Search

Name of an old patrician family, which was said to have immigrated to Rome under King T. Tatius with V. [I 10] (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,46). The name, derived from the old personal name Valesus/ Valerus, was originally Valesios (cf. V. [I 7]; CIL XII p. 298g: Valesies; Fest. 22; Varro, Rerum divinarum fr. 66 Cardauns [4; 5]); the censor App. Claudius [I 2] introduced the new spelling in 312 BC (cf. Dig. 1,2, 2,36). Because in Antiquity the name was derived (etymologically correctly) from valere, 'to be strong', it was considered to be a good omen ( boni ominis nomen, Cic. Div. 1,102; Cic. Sca…