Seccia gens

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The gens Seccia, Secia, or Siccia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens occur in history, but a number are known from inscriptions. The best known members include Lucius Siccius Dentatus, who won martial fame in the fifth century BC, and Gaius Secius Campanus suffect consul under Domitian. [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 Seccius seems to be derived from the cognomen Secus. Chase classifies it among those gentilicia that either originated at Rome, or cannot be shown to have come from anywhere else. [2] The surname Campanus, borne by the consul Secius, belongs to a class of cognomina derived from places of origin or residence, and indicates that at least some of this family claimed Campanian ancestry, or some other connection with that region of Italy. [3]

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.

Campania Region of Italy

Campania is a region in Southern Italy. As of 2018, the region has a population of around 5,820,000 people, making it the third-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi) makes it the most densely populated region in the country. Located on the Italian Peninsula, with the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it includes the small Phlegraean Islands and Capri for administration as part of the region.

Roman Italy Italian peninsula during the Roman Empire

Italia was the homeland of the Romans and metropole of Rome's empire in classical antiquity. According to Roman mythology, Italy was the new home promised by Jupiter to Aeneas of Troy and his descendants, ancestors of the founders of Rome. Aside from the legendary accounts, Rome was an Italian city-state that changed its form of government from Kingdom to Republic and then grew within the context of a peninsula dominated by the Etruscans in the centre, the Greeks in the south, and the Celts in the North.

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the Seccii were Gaius , Gnaeus , Lucius , and Sextus , all of which were very common throughout Roman history.

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.

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.

Gnaeus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. The feminine form is Gnaea. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Naevia. The name was regularly abbreviated Cn., based on the archaic spelling, Cnaeus, dating from the period before the letters "C" and "G" were differentiated.

Branches and cognomina

There is no evidence that the Seccii were ever divided into distinct families. The surname Dentatus, borne by one of the earliest appearing in history, referred to someone with prominent teeth. [4] The other cognomina of this gens occur largely in imperial times, when they used a great variety, some of which were the original names of freedmen who adopted Roman names upon their manumission. A large number of them bore the surname Secundus and its derivatives, Secundinus and Secundina, and the diminutive Secundilla, originally given to a second child. In its masculine form it is only found as a surname under the Republic, but the feminine form, Secunda, was a common praenomen among Roman women, and in imperial times the distinction between the name as a praenomen and a cognomen begins to blur. [5]

Roman Empire period of Imperial Rome following the Roman Republic (27 BC–395 AD)

The Roman Empire was the post-Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization. It had a government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. From the constitutional reforms of Augustus to the military anarchy of the third century, the Empire was a principate ruled from the city of Rome. The Roman Empire was then divided between a Western Roman Empire, based in Milan and later Ravenna, and an Eastern Roman Empire, based in Nicomedia and later Constantinople, and it was ruled by multiple emperors.

Roman Republic Period of ancient Roman civilization (509–27 BC)

