Sammia gens

Last updated April 02, 2019

The gens Sammia or Samia was an obscure plebeian family of equestrian rank 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.

The equites constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques.

In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization from the founding of the Italian 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, conventionally founded in 753 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. The Romans were aggressive and ruthless, and during the creation of their empire millions died or were enslaved.

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the Sammii were Lucius and Sextus , to which they sometimes added other common names, including Gaius , Titus , and Quintus . There is also one example of the rare praenomen Tertius, perhaps indicative of the family's connection to Gaul, where unusual praenomina were fashionable.

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.

Lucius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Lucia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Lucia and Lucilia, as well as the cognomenLucullus. It was regularly abbreviated L.

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

There seems to have been a large family by this name at Nemausus in Gallia Narbonensis. They probably held a hereditary priesthood, as several of them bear the title of flamen or flaminica. Some of them bore the cognomen Aper, referring to a wild boar, and belonging to a common class of surnames derived from the names of familiar animals and objects.^[2]^[3]

Nîmes is a city in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is the capital of the Gard department. Nîmes is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Cévennes mountains. The estimated population of Nîmes is 146,709 (2012).

Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra, from its having been the first Roman province north of the Alps, and as Gallia Transalpina, distinguishing it from Cisalpine Gaul in northern Italy. It became a Roman province in the late 2nd century BC. Its boundaries were roughly defined by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Cévennes and Alps to the north and west. The western region of Gallia Narbonensis was known as Septimania.

A flamen was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores, who served the important Roman gods Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. The remaining twelve were the flamines minores. Two of the minores cultivated deities whose names are now unknown; among the others are deities about whom little is known other than the name. During the Imperial era, the cult of a deified emperor (divus) also had a flamen.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

