Titia (gens)

Last updated

The gens Titia was a plebeian family at Rome. The gens is rarely mentioned in the Republican period, and did not rise out of obscurity till a very late time. None of its members obtained the consulship under the Republic, and the first person of the name who held this office was Marcus Titius in BC 31. [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 Titius is a patronymic surname, based on the praenomen Titus , which must have belonged to the ancestor of the gens. Titus was roughly the sixth-most common Latin praenomen throughout Roman history. However, it has been conjectured that it was introduced to Latin through Titus Tatius, a Sabine king in the time of Romulus, who came to Rome with many of his subjects. If Titus was originally a Sabine praenomen, then the Titii may have been Sabines. But it is also possible that Titus was common to both the Latin and Oscan tongues. [2] [3] [4]

Over the course of some fourteen centuries, the Romans and other peoples of Italy employed a system of nomenclature that differed from that used by other cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean, consisting of a combination of personal and family names. Although conventionally referred to as the tria nomina, the combination of praenomen, nomen, and cognomen that have come to be regarded as the basic elements of the Roman name in fact represent a continuous process of development, from at least the seventh century BC to the end of the seventh century AD. The names developed as part of this system became a defining characteristic of Roman civilization, and although the system itself vanished during the early Middle Ages, the names themselves exerted a profound influence on the development of European naming practices, and many continue to survive in modern languages.

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.

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.

Praenomina

The Titii used a wide variety of praenomina, including Gaius, Quintus, Sextus, Lucius, Publius, Marcus , and Titus. All of these were very common names.

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.

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.

Sextus 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 Sextia and Sextilia. The feminine form is Sexta. The name was regularly abbreviated Sex., but occasionally is found abbreviated S., or Sext.

Branches and cognomina

During the later years of the Republic, some of the Titii appear with the surnames Rufus, meaning "red" or "reddish", and Strabo, referring to one who squints. These may have been family-names, as at least two individuals in the gens bore these cognomina. Numerous surnames occur in imperial times, including Sabinus, Proculus, Aquilinus, and Gemellus, amongst others. [5] [1]

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.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
Cicero 1st-century BC Roman philosopher and statesman

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, orator, lawyer and philosopher, who served as consul in the year 63 BC. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.

Tribunus plebis, rendered in English as tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune, was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate and magistrates. These tribunes had the power to convene and preside over the Concilium Plebis ; to summon the senate; to propose legislation; and to intervene on behalf of plebeians in legal matters; but the most significant power was to veto the actions of the consuls and other magistrates, thus protecting the interests of the plebeians as a class. The tribunes of the plebs were sacrosanct, meaning that any assault on their person was prohibited by law. In imperial times, the powers of the tribunate were granted to the emperor as a matter of course, and the office itself lost its independence and most of its functions. During the day the tribunes used to sit on the tribune benches on the Forum Romanum.

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus Roman Senator

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus was a Roman populist and tribune. He is most notable for introducing a series of legislative reforms, alongside his associate Gaius Servilius Glaucia and with the consent of the famous Gaius Marius, during the last years of the second century BC. Senatorial opposition to these laws eventually led to an internal crisis, the declaration of the senatus consultum ultimum, and the deaths of Saturninus, Glaucia, and their followers in 100 BC.