The Roman Republic was the era of classical Roman civilization beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom, traditionally dated to 509 BC, and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire. It was during this period that Rome's control expanded from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
  • Seccia, the daughter of Cupitus, buried at Apulum in Dacia, aged sixty, with a monument from her husband and children. [6]
  • Seccia, named in an inscription from Aequum in Dalmatia. [7]
  • Seccia, the daughter of Sabinus, and mother of Saturninus, named in an inscription from Ovilava in Noricum, dating to AD 106. [8]
  • Siccia, named in an inscription from Pompeii in Campania. [9]
  • Secius, the son of Maximus, buried at Atrans in Noricum, aged nine. [10]
  • Seccius, a centurion serving in Britain. [11]
  • Seccius, the father of Acceptus, a man buried at Noreia in Noricum. [12]
  • Seccius, the father of Muso, father-in-law of Tiberius Claudius Uppius, and grandfather of Atticus Tutus and Quarta, named in a funerary inscription from Noreia. [13]
  • Seccius, the father of Seccia Secundina and Maximinus, named on his son's monument at Nemausus in Gallia Narbonensis. [14]
  • Seccius, the father of Vironica, named in an inscription from Atenor in Lusitania. [15]
  • Seccius, named in an inscription from Gallia Aquitania. [16]
  • Siccius, named in an inscription from Pompeii. [17]
  • Siccius, the son of Siccius Dexter and Junia Apra, named in a late second- or early third-century inscription from Fermum in Picenum. [18]
  • Secia L. f., named in an inscription from Caere in Etruria. [19]
  • Seccius C. f., named in an inscription from Mevania in Umbria, dating to the late first century BC. [20]
  • Gaius Siccius, named in an inscription from Pompeii. [21]
  • Publius Siccius T. f., one of the pontifices at Sutrium in Etruria, was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Quintus Fulvius. [22]
  • Gaius Seccius C. f. Aper, one of the duumviri jure dicundo at Aequum. [23]
  • Secia Apra, buried at Mevania. [24]
  • (Seccius) Arvernus, the son of Seccius, was an eques buried near Suessiones in Gallia Belgica. [25]
  • Gnaeus Seccius Auctus, named in an inscription from Aequum. [7]
  • Siccia Ɔ. l. Callistrate, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Rome, together with the freedman Marcus Siccius Callistratus, and Siccia Fausta, another freedwoman. [26]
  • Marcus Siccius M. l. Callistratus, a freedman named in an inscription from Rome, together with the freedwomen Siccia Callistrate and Siccia Fausta. [26]
  • Gaius Secius Campanus, consul suffectus in AD 86, served in place of the emperor Domitian from the Ides of January to the Kalends of either March or May. [27] [1]
  • Seccius Corinthus, dedicated a tomb at Salona in Dalmatia for his wife, Valeria Valentina, aged thirty-five. [28]
  • Gaius Secius C. l. Corinthus, buried at Mogontiacum in Germania Superior, aged thirty. [29]
  • Gnaeus Seccius Crescens, named in an inscription from Aequum. [7]
  • Publius Siccius Crescens, dedicated a first-century tomb at Rome to his father, Quintus Servilius Pr[...]. [30]
  • Seccia Cupita, the wife of Lucius Seccius Summus, and mother of Lucius Seccius Summus the younger, buried in the family sepulchre built by her son at Teurnia in Noricum. [31]
  • Gaius Siccius Datus, a native of Carthage, was a soldier in the second legion, stationed at Nicopolis in Egypt in AD 157, serving in the century of Antonius Nereus. [32]
  • Lucius Siccius Dentatus, a decorated soldier and tribune of the plebs in 454 BC; possibly should be Lucius Sicinius Dentatus. [33] [34]
  • Siccius Dexter, the husband of Junia Apra, and father of Junius Dexter, Marcus Siccius Firmanus, and another son named Siccius, dedicated a late second- or early third-century tomb to his son, Firmanus, at Firmum. [18]
  • Gnaeus Seccius Diadumenus, named in an inscription from Aequum. [7]
  • Gnaeus Seccius Eutactiatus, buried at Rome. [35]
  • Sextus (Seccius) Evaristus, the son of Seccius, made a libationary offering to Minerva at Cammuni in Venetia and Histria. [36]
  • Siccia Ɔ. l. Fausta, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Rome, together with the freedman Marcus Siccius Callistratus, and another freedwoman, Siccia Callistrate. [26]
  • Gnaeus Seccius Felix, named in an inscription from Aequum. [7]
  • Marcus Siccius Firmanus, the son of Siccius Dexter and Junia Apra, buried in a late second- or early third-century tomb at Firmum, aged sixteen years, ten days. [18]
  • Secia Cn. l. Hospita, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Mevania. [37]
  • Secius Laturus, buried at the present site of Lara de los Infantes, formerly part of Hispania Tarraconensis. [38]
  • Gaius Seccius C. l. Lesbius, buried at Mogontiacum, aged twenty. [39]
  • Lucius Siccius Lucrio, dedicated a monument at Rome to Articuleia Horme, aged fourteen. [40]
  • Seccia Maxima, named in an inscription from Pompeii. [41]
  • (Seccius) Maximinus, the son of Seccius, buried at Nemausus with a monument from his sister, Seccia Secundina. [14]
  • Quintus Seccius Mercurius, built a tomb at Nemausus for his wife, Lucia Quinta. [42]
  • Gnaeus Seccius Mystes, named in an inscription from Aequum. [7]
  • Secia Placida, buried at Mevania, with a monument from her husband, Licinius Firmus. [43]
  • Secia Protogenia, buried at Nemausus, with a monument from her mother, Erotis. [44]
  • Seccia Pudentilla, the wife of Titus Naevienus Seneca, aedile and duumvir of the colony at Aequum, and mother of Naevienus Seneca and Pudentilla, dedicated a monument to her husband at Aequum. [45]
  • (Seccius) Saturninus, the son of Seccius, made a libationary offering at Samarobriva in Gallia Belgica. [46]
  • Siccia T. f. Secundilla, built a tomb at Ameria in Umbria, dating to the latter part of the first century AD, for herself, Gaius Lusius Strabo, a priest of Victoria, and Gaius Lusius Modestus, who had been one of the municipal duumvirs, military tribune, and a cavalry prefect. [47]
  • Seccia Secundina, the daughter of Seccius, dedicated a monument at Nemausus to her brother, Maximinus. Perhaps the same Seccia Secundina buried at Nemausus. [14] [48]
  • Seccia Secundina, the daughter of the veteran Seccius Secundinus, buried in a family sepulchre at Lauriacum in Noricum. [49]
  • Seccius Secundinus, a veteran of the second legion, built a family sepulchre at Lauriacum for himself, his wife, Julia Severia, daughter, Seccia Secundina, son Julius Apricius, and grandsons Marius Maximus and Secundus. [49]
  • Siccius Secundus, named in a libationary inscription from Apta in Gallia Narbonensis. [50]
  • Quintus Secius Secundus, a native of Carthage, was one of the prefects of the Roman camp at Lambaesis in Numidia. [51]
  • Seccia Silvia, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Aequum. [52]
  • Seccia Silvia, the wife of Petilius Primus, and mother of Petilia Valentina, a girl buried at Clissa in Dalmatia, aged six years, eight months, and eighteen days. [53]
  • Lucius Seccius Summus, the husband of Seccia Cupita, and father of Lucius Seccius Summus the younger, buried in a family sepulchre built by his son at Teurnia. [31]
  • Lucius Seccius L. f. Summus, the son of Lucius Seccius Summus and Seccia Cupita, and husband of Junia Fusca, built a family sepulchre at Teurnia. [31]
  • Secia Verecunda, made a libationary offering to Jupiter Optimus Maximus at Mediolanum in Cisalpine Gaul. [54]
  • Gaius Seccius C. l. Verecundus, a freedman buried at Mogontiacum, aged twenty-five, with a monument from Romanus, his slave for twelve years. [55]
  • Seccius Victor, named in an inscription from Iuvavum in Noricum. [56]
  • Marcus Siccius Victor, buried at Thugga in Africa Proconsularis, aged forty-five. [57]
Alba Iulia County capital in Alba County, Romania

