Satellia gens

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The gens Satellia was an obscure plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in ancient writers, 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.

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 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.

Contents

Origin

The nomen Satellius belongs to a class of gentilicia formed mainly from cognomina ending in the diminutive suffixes -illus and -ellus. There is no evidence of a surname Satellus, so the nomen is probably derived from satelles, an attendant, follower, or by extension, a bodyguard; the same word is the source of the English satellite. [2] [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.

Praenomina

The main praenomina of the Satellii were Gaius and Marcus , two of the most common names throughout all periods of Roman history. The family occasionally used other common praenomina, including Lucius , Publius , Quintus , and Titus .

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.

Marcus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Marca or Marcia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Marcia, as well as the cognomen Marcellus. It was regularly abbreviated M.

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
Sodales Augustales order of Roman priests dedicated to the cult of the Emperor Augustus and the Julii

The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales, or simply Augustales, were an order (sodalitas) of Roman priests instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of the cult of Augustus and the Julii. Their establishment in 14 A.D. was described by Tacitus in his first book of the Annales.

Galeata Comune in Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Galeata is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Bologna and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Forlì.

Umbria Region of Italy

Umbria is a region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the River Tiber. The regional capital is Perugia. Umbria is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, culinary delights, artistic legacy, and influence on culture.

Undated Satellii

  • Satellia, the mother of Aulus Papirius, named in an inscription of her son, also named Aulus Papirius, at Clusium in Etruria. [12]
  • Satellia M. f. Anus, restored the apodyterium, or dressing room, of the Roman baths at Casilinum in Campania, and had the epistyle decorated with marble. [13]
  • Gaius Satellius Asper, together with his wife, Glitia Mansueta, dedicated a tomb at Rome to their son, Gaius Satellius Clemens. [14]
  • Gaius Satellius C. f. Clemens, buried at Rome with a monument from his parents, Gaius Satellius Asper and Glitia Mansueta. [14]
  • Gaius Satellius Felix, guardian of the Lares at Scarbantia. [15]
  • Marcus Satellius Florus, dedicated a tomb at Rome to Gaius Vettenus Socratus and Vettena Prima. [16]
  • Gaius Satellius Januarius, an eques, dedicated a monument at Cirta in Numidia to his son, Marcus Satellius Rufinus Pancratius. [17]
  • Satellia L. f. Maxuma, buried at Verona in Venetia and Histria, together with her husband and son, both named Marcus Virraus.
  • Satellia C. l. Philematium, the wife of Gaius Vettius Plintha, named in two inscriptions from Clusium. [18]
  • Marcus Satellius C. f. Rufinus Pancratius, a young man of equestrian rank, buried at Cirta, aged seventeen years, nine months, and ten days, with a monument from his father, Gaius Satellius Januarius. [17]
  • Satellia Severa, buried at Rome with a monument from her son, Tifernius Severus. [19]
  • Marcus Satellius Severus, a little boy buried at Rome, aged three years, ten months, and two days. [20]
  • Publius Satellius C. f. Sodalis, a merchant buried at Carnuntum in Pannonia Superior, with a monument from his uncle, Quintus Varius Modestus. [21]
  • Satellius Turanus, a member of the shipwrights' guild at Portus in Latium. [22]
  • Marcus Satellius Tychius, the master of Felix, a slave buried at Rome, aged nineteen. [23]
  • Satellia C. f. Velizza, named in an inscription from Clusium. [24]

Clusium was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi (Tuscany) partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman city remodeled an earlier Etruscan city, Clevsin, found in the territory of a prehistoric culture, possibly also Etruscan or proto-Etruscan. The site is located in northern central Italy on the west side of the Apennines.

Etruria region of Central Italy

Etruria was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now Tuscany, Lazio, and Umbria.

<i>Thermae</i> public facilities for bathing in ancient Rome

In ancient Rome, thermae and balneae were facilities for bathing. Thermae usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while balneae were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ November 19.
  2. ↑ October 10.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ PIR, vol. III, p. 175.
  2. ↑ Chase, p. 124.
  3. ↑ New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. satelles.
  4. ↑ CIL XI, 6604.
  5. ↑ CIL IX, 5618.
  6. ↑ Seneca the Younger, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, xxvii. 5–8.
  7. 1 2 3 AE 2001, 433.
  8. 1 2 CIL VI, 10350.
  9. ↑ CIL III, 4233.
  10. ↑ Marcillet-Jaubert, Les Inscriptions d’Altava, 106.
  11. ↑ Marcillet-Jaubert, Les Inscriptions d’Altava, 130.
  12. ↑ CIL XI, 2142.
  13. ↑ CIL X, 3922.
  14. 1 2 CIL VI, 25871.
  15. ↑ EDCS, 54501016.
  16. ↑ CIL VI, 28658.
  17. 1 2 AE 1900, 195.
  18. ↑ CIL XI, 7141, CIL XI, 7142.
  19. ↑ CIL VI, 25872.
  20. ↑ CIL VI, 8048.
  21. ↑ AE 1938, 163.
  22. ↑ CIL XIV, 256.
  23. ↑ CIL VI, 8022.
  24. ↑ CIL XI, 2145.

Bibliography

Seneca the Younger Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist

Seneca the Younger(c. 4 BC – AD 65), fully Lucius Annaeus Seneca and also known simply as Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and—in one work—satirist of the Silver Age of Latin literature.

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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