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 1157 ("Titia Gens").
  2. ↑ Livy, i. 13.
  3. ↑ De Praenominibus (epitome by Julius Paris)
  4. ↑ Chase, p. 152.
  5. ↑ Cassell's Latin and English Dictionary
  6. ↑ Cicero, Brutus, 45.
  7. ↑ Macrobius, ii. 9, 12.
  8. ↑ Meyer, p. 203, ff. (2nd ed.).
  9. ↑ Cassius Dio, Fragmenta 114, p. 46 (Reimar).
  10. ↑ Cicero, De Oratore, ii. 11, 66; Pro Gaio Rabirio Perduellionis Reo, 9.
  11. ↑ Eckhel, vol. V, p. 325.
  12. ↑ Cicero, In Verrem, iv. 26.
  13. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xiii. 58.
  14. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xiii. 58.
  15. ↑ Caesar, De Bello Civili, iii. 42.
  16. ↑ Hirtius, De Bello Alexandrino, 57.
  17. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xii. 6.
  18. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xiii. 14.
  19. ↑ Appian, Bellum Civile, iv. 7.
  20. ↑ Cassius Dio, xlvi. 49.
  21. ↑ Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, x. 12. § 3, x. 21. § 3.
  22. ↑ Cassius Dio, xlviii. 30.
  23. ↑ Velleius Paterculus, ii. 83.
  24. ↑ Horace, Epistulae, i. 3. 9-14.
  25. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, iv. 18, 19, 68, 70, vi. 4.
  26. ↑ Cassius Dio, lviii. 1.
  27. ↑ Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, viii. 40. s. 61.
  28. ↑ Cassius Dio, lix. 18.
  29. ↑ Tacitus, Annales, xi. 35.
  30. ↑ Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, vi. 22.
  31. ↑ Rossignol, Un nouveau cursus sénatorial".
  32. ↑ AE 2004, 1898.
  33. ↑ CIL XV, 228, CIL XV, 360, CIL VI, 32516.
  34. ↑ Boissard, Antiquitates Romanae, p. iii. fig. 132.
  35. ↑ Sillig, Catalogus Artificium (1827), s. v.
  36. ↑ Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. 419.

Bibliography

Cicero's Brutus is a history of Roman oratory. It is written in the form of a dialogue, in which Brutus and Atticus ask Cicero to describe the qualities of all the leading Roman orators up to their time. Cicero then attempts to propose a reconstruction of Roman history. Although it is written in the form of a dialogue, the majority of the talking is done by Cicero with occasional intervention by Brutus and Atticus. The work was probably composed in 46 BC, with the purpose of defending Cicero's own oratory. He begins with an introductory section on Greek oratory of the Attic, Asianic, and Rhodian schools, before discussing Roman orators, beginning with Lucius Junius Brutus, "The Liberator", though becoming more specific from the time of Marcus Cornelius Cethegus.

De Oratore rhetorical work by Cicero

De Oratore is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BCE. It is set in 91 BCE, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, during which Marcus Antonius Orator, the other great orator of this dialogue, dies. During this year, the author faces a difficult political situation: after his return from exile in Dyrrachium, his house was destroyed by the gangs of Clodius in a time when violence was common. This was intertwined with the street politics of Rome.

In Verrem is a series of speeches made by Cicero in 70 BC, during the corruption and extortion trial of Gaius Verres, the former governor of Sicily. The speeches, which were concurrent with Cicero's election to the aedileship, paved the way for Cicero's public career.

PD-icon.svg  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William, ed. (1870). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . 

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

Related Research Articles

Licinia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Licinius nomen

The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic.

Pompeia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Pompeius nomen

The gens Pompeia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, first appearing in history during the second century BC, and frequently occupying the highest offices of the Roman state from then until imperial times. The first of the Pompeii to obtain the consulship was Quintus Pompeius in 141 BC, but by far the most illustrious of the gens was Gnaeus Pompeius, surnamed Magnus, a distinguished general under the dictator Sulla, who became a member of the First Triumvirate, together with Caesar and Crassus. After the death of Crassus, the rivalry between Caesar and Pompeius led to the Civil War, one of the defining events of the final years of the Roman Republic.

The gens Terentia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Dionysius mentions a Gaius Terentilius Arsa, tribune of the plebs in 462 BC, but Livy calls him Terentilius, and from inscriptions this would seem to be a separate gens. No other Terentii appear in history until the time of the Second Punic War. Gaius Terentius Varro, one of the Roman commanders at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, was the first to hold the consulship. Members of this family are found as late as the third century AD.

Minucia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Minucius nomen

The gens Minucia was a Roman family, which flourished from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The gens was apparently of patrician origin, but was better known by its plebeian branches. The first of the Minucii to hold the consulship was Marcus Minucius Augurinus, elected consul in 497 BC.

The gens Aelia, occasionally written Ailia, was a plebeian family in Rome, which flourished from the fifth century BC until at least the third century AD, a period of nearly eight hundred years. The archaic spelling Ailia is found on coins, but must not be confused with Allia, which is a distinct gens. The first member of the family to obtain the consulship was Publius Aelius Paetus in 337 BC.

