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Widely occurring Roman nomen gentile derived from the numeral praenomen Octavus ('one born in the eighth month', which disappeared later, still surviving in Octavus Mamilius [2]). Of political importance in Rome from the 2nd cent. BC is only the older line which consecutively produced five consuls (O. [I 4-8]; preferred praenomen: Cn.; regarding the family relationships [1. 405-407]); the members of the related younger line (resident in Velitrae), on the other hand, from which the later princeps Augustus originated, did not rise above equestri…

Name of a patrician Roman family, derived from the praenomen Quintus (comparable to Sextus/ Sextius, etc.), often also Quintius in inscriptions and MSS. The origin of the family is unknown; its great age is suggested by its connection with the festival of the Lupercalia (Ov. Fast. 2,378 has Quintilii) and the unusual praenomen of the family, Kaeso, encountered in this context ( v. Q. [I 1]). Livy counts them among the families that migrated to Rome from Alba with King Tullius Hostilius (1,32,2; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,29,7 mentions the Quinctilii). The Quinctii are mentioned many tim…

Name of a Roman plebeian family, probably from Caudium (CIL I2 1744 f.) and attested from the time of the 2nd Punic War. The branch of the Libones (S. [I 5-7; II 4-7]) attained the consulship with S. [I 7] and was part of the Roman high nobility in the early Imperial period. The Curiones (S. [I 1-4]), prominent in the 2nd and 1st cents. BC, disappeared with the Republic. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] S. Curio, C. As aedile in 196 BC, he built the Temple of Faunus on the Tiber Island. Praetor urbanus in 183 and the second plebeian to be elected curio [2] maximus …

Name of a Roman patrician family, probably originally from Cameria (hence the cognomen Camerinus); documented in the fasti from c. 500 BC. The otherwise rare praenomen Servius appears comparatively frequently and at times is even used in place of the nomen gentile (Tac. Hist. 2,48; Plut. Galba 3,1). The number of cognomina within the gens is high, but it has been impossible to identify clear branches. The link between the S. from the 3rd to the 2nd and 1st cent. BC is unclear. In the 2nd cent. BC, the most important branch of the family was that of…

Roman nomen gentile of Sabine origin. Its members begin to appear in the sources late in the 3rd cent. BC. Politically the most important branch was that of the Terentii Varrones which attained the ranks of the nobility with T. [I 14] Varro, consul in 216 BC. From the mid-2nd cent., several families of this branch were in simultaneous and unconnected existence. Cognomina showing geographical origins are widespread among the Terentii (Afer, Lucanus, Massaliota). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] As people's tribune in 54 BC, T. prevented…

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…

Name of a Roman plebeian family probably deriving from the Italic praenomen Pompo, tracing back, like the Aemilii, Calpurnii and Pinarii, to one of the sons of Numa Pompilius (Plut. Numa 21,2; cf. Nep. Att. 1,1). In the 3rd century BC the Mathones (cf. P. [I 7-9]) achieved consulship, but later the family was insignificant. The most prominent member was a friend of Cicero, T. P. [I 5] Atticus. I. Republican Period [German version] [I 1] P., Cn. People's tribune in 90 BC People's tribune in 90 BC, killed in the Civil War in 82; Cicero quite often heard him in his youth; his j…

Roman nomen gentile, in its older form, Papisius (Cic. Fam. 9,21,3), from which one of the 16 old rural tribes ( tribus ) took its name. The patrician gens formed several branches at an early time (5th/4th cents. BC: Crassi, Cursores, Mugillani, 3rd cent.: Masones) who played a significant role in the military successes of the Republic, but became either extinct no later than the 2nd cent. BC or politically insignificant. The younger plebeian branch of the Carbones rose in the 2nd half of the 2nd cent. and gained notoriety…