Saliena gens

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The gens Saliena or Salliena, also written Salena, Sallena, and Sallienia, was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, but a number are known from inscriptions. [1]

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 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, dating from the 8th century 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

Origin

The nomen Salienus belongs to a class of gentilicia formed using the suffix -enus, typically from other gentile names, or occasionally from places. The root of the name is not apparent, but it could be an orthographic variation of Salvienus , from the Oscan praenomen Salvius. Most of the Salieni known from inscriptions seem to have come from Umbria, Sabinum, Samnium, or Campania, suggesting that they were indeed of Oscan or Umbrian descent. [2]

Oscan language extinct language of southern Italy

Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is also the namesake of the language group to which it belonged. As a member of the Italic languages, Oscan is therefore a sister language to Latin and Umbrian.

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.

Umbria Region of Italy

Umbria is a region of central Italy. It is the only Italian region having neither a coastline nor a border with other countries. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the River Tiber. The regional capital is Perugia. Umbria is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, culinary delights, artistic legacy, and influence on culture.

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the Salieni were Titus and Quintus . Several other names received occasional use, including Aulus , Lucius , and Publius . All were among the most common names throughout Roman history.

Titus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, and was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Titia. The feminine form is Tita or Titia. It was regularly abbreviated T.

Quintus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout all periods of Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Quinctia and Quinctilia. The feminine form is Quinta. The name was regularly abbreviated Q.

Aulus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout Roman history from the earliest times to the end of the Western Empire in the fifth century. The feminine form is Aula. An alternative pronunciation leads to the variant spellings Olus or Ollus and Olla. Aulus was widely used by both patrician and plebeian gentes. The name gave rise to the patronymic gens Aulia, and perhaps also to gens Avilia and the cognomen Avitus. The name was usually abbreviated A., but occasionally Av. or Avl.

Branches and cognomina

The Salieni used a variety of cognomina, most of which appear to have been personal surnames. The majority belong to common types of cognomen, derived from an individual's personal characteristics. Clemens refers to someone with a mild temperament, while Fortunatus is "fortunate", Pudens "modest", Pulcher "beautiful", Sedatus "calm". Fuscianus is a derivative of Fuscus, "dark", while Rufus would originally have been given to someone with red hair. Other traditional Roman surnames used by members of this family include Gallus, referring to a cockerel, or one of the Gauls, and Musca, referring to a fly, or by extension, someone nosy. [3] [4]

A cognomen was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within a family or family within a clan. The term has also taken on other contemporary meanings.

Gauls

The Gauls were a group of Celtic peoples of West-Central Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period. The area they inhabited was known as Gaul. Their Gaulish language forms the main branch of the Continental Celtic languages.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
Centurion professional officer of the Roman army

A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Most centurions commanded groups of centuries of around 100 legionaries, but senior centurions commanded cohorts or took senior staff roles in their legion. Centurions were also found in the Roman navy. In the Byzantine Army, they were also known by the name kentarch. Their symbol of office was the vine staff, with which they disciplined even Roman citizens protected from other forms of beating by the Porcian Laws.

Legio quinta alaudae, sometimes also known as Gallica, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 52 BC by the general Gaius Julius Caesar. It was levied in transalpine Gaul to fight the armies of Vercingetorix, and was the first Roman legion to comprise non-citizens. The legion was destroyed in AD 86 at the battle of Tapae in Domitian's Dacian War.

Julius Caesar 1st-century BC Roman politician and general

Gaius Julius Caesar, known by his nomen and cognomen Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician, military general, and historian who played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He is also known as an author of Latin prose.

Undated Salieni

  • Aulus Salenus, together with Quintus Salenus, one of the former masters of Aula Manlia Helena, a freedwoman buried at Rome, aged twenty-five. [18]
  • Quintus Salenus, together with Aulus Salenus, one of the former masters of Aula Manlia Helena, a freedwoman buried at Rome, aged twenty-five. [18]
  • Titus Salienus T. l. Atticus, the freedman of Titus Salienus Rufus, named in an inscription from Amiternum. [19]
  • Titus Sallienus Fuscianus, centurion primus pilus of the third legion, named in a dedicatory inscription from Bostra in Arabia Petraea. [20]
  • Quintus Salenus Musca, dedicated a monument at Rome to Bolana Rufina. [21]
  • Sallenia Nampamina, buried at Thugga in Africa Proconsularis. [22]
  • Saliena T. l. Rufa, the freedwoman of Titus Salienus Rufus, named in an inscription from Amiternum. [19]
  • Titus Salienus T. f. Rufus, named in an inscription from Amiternum in Sabinum, together with his freedman, Titus Salienus Attalus, and freedwoman, Saliena Rufa. [19]
  • Lucius Sallienus Secundus, buried at Puteoli in Campania, with a monument from his client, Salliena Zosima. [23]
  • Publius Sallienius P. f. Thalamus, a native of Hadria in Venetia and Histria, was prefect of the second legion at Isca Augusta in Britain. [24]
  • Salliena Zosima, built a monument at Puteoli to her patron, Lucius Sallienus Secundus. [23]

The Primus pilus or Primipilus was the senior centurion of a Roman legion.

Legio III Cyrenaica Roman legion

Legio tertia Cyrenaica was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The origins of the legion remain unknown. One source believes the legion was probably founded by Mark Antony around 36 BC, when he was governor of Cyrenaica. Equally, the legion's origins may come from the fact it was commanded by Lucius Pinaris Scarpus, an ally of Mark Antony whom Antony appointed to be governor of Cyrenaica in eastern Libya. There are still records of the legion in Syria in the beginning of the 5th century. The legion symbol is unknown.

Bosra Town in Daraa, Syria

Bosra, also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially known Busra al-Sham is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically being part of the Hauran region.


Footnotes

  1. ↑ Broughton has the two Titii in the tenth legion, but this seems to be an error, as it was the fifth legion, and not the tenth, that was present for the Battle of Thapsus.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 694 ("Titus Salienus", "Salienus Clemens").
  2. ↑ Chase, p. 118.
  3. ↑ Chase, pp. 109–114.
  4. ↑ New College Latin & English Dictionary.
  5. ↑ Hirtius, De Bello Africo, 28, 54.
  6. ↑ Broughton, vol. II, pp. 299, 300.
  7. ↑ CIL XI, 4257.
  8. ↑ CIL XI, 4236.
  9. ↑ Camodeca, Tabulae Pompeianae Sulpiciorum, 121.
  10. ↑ CIL MCMLX, 64.
  11. 1 2 3 AE 1929, 161.
  12. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, xv. 73.
  13. ↑ CIL IV, 63.
  14. ↑ CIL XVI, 33.
  15. ↑ AE 1979, 38.
  16. ↑ CIL IX, 5843.
  17. ↑ CIL XI, 6281, CIL XI, 6350.
  18. 1 2 CIL VI, 37673.
  19. 1 2 3 AE 1992, 470.
  20. ↑ CIL III, 97.
  21. ↑ CIL VI, 13624.
  22. ↑ MAD, 1076.
  23. 1 2 CIL X, 2925.
  24. ↑ CIL VII, 100.

Bibliography

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