Alba Iulia is the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a population of 63,536.

Dacia Dacian kingdom

In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians. The Greeks referred to them as the Getae and the Romans called them Daci.

Aequum was a Roman colony located near modern-day Čitluk, a village near Sinj, Croatia.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 PIR, vol. III, p. 188.
  2. ↑ Chase, p. 131.
  3. ↑ Chase, pp. 113, 114.
  4. ↑ Chase, p. 109.
  5. ↑ Chase, pp. 151, 152, 172.
  6. ↑ CIL III, 1243.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 CIL III, 9777.
  8. ↑ CIL XVI, 52.
  9. ↑ CIL IV, 8586a.
  10. ↑ CIL III, 5132.
  11. ↑ RIB, i. 1757, 1764.
  12. ↑ CIL III, 4756.
  13. ↑ Inscriptionum Lapidarium Latinarum Norici, 3.
  14. 1 2 3 CAG, xxx. 3, p. 513.
  15. ↑ AE 1987, 577.
  16. ↑ CAG, xvii. 1, p. 261.
  17. ↑ CIL IV, 3944.
  18. 1 2 3 CIL IX, 5409.
  19. ↑ CIL XI, 3678.
  20. ↑ Sensi, Museo Comunale di San Francesco a Montefalco, p. 164, No. 29.
  21. ↑ CIL IV, 3946.
  22. ↑ CIL XI, 3254.
  23. ↑ CIL III, 9767.
  24. ↑ CIL XI, 5032.
  25. ↑ CIL XIII, 3463.
  26. 1 2 3 CIL VI, 7162.
  27. ↑ Fasti Ostienses , CIL XIV, 244.
  28. ↑ ILJug, ii. 712.
  29. ↑ CIL XIII, 7104.
  30. ↑ AE 1975, 98.
  31. 1 2 3 CIL III, 11490.
  32. ↑ AE 1955, 238.
  33. ↑ Dionysius, x. 36–49.
  34. ↑ Broughton, vol. I, p. 43.
  35. ↑ NSA, 1924, 49.
  36. ↑ CIL V, 4945.
  37. ↑ CIL XI, 5127.
  38. ↑ Abásolo, Epigrafia Romana de la Region de Lara de los Infantes, 113.
  39. ↑ CIL XIII, 7105.
  40. ↑ CIL VI, 26540.
  41. ↑ CIL IV, 5895.
  42. ↑ CIL XII, 3709.
  43. ↑ CIL XI, 5128.
  44. ↑ CIL XII, 3881.
  45. ↑ ILJug, ii. 738.
  46. ↑ CIL XIII, 3488.
  47. ↑ CIL XI, 4367.
  48. ↑ CIL XII, 4151.
  49. 1 2 CIL III, 5671.
  50. ↑ AE 1904, 225.
  51. ↑ CIL VIII, 2568.
  52. ↑ CIL III, 9778.
  53. ↑ Kurilić, "Recent Epigraphic Finds from the Roman Province of Dalmatia", 27.
  54. ↑ CIL V, 5777.
  55. ↑ CIL XIII, 7106.
  56. ↑ Inscriptiones Lapidarium Latinarum Norici, 1091.
  57. ↑ CIL VIII, 26139.

Bibliography

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Greek historian

Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Atticistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.

Theodor Mommsen German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist and writer

Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He was one of the greatest classicists of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902 for being "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work, A History of Rome", after having been nominated by 18 members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He was also a prominent German politician, as a member of the Prussian and German parliaments. His works on Roman law and on the law of obligations had a significant impact on the German civil code.

<i>Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum</i> comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions

The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history. The Corpus continues to be updated in new editions and supplements.

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