Numicia gens

Last updated December 19, 2020

The gens Numicia was an ancient patrician family at Rome. The first of the Numicii to appear in history was Titus Numicius Priscus, consul in 469 BC. Later members of the family were plebeian. Members of this gens are first mentioned down to imperial times, and the nomen Numicius is regularly confused with Numisius , which was probably nothing more than a different form of the same gentile name.^[1]

Origin

The nomen Numicius appears to belong to a class of gentilicia formed from other names ending in -ex, -icis, or -icus, which took -icius as a suffix. However, if as seems likely, the name is really the same as Numisius, it might perhaps be derived from the praenomen Numerius .^[2]

Branches and cognomina

The only surname of the Numicii in Republican times is Priscus, a common cognomen meaning "old, ancient", or "antique".^[3]

Members

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

Titus Numicius Priscus, consul in 469 BC, had the conduct of the war against the Volscians, defeating them before Antium, the Volscian capital, and taking the town of Caeno. When the Sabines attempted to take advantage of the consuls' absence, Numicius and his colleague invaded their territory simultaneously, ending the threat.^[4]^[5]^[6]
Tiberius Numicius, tribune of the plebs in 320 BC,^{[lower-roman 1]} was given as a prisoner to the Samnites, together with the other tribunes and the consuls, after the defeat of the Romans at the Caudine Forks, during the Second Samnite War. The Samnites saw their sacrifice as a pretext for renewing the war, and refused the prisoners, allowing them to return home.^[7]^[8]^[9]
Publius Numicius Pica Caesianus, a praefectus equitum in the time of Augustus, he subsequently served as quaestor pro praetore in Asia, and tribune of the plebs.^[10]
Numicius, the person to whom Horace addressed the sixth epistle of his first book. He might be the same person as Publius Numicius Pica Caesianus.^[11]^[10]
Numicius Priscus, a member of the praetorian guard, mentioned in an inscription from Rome, dating to AD 147.^[12]
Gaius Numicius, the former master of Gaius Numicius Eusebius, and perhaps also the former master of Prima Numicia Paulla and Gaius Numicius Philinus, or of Numicius Taurus.^[13]
Lucius Numicius, the father of Marcus.^[14]
Marcus Numicius L. f., named in an inscription from Helvia Ricina in Picenum.^[14]
Publius Numicius, the former master of Publius Numicius Berullus. His wife may have been named Afraia, as that was the nomen of her freedwoman.^[15]
Publius Numicius, the former master of Publius Numicius Surus and Numicia Laudica.^[16]
Quintus Numicius, the former master of Quintus.^[17]
Quintus Numicius Q. l., a freedman, named in an inscription from Rome.^[17]
Marcus Numicius Acastus, a freedman, possibly of the wife of a Quintus Numisius.^{[lower-roman 2]}^[18]
Publius Numicius P. l. Berullus, a freedman, and husband of Afraia Italia, freedwoman of his former master's wife, mentioned in an inscription from Rome as having donated six jars of ointment.^[15]
Gaius Numicius C. l. Eusebius, buried at Rome, aged twelve.^[19]
Numicia P. l. Laudica, a freedwoman buried at Rome.^[16]
Prima Numicia C. l. Paulla, a freedwoman mentioned in an inscription from Rome.^[20]
Gaius Numicius C. l. Philinus, a freedman mentioned in an inscription from Rome.^[20]
Marcus Numicius Severus, tent-mate and heir of Publius Aelius Fuscus, a soldier in the third cohort of the praetorian guard, who was buried at Rome, aged twenty-two, after five years' service.^[21]
Publius Numicius Suntrophus, mentioned in an inscription from Rome as having donated four jars of ointment.^[22]
Publius Numicius P. l. Surus, a freedman buried at Rome.^[16]
Numicius C. l. Taurus, a freedman mentioned in an inscription from Rome.^[23]
Titus Numicius Thermus, mentioned in an inscription from Rome as having donated six jars of ointment.^[24]
Publius Numicius Xanthus, probably a freedman, named in an inscription from Rome.^[25]
Gaius Annius Numicius, named in an inscription from Ostia.^[26]
Numicia Primigenia, female whose domus was found in Pompeii. Lived with someone named Lesbianus.^[27]

