The gens Mimesia was an obscure Roman family, known almost entirely from a famous inscription on the cistern at the Cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi, dating to the first century BC. Two members of the Mimesia gens are named among six men who built the walls surrounding the cistern, pursuant to a decree of the Roman Senate, and under the supervision of the town magistrates. Their filiations also identify their fathers, providing the names of four Mimesii, and among these four names are two Latin praenomina that are relatively rare in extant records. [1]
The full inscription, as recorded in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum , reads,
POST[UMUS] MIMESIUS C[AI] F[ILIUS] T[ITUS] MIMESIUS SERT[ORIS] F[ILIUS] NER[IUS] CAPIDAS C[AI] F(ILIUS) RUF[US] / NER[IUS] BABRIUS T[ITI] F[ILIUS] C[AIUS] CAPIDAS T[ITI] F[ILIUS] C[AI] N[EPOS] V[IBIUS] VOISIENUS T[ITI] F[ILIUS] MARONES / MURUM AB FORNICE AD CIRCUM ET FORNICEM CISTERNAMQ[UE] D[E] S[ENATUS] S[ENTENTIA] FACIUNDUM COIRAVERE [1]
The men who built the walls are identified as:
The praenomen Postumus was uncommon at Rome from the time of the early Republic, although a number of instances are known, and it later became a common cognomen. [2] [3] Sertor , meanwhile, is not known to have been used by any prominent Roman families, although it was included by Varro in a list of fourteen old praenomina (including Postumus) that had fallen out of use. [2] [4]
In addition to the two Mimesii, the two instances of the praenomen Nerius, which was typical of Umbrian names, and one of Vibius , which was relatively uncommon at Rome, make this inscription extraordinary, in terms of demonstrating that praenomina scarce at Rome could be widespread in the countryside. [5]
The gens Sertoria was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens appear in history, the most illustrious of whom was the Roman general Quintus Sertorius, who defied the dictator Sulla and his allies for a decade after the populares were driven from power in Rome.
The gens Numeria was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few of its members held any of the higher offices of the Roman state.
The gens Opsia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear in history during the reign of Tiberius. The most notable may have been Marcus Opsius Navius Fannianus, who filled a number of important posts, rising to the rank of praetor. Many other Opsii are known from inscriptions.
The gens Opsilia was an obscure plebeian family at Rome. No members of this gens are known to have held any magistracies, but several are found in inscriptions.
The gens Pontilia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Hardly any members of this gens appear in history, but a number of them are mentioned in inscriptions.
The gens Postumulena was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, but others are known from inscriptions.
The gens Quartinia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, but a number are known from inscriptions.
The gens Priscia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens are mentioned in history, but several are known from inscriptions. A family of this name settled at Virunum in Noricum.
The gens Propertia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, and none of them ever obtained the consulship, but a few of them held other magistracies in imperial times. The most famous of the Propertii was Sextus Propertius, a celebrated poet of the Augustan age. Many other Propertii are known from inscriptions.
The gens Bellia, also written Billia and Bilia, was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens are mentioned in history, but several are known from inscriptions.
The gens Salvidiena was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned toward the end of the Republic, and from then to the end of the second century they regularly filled the highest offices of the Roman state.
The gens Sariolena was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. They were of senatorial rank, and Lucius Sariolenus Naevius Fastus obtained the consulship in the time of Antoninus Pius.
The gens Scandilia, also written Scantilia, was an obscure plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned by ancient writers, but a number are known from inscriptions.
The gens Seppiena was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. None of the Seppieni are mentioned in ancient writers, but several members of this gens are known from inscriptions.
The gens Septimuleia or Septumuleia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in ancient writers, but others are known from inscriptions. The nomen might be confused with, and may be identical to that of Septimulenus or Septumulenus.
The gens Spellia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens appear in history, but several are known from inscriptions. The only Spellius known to have held any magistracy was Publius Spellius Spellianus Sabinus, quaestor in AD 57.
The gens Tauria was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens appear in history, but a number are known from inscriptions.
The gens Tetrinia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Almost no members of this gens are mentioned in history, but several are known from inscriptions.
The gens Titulena or Titulenia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens are mentioned in Roman writers, but several are known from inscriptions, of whom the most illustrious must have been Lucius Titulenus, a second-century governor of Raetia.
The gens Tussania, occasionally written Tusania, was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Only a few members of this gens appear in history, but others are known from inscriptions.