Homo novus (or:
novus homo,
Latin for "new man"; plural
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 (plural:
novi cives) or "new citizen".