Carvilia (gens)

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The gens Carvilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first distinguished itself during the Samnite Wars. The first member of this gens to achieve the consulship was Spurius Carvilius Maximus, in 293 BC. [1]

Contents

Origin

The Carvilii were a modest family of equestrian rank, which rose to prominence due to the military exploits of Spurius Carvilius Maximus. [2] The nomen Carvilius belongs to a large class of gentilicia ending in -ilus or -illus, typically derived from diminutive surnames originally ending in -ulus. The root of the name is uncertain; perhaps related to the surname Carbo, a coal, or coal-black. [3]

Praenomina

The only praenomina used by the Carvilii were Spurius , Gaius , and Lucius .

Branches and cognomina

The Carvilii of the Republic were not divided into separate families, and the only cognomen that was handed down among them was Maximus, "very great" or "greatest", which was probably applied first to Spurius Carvilius, the consul of 293 and 272 BC, in recognition of his military victories and splendid character. [1] Two of this family bore the additional surname Ruga, a furrow or wrinkle. [4]

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

See also

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Herennia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared Herennius nomen

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The gens Maelia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in the time of the early Republic, from just after the decemvirs down to the Samnite Wars. The Maelii belonged to the equestrian order, and were among the wealthiest of the plebeians. The most famous of the Maelii was probably Spurius Maelius, a wealthy merchant who purchased grain from the Etruscans during a famine in 440 BC, and sold it to the poor at a nominal price. The following year, the patricians accused him of conspiring to make himself king, and when he resisted arrest he was slain by the magister equitum, Gaius Servilius Ahala.

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The gens Nautia was an old patrician family at Rome. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Spurius Nautius Rutilus in 488 BC, and from then until the Samnite Wars the Nautii regularly filled the highest offices of the Roman Republic. After that time, the Nautii all but disappear from the record, appearing only in a handful of inscriptions, mostly from Rome and Latium. A few Nautii occur in imperial times, including a number who appear to have been freedmen, and in the provinces.

The gens Publilia, sometimes written Poblilia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the early decades of the Republic. The lex Publilia passed by Volero Publilius, tribune of the plebs in 471 BC, was an important milestone in the struggle between the patrician and plebeian orders. Although the Publilii appear throughout the history of the Republic, the family faded into obscurity around the time of the Samnite Wars, and never again achieved positions of prominence in the Roman state.

References

  1. 1 2 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 617 ("Carvilia Gens").
  2. 1 2 Velleius Paterculus, ii. 128.
  3. Chase, pp. 113, 122, 123.
  4. New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. ruga.
  5. Pliny the Elder Historia Naturalis, xxxiv. 13.
  6. Broughton, vol. I, p. 93.
  7. 1 2 3 Fasti Capitolini , AE 1900, 83; 1904, 114; AE 1927, 101; 1940, 59, 60.
  8. Livy, x. 9, 39, 43–46, Epitome, 14.
  9. Zonaras, viii. 1, 6.
  10. Pliny the Elder, xxxiv 7. s. 18.
  11. 1 2 AE 1889, 70; 1893, 80; 1904, 113, 196; 1930, 60; 1940, 61.
  12. Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. iii, p. 392 ff, 524.
  13. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 180, 181 (note 1), 182, 184, 185, 197.
  14. Livy, xxiii. 22, xxvi. 23.
  15. Zonaras, viii. 18.
  16. Cicero, De Senectute, 4.
  17. Gellius, iv. 3.
  18. Valerius Maximus, ii. 1. § 4.
  19. Dionysius, ii. 25.
  20. Niebuhr, History of Rome, vol. iii, p. 355.
  21. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 223, 224 (and note 1), 228, 276.
  22. 1 2 Livy, xxv. 3, 4.
  23. 1 2 Broughton, vol. I, p. 268.
  24. Livy, xlii. 46.
  25. Broughton, vol. I, p. 418.
  26. Livy, xliii. 18, 19.
  27. Sherk, "Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno", p. 368.

Bibliography