The gens Otacilia, originally Octacilia, was a plebeian family at Rome. The gens first rose to prominence during the First Punic War, but afterwards lapsed into obscurity. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Manius Otacilius Crassus, in 263 BC.

Vibia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Vibius nomen

The gens Vibia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Although individuals named Vibius appear in history during the time of the Second Punic War, no members of this gens are found at Rome until the final century of the Republic. The first of the Vibii to obtain the consulship was Gaius Vibius Pansa in 43 BC, and from then until imperial times the Vibii regularly filled the highest offices of the Roman state. The emperors Trebonianus Gallus and Volusianus each claimed descent from the family.

Antistia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Antistius nomen

The gens Antistia, sometimes written Antestia on coins, was a plebeian family at Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Sextus Antistius, tribune of the plebs in 422 BC.

The gens Appuleia, occasionally written Apuleia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which flourished from the fifth century BC into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve importance was Lucius Appuleius, tribune of the plebs in 391 BC.

The gens Asinia was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome, which rose to prominence during the first century BC. The first member of this gens mentioned in history is Herius Asinius, commander of the Marrucini during the Social War. The Asinii probably obtained Roman citizenship in the aftermath of this conflict, as they are mentioned at Rome within a generation, and Gaius Asinius Pollio obtained the consulship in 40 BC.

Caecilia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Caecilius nomen

The gens Caecilia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in history as early as the fifth century BC, but the first of the Caecilii who obtained the consulship was Lucius Caecilius Metellus Denter, in 284 BC.

The gens Caelia was a plebeian family at Rome. The nomen Caelius is frequently confounded with Coelius and Caecilius, with some individuals referred to as Caelius in manuscripts, while appearing as Coelius or Coilius on coins. Although the Caelii asserted their great antiquity, the first of this gens who obtained the consulship was Gnaeus Arulenus Caelius Sabinus in AD 69. The emperor Balbinus was a descendant of the Caelii.

Maria (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Marius nomen

The gens Maria was a plebeian family of Rome. Its most celebrated member was Gaius Marius, one of the greatest generals of antiquity, and seven times consul.

Pomponia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Pomponius nomen

The gens Pomponia was a plebeian family at Rome. Its members appear throughout the history of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebs in 449 BC; the first who obtained the consulship was Manius Pomponius Matho in 233 BC.

The gens Sextia was a plebeian family at Rome, from the time of the early Republic and continuing into imperial times. The most famous member of the gens was Lucius Sextius Lateranus, who as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of the annual magistrates, until the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, otherwise known as the "Licinian Rogations," in the latter year. This law, brought forward by Sextius and his colleague, Gaius Licinius Calvus, opened the consulship to the plebeians, and in the following year Sextius was elected the first plebeian consul. Despite the antiquity of the family, only one other member obtained the consulship during the time of the Republic. Their name occurs more often in the consular fasti under the Empire.

Lucretia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Lucretius nomen

The gens Lucretia was a prominent family of the Roman Republic. Originally patrician, the gens later included a number of plebeian families. The Lucretii were one of the most ancient gentes, and the wife of Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, was named Lucretia. The first of the Lucretii to obtain the consulship was Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus in 509 BC, the first year of the Republic.

Considia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Considius nomen

The gens Considia was a plebeian family at Rome. The Considii came to prominence in the last century of the Republic, and under the early Empire, but none of them rose any higher than the praetorship.

Juventia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Iuventius nomen

The gens Juventia, occasionally written Jubentia, was an ancient plebeian family at Rome. After centuries of obscurity, the gens emerges into history with the appearance of Titus Juventius, a military tribune, in the beginning of the second century BC. The first of the Juventii to obtain the consulship was Marcus Juventius Thalna in BC 163. But the family is renowned less for its statesmen than for its jurists, who flourished during the second century AD.

Munatia (gens) families from Ancient Rome who shared the Munatius nomen

The gens Munatia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned during the second century BC, but they did not obtain any of the higher offices of the Roman state until imperial times.

The gens Roscia, probably the same as Ruscia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned as early as the fifth century BC, but after this time they vanish into obscurity until the final century of the Republic. A number of Roscii rose to prominence in imperial times, with some attaining the consulship from the first to the third centuries.