Rammia gens

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The gens Rammia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the period leading to the Third Macedonian War, but no Rammius attained a position of importance in the Roman state until Quintus Rammius Martialis, governor of Egypt early in the second century AD. [1] [2]

The plebs were, in ancient Rome, the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census. The precise origins of the group and the term are unclear, though it may be that they began as a limited political movement in opposition to the elite (patricians) which became more widely applied.

Ancient Rome History of Rome from the 8th-century BC to the 5th-century

In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, encompassing the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire. The civilization began as an Italic settlement in the Italian Peninsula, conventionally founded in 753 BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The Roman Empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, though still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants and covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117.

In ancient Rome, a gens, plural gentes, was a family consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps. The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of an individual's social standing depended on the gens to which he belonged. Certain gentes were considered patrician, others plebeian, while some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of membership in a gens declined considerably in imperial times.

Contents

Praenomina

The chief praenomina of the Rammii were Lucius , Gaius , Quintus , and Publius , all of which were among the most common names throughout Roman history. Gnaeus , another common name, occurs in a filiation.

The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus, the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy. The praenomen would then be formally conferred a second time when girls married, or when boys assumed the toga virilis upon reaching manhood. Although it was the oldest of the tria nomina commonly used in Roman naming conventions, by the late republic, most praenomina were so common that most people were called by their praenomina only by family or close friends. For this reason, although they continued to be used, praenomina gradually disappeared from public records during imperial times. Although both men and women received praenomina, women's praenomina were frequently ignored, and they were gradually abandoned by many Roman families, though they continued to be used in some families and in the countryside.

Lucius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Lucia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Lucia and Lucilia, as well as the cognomenLucullus. It was regularly abbreviated L.

Gaius['ɡa.jus] is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Gaia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Gavia. The name was regularly abbreviated C., based on the original spelling of Caius, which dates from the period before the letters "C" and "G" were differentiated.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
  • Lucius Rammius, [lower-roman 1] a resident of Brundisium, was approached by Perseus of Macedon, who wished him to poison certain Roman generals. Rammius revealed the plot to the legate Gaius Valerius Laevinus, whom he accompanied to Rome in order to repeat the charge before the senate. [3] [4] [5]
  • Gaius Rammius C. l., a freedman mentioned in an inscription from Minturnae in Latium, dating to 65 BC. [6]
  • Gaius Rammius, the master of Diphilus, a slave named in an inscription from Mintunae. [7]
  • Quintus Rammius, the master of Karius, a slave named in an inscription from Minturnae. [8]
  • Publius Rammius Eros, buried at Casilinum in Campania in a tomb built by Fausta, a freedwoman, dating from the latter part of the first century BC. [9]
  • Publius Rammius P. l. Chrestus, a freedman named in an inscription from Casilinum, dating to 12 BC. [10]
  • Rammius, mentioned in an inscription from Salinae in Britain, dating to AD 105. [11]
  • Quintus Rammius Martialis, prefect of Egypt in AD 118, had previously served as prefect of the vigiles at Rome. [12] [2]
  • Rammia Prisca, the wife of Titus Flavius Euanthus, according to an inscription dating to the first or second century AD. [13]
  • Gaius Rammius Justus, named in an inscription from Ostia in Latium, dating to AD 172. [14]
  • Gaius Rammius Faustus, named in an inscription from Ostia, dating to AD 172. [14]
  • Gaius Julius Rammius Eutychus, one of the seviri Augustales, named in two inscriptions from Ostia, dating to the early third century. [15] [16]
  • Gaius Julius Rammius Hilarus, a client of Gaius Julius Rammius Eutychus. [15]
Brindisi Comune in Apulia, Italy

Brindisi is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an important role in trade and culture, due to its strategic position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city remains a major port for trade with Greece and the Middle East. Its industries include agriculture, chemical works, and the generation of electricity.

Perseus of Macedon

Perseus was the last king (Basileus) of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great. He also has the distinction of being the last of the line, after losing the Battle of Pydna on 22 June 168 BC; subsequently Macedon came under Roman rule.

