Ancharia gens

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The gens Ancharia, occasionally written Ancaria, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Quintus Ancharius, a senator early in the first century BC. [1]

Contents

Origin

The origin of the Ancharii is uncertain, but the nomen Ancharius may be derived from Ancharia, a name of the goddess Angerona, by which she was known at Faesulae. The ancestor of the Ancharii may have been particularly devoted to the worship of Angerona. As Faesulae was an Etruscan city, the family may have been of Etruscan origin. [2]

Praenomina

The praenomina associated with the Ancharii include Quintus , Publius , and Marcus .

Branches and cognomina

The cognomina used by the Ancharii included Priscus, a common surname meaning "elder" or "old-fashioned", and Soter, a savior or protector. The latter surname was borne by a freedwoman, and was probably not used by other members of the gens.

Members

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 167 ("Q. Ancharius", No. 1).
  2. Encyclopædia Britannica.
  3. Appian, Bellum Civile, i. 73.
  4. Suetonius, "The Life of Augustus", 4.
  5. Cicero, Pro Sestio, 53, Ad Familiares, xiii. 40.
  6. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 167 ("Q. Ancharius", No. 2).
  7. CIL IX, 5449.
  8. Tacitus, Annales, ii. 38, 70.
  9. Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, 10, 11, 2.
  10. Kajava, Roman Female Praenomina.

Bibliography

Further reading