Chrysogonus

This name derives from the Ancient Greek “Chrysógonos (Χρυσόγονος),” composed of two elements: “khrūsós (χρῡσός)” (golden, gold, something dear or precious) plus “génnēsis ‎(γέννησις)” (birth). In turn, the name means “Golden birth.” Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus († 80 BC) was a Greek freedman of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, whom Sulla put in charge of 82 BC proscriptions. He purchased the property of the proscribed Sextus Roscius Amerinus, worth 250 talents, for 2,000 denarii. Chrysogonus then accused Roscius’s son, Sextus Roscius, of murdering his father. In 80 BC, Chrysogonus was, in turn, charged with corruption by Marcus Tullius Cicero, who was defending Sextus Roscius during his trial. Very little is known of Chrysogonus after the trial.