<i>Legatus</i> general in the Roman army

A legatus was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer in command of a legion.

Undated Rammii

  • Rammia, named in an inscription from Circeii in Latium. [17]
  • Quintus Rammius, named in an inscription from Rome. [18]
  • Rammia Callytiche, buried at Ancona in Picenum. [19]
  • Gaius Rammius Conopis, buried at Rome. [20]
  • Quintus Rammius Facetus, son of Crescens and Helpis, buried at Ancona, aged twenty-three years, eight months, and twelve days. [21]
  • Quintus Rammius Q. l. Fronto, a freedman, and one of the seviri Augustales, buried at Narbo in Gallia Narbonensis. [22]
  • Lucius Rammius Januarius, buried at Mactaris in Africa Proconsularis, aged eighty-five, together with his wife, Manlia Saturnina, aged eighty-eight, with a monument dedicated by their son, Lucius Manlius Victor. [23]
  • Rammia Primitiva, built a tomb for her husband, Quintus Alphius Quintillus, at Narbo. [24]
  • Rammia Sp. f. Prisca, buried at Narbo, together with Publius Cornelius Exoratus and Publius Cornelius Firmus. [25]
  • Rammia Cn. Cn. l. Statia, buried at Narbo. [26]
  • Rammia Tertiola, buried at Narbo, with her husband, Gaius Anbivius Clemens, and his brother, Gaius Anbivius Tertius. [27]
Mount Circeo mountain in Italy

Monte Circeo or Cape Circeo is a mountain remaining as a promontory that marks the southwestern limit of the former Pontine Marshes. Although a headland, it was not formed by coastal erosion – as headlands are usually formed – but is a remnant of the orogenic processes that created the Apennines. The entire coast of Lazio, on which the mountain and the marsh are located, was a chain of barrier islands that was formed on a horst and made part of the mainland by sedimentation of the intervening graben.

Ancona Comune in Marche, Italy

Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 as of 2015. Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located 280 km (170 mi) northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea, between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno and Monte Guasco.

Picenum

Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was the Regio V in the augustan territorial organization of Italy. Picenum was also the birthplace of such Roman notables as Pompey the Great and his father Pompeius Strabo. It was situated in what is now Marche and the northern part of Abruzzo. The Piceni or Picentes were the native population of Picenum, but they were not of uniform ethnicity. They maintained a religious centre in Cupra Marittima, in honor of the goddess Cupra.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Appian refers to him as Erennius.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 641 ("Lucius Rammius").
  2. 1 2 PIR, vol. III, p. 125.
  3. ↑ Livy, xlii. 17, 41.
  4. ↑ Appian, Macedonica, 9. § 4.
  5. ↑ Broughton, vol. I, p. 414.
  6. ↑ CIL I, 2683.
  7. ↑ CIL I, 2706.
  8. ↑ CIL I, 2705.
  9. ↑ CIL X, 4317.
  10. ↑ CIL X, 3804.
  11. ↑ AE 1962, 253.
  12. ↑ CIL VI, 221, CIL VI, 222, AE 1898, 91.
  13. ↑ CIL VI, 25367.
  14. 1 2 CIL XIV, 246.
  15. 1 2 AE 1988, 206.
  16. ↑ Silvestrini, Le Tribù Romane, p. 165.
  17. ↑ Solin, Kajava, & Salomies, "Storie epigrafiche minturnesi", 1.
  18. ↑ CIL VI, 14125.
  19. ↑ CIL IX, 5927.
  20. ↑ CIL VI, 15056.
  21. ↑ NSA, 1910–361.
  22. ↑ CIL XII, 4416.
  23. ↑ CIL VIII, 11864.
  24. ↑ CIL XII, 4570.
  25. ↑ CIL XII, 4729.
  26. ↑ CIL XII, 4417.
  27. ↑ CIL XII, 4573.

Bibliography

Livy Roman historian

Titus Livius – simply rendered as Livy in English – was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people – Ab Urbe Condita Libri – covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own lifetime. He was on familiar terms with members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and even in friendship with Augustus, whose young grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, he exhorted to take up the writing of history.

Appian of Alexandria was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.

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