Samia, buried at Corduba in Hispania Baetica, aged fifty-one.^[4]
Samius, an eques in the time of Claudius, sought the protection of Publius Suillius Rufus, at a time when Suillius was ruthlessly prosecuting various persons for supposed offenses against the emperor. After paying Suillius 400,000 sestertii, Samius learned that his counsel was in league with his enemies, and he fell on his sword in Suillius' house, in AD 47. This was one of the events that led to Suillius' downfall and banishment.^[5]
Samius, built a second- or third-century monument at Acium in Sicily to his son, Ruber.^[6]
Samius, named in an inscription from Ostia in Latium.^[7]
Gaius Samius C. f., named in an inscription from Tegianum in Lucania, dating between 50 and 30 BC.^[8]
Lucius Samius, named in an inscription from Rome.^[9]
Lucius Sammius L. f. Aemilianus, a Flamen of Pan in Gallia Narbonensis, had also been prefect of a cohort of Spanish soldiers. Named in an inscription from Nemausus, together with his foster-son, Lucius Sammius Maternus, and Lucius Sammius Eutychus.^[10]
Lucius Samius Agilis, dedicated a monument at Puteoli in Campania to his wife, Julia, aged about thirty-eight.^[11]
Sextus Sammius Aper, patron of Sextus Sammius Macer, perhaps his freedman, for whom he dedicated a monument at Rome.^[12]
Sextus Sammius Sex. f. Aper, a resident of Nemausus buried at Rome, had been one of the duumviri jure dicundo, a priest, and prefect of the vigiles.^[13]
Sextus Sammius Apronianus, buried at Nemausus, with a monument from his mother, Sammia Helpizusa.^[14]
Sammia Charitus, dedicated a monument at Nemausus to her husband, Lucius Julius Onesimus.^[15]
Samia Chloe, buried at Rome, aged twenty-five.^[16]
Samia Clementina, named in an inscription from Beneventum in Campania.^[17]
Sammius T. f. Connius, the son of Titus Sammius Tertiolus, a scribe, and Connia Conniola.^[18]
Gaius Samius Crescens, a soldier in the twelfth urban cohort, in the century of Maternus, buried at Mutina in Etruria, aged forty-two, having served for twenty-nine years, with a monument from his brother, Samius Fortis, dating to the second century.^[19]
Sammius Cycnus, dedicated a tomb at Aquileia in Venetia and Histria to his foster-son, Sammius Sabinus.^[20]
Sammia Emerita, dedicated tombs at Sitifis in Mauretania Caesariensis to her sons, Cornelius Noreius, aged sixteen, and Samalus Firmianus, aged fifty-six.^[21]^[22]
Lucius Sammius Eutychus, named in the same inscription from Nemausus with Lucius Sammius Aemilianus and Lucius Sammius Maternus.^[10]
Samius Fortis, a soldier in the eighth cohort of the Praetorian Guard, dedicated a monument at Mutina to his brother, Gaius Samius Crescens.^[19]
Sammia Helpizusa, dedicated a monument at Nemausus to her son, Sextus Sammius Apronianus.^[14]
Sammia Honorata, flaminica of Augustus, was buried at Rome, with a monument from her cousin.^[23]
Tertius Sammius Karus, quaestor and decurion at Nemausus, buried in a family sepulchre with his wife, Sammia Atica, and son, Lucius Hortentius.^[24]
Sammia Lais, buried at Nemausus, with a monument from her husband, Sextus Sammius Mercurialis.^[25]
Sextus Sammius Macer, a freedman, perhaps of Sextus Sammius Aper, his patron, who built a tomb for Macer at Rome.^[12]
Lucius Sammius Maternus, the foster-son of Lucius Sammius Aemilianus, named in an inscription from Nemausus, together with Lucius Sammius Eutychus.^[10]
Sextus Sammius Mercurialis, dedicated a monument at Nemausus to his wife, Sammia Lais.^[25]
Titus Sammius Passer, built a tomb at Tarnasicum in Noricum for himself and his wife, Eppaea Lucria.^[26]
Lucius Sammius Perfectus, probably buried at Viminacium in Moesia Superior, had named Mercator and Macedonis, perhaps his freedmen, as his heirs.^[27]
Sammia Placentina, buried at Vienna in Gallia Narbonensis, in the latter half of the second century, with a monument from her husband, Sammius Primitivus.^[28]
Sammius Primitivus, dedicated a monument at Vienna to his wife, Sammia Placentina, dating to the later second century.^[28]
Samius or Sammius Priscus, mentioned by Galen in De Remediis Parabilibus.^[29]
Sammius Sabinus, buried at Aquileia, aged ten, with a monument from his foster-father, Sammius Cycnus.^[20]
Sammia Sammiola, buried at Bellicum in Gallia Lugdunensis.^[30]
Sextus Sammius Satyrninus, built a sepulchre at Rome for himself and his family.^[31]
Sammia L. f. Secundina, flaminica of Augustus at Nemausus.^[32]
Quintus Sammius Secundus, one of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis at Lugdunum in Gallia Lugdunensis in AD 160.^[33]
Sextus Sammius Servatianus, built a monument at Nemausus.^[34]
Sammia Q. f. Severina, flaminica of Augustus at Nemausus, where she was buried with a monument from her friend, Gaius Terentius Anicetus.^[35]
Lucius Sammius L. f. Severus, buried at Nemausus, in a tomb built by his wife, Allia Rusticilla.^[36]
Sextus Sammius Severus, a centurion in the first legion, had been a standard bearer for thirteen years, and was made centurion in AD 50.^[37]
Sammia Su[...], buried at Lugdunum.^[38]
Samia Ɔ. l. Tertia, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Rome.^[39]
Titus Sammius Tertiolus, scriba of the public treasury, buried at Vienna, aged twenty-six, with a monument from his wife, Connia Conniola, and son, Sammius Connius.^[18]
Sammius Tertullinus, made an offering to Hercules at Aeclanum in Samnium, dating to the first half of the third century.^[40]
Sammius Victor, a centurion in the sixth legion, stationed in Britain.^[41]

Córdoba, also spelled Cordova in English, is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. It was a Roman settlement, taken over by the Visigoths, followed by the Umayyad Caliphate in the eighth century. It became the capital of a Muslim emirate, and then the Caliphate of Córdoba, which encompassed most of the Iberian Peninsula. During this period, it became a centre of education and learning, and by the 10th century had grown to be the largest city in Europe. It was recaptured by Christian forces in 1236, during the so-called Reconquista.

Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic divisions of Hispania under the Visigoths down to 711. Baetica was part of Al-Andalus under the Moors in the 8th century and approximately corresponds to modern Andalusia.

Claudius was Roman emperor from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul, the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy. Because he was afflicted with a limp and slight deafness due to sickness at a young age, his family ostracized him and excluded him from public office until his consulship, shared with his nephew Caligula in 37.