Footnotes

↑ Livy names Lucius Julius in place of Tiberius Numicius.
↑ Acastus is named immediately following a Quintus Numisius Q. l. Thyrsus, and is identified as the freedman of an otherwise unidentified woman or wife. It would make sense if she were the wife of the Quintus Numisius who manumitted Thyrsus, although the nomina are different. Given the similarity of the nomina, however, either Numisius or Numicius could be a mistake for the other. But if the two spellings were in fact interchangeable, then there may be no mistake at all.

Related Research Articles

The gens Artoria was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, but a number are known from inscriptions. Under the later Empire at least some of them were of senatorial rank.

The gens Afrania was a plebeian family at Rome, which is first mentioned in the second century BC. The first member of this gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Afranius Stellio, who became praetor in 185 BC.

The gens Acutia was a minor plebeian family at Ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned from the early Republic to imperial times. The first of the Acutii to achieve prominence was Marcus Acutius, tribune of the plebs in 401 BC.

The gens Coruncania was a plebeian family at Rome. The first of the family to come to prominence was Tiberius Coruncanius, a novus homo who became consul in 280 BC, and dictator in 246.

The gens Poppaea was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear under the early Empire, when two brothers served as consuls in AD 9. The Roman empress Poppaea Sabina was a descendant of this family, but few others achieved any prominence in the Roman state. A number of Poppaei are known from inscriptions. The name is sometimes confused with that of Pompeia.

The gens Nasennia was an obscure plebeian family at Rome. None of the Nasennii held any of the higher offices of the Roman state, and the family is best known from Gaius Nasennius, a soldier in the time of Caesar. Many other Nasennii are known from inscriptions.

The gens Nautia was an old patrician family at ancient Rome. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Spurius Nautius Rutilus in 488 BC, and from then until the Samnite Wars the Nautii regularly filled the highest offices of the Roman Republic. After that time, the Nautii all but disappear from the record, appearing only in a handful of inscriptions, mostly from Rome and Latium. A few Nautii occur in imperial times, including a number who appear to have been freedmen, and in the provinces.

The gens Neria was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of Caesar, when Gnaeus Nerius was quaestor, but few if any others are known to have held Roman magistracies. Many Nerii are known from inscriptions. A coin issued by the quaestor Nerius depicts the head of Saturn on the obverse, and standards labeled with the names of the consuls on the reverse, perhaps alluding to Caesar having broken open the treasury, or showing the legitimacy of the Senate to the legions against the rebellion of Caesar.

The gens Numeria was a minor plebeian family at Rome. Few of its members held any of the higher offices of the Roman state.

The gens Numisia was a family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the fourth century BC, and from the second century BC to imperial times, they held a number of important magistracies. The name Numisius is frequently confused with that of Numicius, and in fact it seems probable that the two were originally the same. The Numicii of the early Republic are thought to have been patricians, and the Numisii mentioned in later sources were plebeians; but patrician families frequently developed plebeian branches over time.

The gens Obellia was an obscure plebeian family at Rome, known almost entirely from inscriptions.

The gens Ogulnia was an ancient plebeian family at ancient Rome. The gens first came to prominence at the beginning of the third century BC, when the brothers Quintus and Gnaeus Ogulnius, tribunes of the plebs, carried a law opening most of the Roman priesthoods to the plebeians. The only member of the family to obtain the consulship was Quintus Ogulnius Gallus in 269 BC. However, Ogulnii are still found in imperial times.

The gens Ovidia was a plebeian family of ancient Rome. Only a few members of this gens are mentioned in history, of whom the most famous is unquestionably the poet Publius Ovidius Naso, but others are known from inscriptions.

