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The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of the Tarquins, and the members of his family were among the most celebrated statesmen and generals at the beginning of the Republic. Over the next ten centuries, few gentes produced as many distinguished men, and at every period the name of Valerius was constantly to be found in the lists of annual magistrates, and held in the highest honour. Several of the emperors claimed descent from the Valerii, whose name they bore as part of their official nomenclature.
The gens Lucilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The most famous member of this gens was the poet Gaius Lucilius, who flourished during the latter part of the second century BC. Although many Lucilii appear in Roman history, the only one known to have obtained any of the higher offices of the Roman state was Lucilius Longus, consul suffectus in AD 7.
The gens Fulvia, originally Foulvia, was one of the most illustrious plebeian families at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence during the middle Republic; the first to attain the consulship was Lucius Fulvius Curvus in 322 BC. From that time, the Fulvii were active in the politics of the Roman state, and gained a reputation for excellent military leaders.
The gens Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentilius Arsa, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him Terentilius, and from inscriptions this would seem to be a separate gens. No other Terentii appear in history until the time of the Second Punic War. Gaius Terentius Varro, one of the Roman commanders at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, was the first to hold the consulship. Members of this family are found as late as the third century AD.
The gens Arria was a plebeian family at Rome, which occurs in history beginning in the final century of the Republic, and became quite prominent in imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Quintus Arrius, praetor in 72 BC.
The gens Caecilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in history as early as the fifth century BC, but the first of the Caecilii who obtained the consulship was Lucius Caecilius Metellus Denter, in 284 BC. The Caecilii Metelli were one of the most powerful families of the late Republic, from the decades before the First Punic War down to the time of Augustus.
Caecina was the name of an Etruscan family of Volaterrae, one of the ancient cities of Etruria. Persons of this gens are first mentioned in the first century BC. Under the Empire the name is of frequent occurrence. As late as the reign of Honorius, we read of the poet Decius Albinus Caecina, residing at his villa in the neighborhood of Volaterrae; and until modern times there has been a family of this name at the modern Volterra. The family tomb of the Caecinae has been discovered in the neighborhood of Volterra; in this tomb there was found a beautiful sarcophagus, now in the Museum of Paris.
The gens Maria was a plebeian family of Rome. Its most celebrated member was Gaius Marius, one of the greatest generals of antiquity, and seven times consul.
The gens Pomponia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear throughout the history of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebs in 449 BC; the first who obtained the consulship was Manius Pomponius Matho in 233 BC.
The gens Cominia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears in history from the Republic to imperial times. The first of this gens to hold the consulship was Postumus Cominius Auruncus in 501 BC, and from this some scholars have inferred that the Cominii were originally patrician; but all of the later Cominii known to history were plebeians.
The gens Considia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The Considii came to prominence in the last century of the Republic, and under the early Empire, but none of them rose any higher than the praetorship.
The gens Fulcinia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of this name to appear in history is Gaius Fulcinius, one of the ambassadors to Fidenae in 438 BC. After this, no Fulcinius is mentioned until the time of Cicero. Several Fulcinii are known from the first century BC, although it is not clear whether or how they were related to the ambassador.
The gens Luscia was a minor family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the early part of the second century BC. They were of senatorial rank, but few of them achieved the higher offices of the Roman state. The only known consul of this gens was Lucius Luscius Ocrea, during the Flavian dynasty.
The gens Manilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are frequently confused with the Manlii, Mallii, and Mamilii. Several of the Manilii were distinguished in the service of the Republic, with Manius Manilius obtaining the consulship in 149 BC; but the family itself remained small and relatively unimportant.
The gens Munatia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned during the second century BC, but they did not obtain any of the higher offices of the Roman state until imperial times.
The gens Novia was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens first appear during the final century of the Republic, but the first of the Novii to obtain the consulship was Decimus Junius Novius Priscus in AD 78.
The gens Pacuvia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned during the second century BC, and from then down to the first century of the Empire Pacuvii are occasionally encountered in the historians. The first of the Pacuvii to achieve prominence at Rome, and certainly the most illustrious of the family, was the tragic poet Marcus Pacuvius.
The gens Plautia, sometimes written Plotia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear in history in the middle of the fourth century BC, when Gaius Plautius Proculus obtained the consulship soon after that magistracy was opened to the plebeian order by the lex Licinia Sextia. Little is heard of the Plautii from the period of the Samnite Wars down to the late second century BC, but from then to imperial times they regularly held the consulship and other offices of importance. In the first century AD, the emperor Claudius, whose first wife was a member of this family, granted patrician status to one branch of the Plautii.
The gens Saufeia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the final century of the Republic, and from then to the early Empire their name occurs regularly in history, but none of them ever attained the consulship.
The gens Seia was a minor plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Cicero, and a few of them held various magistracies under the late Republic and into imperial times.
