The gens Rania was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens occur in history, but others are known from inscriptions. Lucius Ranius Optatus was consul in the early third century AD. [1] [2]
The gens Rania was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens occur in history, but others are known from inscriptions. Lucius Ranius Optatus was consul in the early third century AD. [1] [2]
The nomen Ranius resembles other gentilicia formed using the suffix -anius, typically derived from place names and cognomina ending in -anus. [3] No corresponding location or surname is known, but the root of the nomen resembles rana, a frog, and as a cognomen could have belonged to a common class of surnames derived from the names of familiar animals and objects. [4] [5]
The Ranii may have been of Sabine extraction, as one of the Ranii bore the surname Sabinus, typically indicating Sabine ancestry, while another family of the name lived at Alba Fucens, in Sabinum. [6] [7] [8] Chase lists Ronius among various gentilicia of Oscan derivation, but this may be a typo for Ranius, as only a single Ronius is known from inscriptions. [lower-roman 1] [9] [10]
The main praenomina of the Ranii were Lucius , Gaius , and Quintus , three of the most common names throughout Roman history. Examples of Aulus and Titus are also known.
The Ranii used a number of surnames, including Felix, fortunate or happy, Fronto, originally applied to someone with a prominent forehead, Pullo, blackish, Sabinus, a Sabine, and Optatus, desired or welcome, the only surname known to have been passed down through a distinct family of the Ranii. [11]
The gens Octavia was a plebeian family at Rome, which was raised to patrician status by Caesar during the first century BC. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gnaeus Octavius Rufus, quaestor circa 230 BC. Over the following two centuries, the Octavii held many of the highest offices of the state; but the most celebrated of the family was Gaius Octavius, the grandnephew and adopted son of Caesar, who was proclaimed Augustus by the senate in 27 BC.
The gens Minatia was a minor plebeian family at Rome. The gens was probably of Sabine origin, as its nomen is derived from the Oscan praenomen Minatus, and the first of the family to appear in Roman history bore the surname Sabinus. Many Minatii are known from inscriptions.
The gens Numeria was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Few of its members held any of the higher offices of the Roman state.
The gens Orbia was a minor plebeian family at Rome. No members of this gens are known to have held any magistracies, but many of them are known from inscriptions. The most illustrious of the family may have been the jurist Publius Orbius, a contemporary of Cicero.
The gens Orcivia, also written Orcevia and Orchivia, was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Few of them achieved any prominence in the Roman state, but many are known from inscriptions.
The gens Orfia was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned by ancient writers, but others are known from inscriptions. The best-known may be Marcus Orfius, a military tribune who served under the command of Caesar.
The gens Peducaea, occasionally written Paeducaea or Peducea, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens occur in history from the end of the second century BC, and from then to the time of Antoninus Pius, they steadily increased in prominence. The first of the Peducaii to obtain the consulship was Titus Peducaeus in 35 BC.
The gens Pollia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. The gens must have been very old, as one of the original Servian tribes was named after it, suggesting that the Pollii were important landowners during the Roman monarchy. However, few Pollii are mentioned in history, and none of them attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state. A number of Pollii are known from inscriptions.
The gens Praecilia or Precilia, also written as Praecillia or Precillia, 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 Racilia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned as early as the fifth century BC, but few of them achieved any prominence in the Roman state.
The gens Burbuleia, occasionally written Burboleia, was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in the time of Cicero, but the only one who achieved any distinction in the Roman state was Lucius Burbuleius Optatus, consul in AD 135.
The gens Safinia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, but a number are known from inscriptions.
The gens Saturia was an obscure plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Cicero, and a number of them had distinguished military careers, but none of them attained any of the higher offices of the Roman State.
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 Selicia, possibly identical with Silicia, was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Hardly any members of this gens are mentioned in history, but a number are known from inscriptions.
The gens Seppia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens appear in history, but many are known from inscriptions.
The gens Servaea was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned during the reign of Tiberius, from which time they presumably rose steadily through the imperial bureaucracy, attaining the consulship under Domitian. A number of inscriptions from the second century or later indicate some of them had settled in Africa, where one family of this gens became particularly illustrious under the Antonine and Severan dynasties.
The gens Severia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens appear in history, but many are known from inscriptions.
The gens Saltoria was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens are mentioned in ancient writers, but a few are known from inscriptions, including two from Alba Fucens in Sabinum.
The gens Strabonia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. No members of this gens are mentioned by ancient writers, but several are known from inscriptions.