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References

↑ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 702 ("Samius").
↑ New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. aper.
↑ Chase, pp. 112, 113.
↑ CIL II, 2267.
↑ Tacitus, Annales, xi. 5.
↑ AE 1923, 75.
↑ Ciprotti, "Inscriptiones parietales Ostienses", 69.
↑ CIL X, 312.
↑ CIL VI, 30581,2.
1 2 3 CIL XII, 3183.
↑ CIL X, 2584.
1 2 CIL VI, 25858.
↑ CIL VI, 29718.
1 2 CIL XII, 3870.
↑ CIL XII, 3651.
↑ CIL VI, 36298.
↑ CIL IX, 1951.
1 2 CIL XII, 2212.
1 2 AE 1981, 388.
1 2 CIL V, 1364.
↑ CIL VIII, 8553.
↑ BCTH, 1930/31, 133.
↑ CIL VI, 29711.
↑ CIL XII, 3267.
1 2 CIL XII, 3871.
↑ CIL III, 5068.
↑ IMS, ii. 203.
1 2 AE 2004, 892.
↑ Galen, De Remediis Parabilibus, ii. (xiv. p. 474, ed. Kuehn).
↑ CIL XIII, 2514.
↑ CIL VI, 36300.
↑ CIL XII, 3268.
↑ CIL XIII, 1751.
↑ BCTH, 1887, 237.
↑ CIL XII, 3269.
↑ CIL XII, 3400, CIL XII, 3869.
↑ CIL XII, 2234.
↑ CIL XIII, 2257.
↑ CIL VI, 36299.
↑ CIL IX, 1095.
↑ AE 1964, 170.

Bibliography

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales .
Aelius Galenus (Galen), De Remediis Parabilibus (On Remedies Easy to Prepare).
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology , William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
Theodor Mommsen et alii, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated CIL), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
Bulletin Archéologique du Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques (Archaeological Bulletin of the Committee on Historic and Scientific Works, abbreviated BCTH), Imprimerie Nationale, Paris (1885–1973).
René Cagnat et alii, L'Année épigraphique (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated AE), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
Pio Ciprotti, "Inscriptiones parietales Ostienses" (Inscriptions from the Walls of Ostia), in Studia et Documenta Historiae et Iuris, vol. 27, pp. 324–341 (1961).
Fanou Papazoglou, Inscriptions de la Mésie Supérieure (Inscriptions of Moesia Superior, abbreviated IMS), Belgrade (1976–present).

PubliusCornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus, in 14 AD, to the years of the First Jewish–Roman War, in 70 AD. There are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts, including a gap in the Annals that is four books long.

<i>Annals</i> (Tacitus) history of the Roman Empire by the senator Tacitus

The Annals by Roman historian and senator Tacitus is a history of the Roman Empire from the reign of Tiberius to that of Nero, the years AD 14–68. The Annals are an important source for modern understanding of the history of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD; it is Tacitus' final work, and modern historians generally consider it his greatest writing. Historian Ronald Mellor calls it "Tacitus's crowning achievement,” which represents the "pinnacle of Roman historical writing".

Galen Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher

Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus, often Anglicized as Galen and better known as Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Arguably the most accomplished of all medical researchers of antiquity, Galen influenced the development of various scientific disciplines, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic.

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[1] Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 702 ("Samius").

[2] New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. aper.

[3] Chase, pp. 112, 113.

[4] CIL II, 2267.

[5] Tacitus, Annales, xi. 5.

[6] AE 1923, 75.

[7] Ciprotti, "Inscriptiones parietales Ostienses", 69.

[8] CIL X, 312.

[9] CIL VI, 30581,2.

[CIL_12_3183-10] 1 2 3 CIL XII, 3183.

[11] CIL X, 2584.

[CIL_6_25858-12] 1 2 CIL VI, 25858.

[13] CIL VI, 29718.

[CIL_12_3870-14] 1 2 CIL XII, 3870.

[15] CIL XII, 3651.

[16] CIL VI, 36298.

[17] CIL IX, 1951.

[CIL_12_2212-18] 1 2 CIL XII, 2212.

[AE_1981_388-19] 1 2 AE 1981, 388.

[CIL_5_1364-20] 1 2 CIL V, 1364.

[21] CIL VIII, 8553.

[22] BCTH, 1930/31, 133.

[23] CIL VI, 29711.

[24] CIL XII, 3267.

[CIL_12_3871-25] 1 2 CIL XII, 3871.

[26] CIL III, 5068.

[27] IMS, ii. 203.

[AE_2004_892-28] 1 2 AE 2004, 892.

[29] Galen, De Remediis Parabilibus, ii. (xiv. p. 474, ed. Kuehn).

[30] CIL XIII, 2514.

[31] CIL VI, 36300.

[32] CIL XII, 3268.

[33] CIL XIII, 1751.

[34] BCTH, 1887, 237.

[35] CIL XII, 3269.

[36] CIL XII, 3400, CIL XII, 3869.

[37] CIL XII, 2234.

[38] CIL XIII, 2257.

[39] CIL VI, 36299.

[40] CIL IX, 1095.

[41] AE 1964, 170.