennius, Avas consul in b. c. 93. (Fast. ; Obseq. 112.) Although a plebeian and an indifferent orator, he carried his election against the high-born and eloquent L. Marcius Philippus. (Cic. Brut. 45, pro Muren. 17.) Pliny (H. N. 19, 3) mentions the consulate of Herennius as remarkable for the quantity of Cyrenaic silphium — ferula Tingitana (Sprengel, Rei Herbar. p. 84.), then brought to Rome. This costly drug was worth a silver denarius the pound ; and the mercantile connections of the Herennii in Africa may have caused this unusual supply.