The gens Pacilia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned by the ancient historians, of whom the most famous may be a certain Marcus Pacilius spoken of by Cicero in his second oration against Verres. However, many Pacilii are known from inscriptions.

The gens Petillia or Petilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear in history at the beginning of the second century BC, and the first to obtain the consulship was Quintus Petillius Spurinus in 176 BC.

The gens Pilia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. None of the Pilii attained any of the higher magistracies of the Roman state, and members of this gens are known primarily through the writings of Cicero, who was acquainted with a family of this name; but many others are known from inscriptions.

The gens Pollia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. The gens must have been very old, as one of the original Servian tribes was named after it, suggesting that the Pollii were important landowners during the Roman monarchy. However, few Pollii are mentioned in history, and none of them attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state. A number of Pollii are known from inscriptions.

The gens Racilia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned as early as the fifth century BC, but few of them achieved any prominence in the Roman state.

The gens Septicia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Hardly any members of this gens are mentioned in ancient writers, but a number are known from inscriptions. The most famous of the Septicii was Gaius Septicius Clarus, Prefect of the Praetorian Guard under the emperor Hadrian.

The gens Staia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned by ancient writers, but a number are known from inscriptions. The most illustrious of the Staii was Lucius Staius Murcus, governor of Syria in 44 BC, and a military commander of some ability who served under several leading figures of the period.

References

↑ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 1214, 1215 ("Numicia Gens", "Numisia Gens").
↑ Chase, pp. 126–128.
↑ Chase, p. 111.
↑ Livy, i. 63.
↑ Dionysius, ix. 56.
↑ Broughton, vol. I, p. 31.
↑ Cicero, De Officiis, iii. 30.
↑ Livy, ix. 8–12.
↑ Broughton, vol. I, p. 153.
1 2 PIR, vol. II, p. 419.
↑ Horace, Epistulae, i. 6.
↑ CIL VI, 3885.
↑ CIL VI, 2744, CIL VI, 7794, CIL VI, 7805.
1 2 CIL IX, 5775.
1 2 CIL VI, 10378.
1 2 3 CIL VI, 33450.
1 2 CIL VI, 38673a.
↑ CIL XI, 3782.
↑ CIL VI, 2744.
1 2 CIL VI, 7794.
↑ CIL VI, 2483.
↑ CIL VI, 33266.
↑ CIL VI, 7805.
↑ CIL VI, 7809.
↑ CIL VI, 33265.
↑ CIL XIV, 4563.
↑ Dutsch, Dorota; Suter, Ann (28 November 2015). "Ancient Obscenities: Their Nature and Use in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds". University of Michigan Press. p. 248. ISBN 9780472119646.

Bibliography

Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Officiis .
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace), Epistulae .
Titus Livius (Livy), Ab Urbe Condita (History of Rome).
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia.
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).
Paul von Rohden, Elimar Klebs, & Hermann Dessau, Prosopographia Imperii Romani (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire, abbreviated PIR), Berlin (1898).
T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952).

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.

[7] Livy names Lucius Julius in place of Tiberius Numicius.

[19] Acastus is named immediately following a Quintus Numisius Q. l. Thyrsus, and is identified as the freedman of an otherwise unidentified woman or wife. It would make sense if she were the wife of the Quintus Numisius who manumitted Thyrsus, although the nomina are different. Given the similarity of the nomina, however, either Numisius or Numicius could be a mistake for the other. But if the two spellings were in fact interchangeable, then there may be no mistake at all.

[1] Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 1214, 1215 ("Numicia Gens", "Numisia Gens").

[2] Chase, pp. 126–128.

[3] Chase, p. 111.

[4] Livy, i. 63.

[5] Dionysius, ix. 56.

[6] Broughton, vol. I, p. 31.

[8] Cicero, De Officiis, iii. 30.

[9] Livy, ix. 8–12.

[10] Broughton, vol. I, p. 153.

[PIR_II_419-11] 1 2 PIR, vol. II, p. 419.

[12] Horace, Epistulae, i. 6.

[13] CIL VI, 3885.

[14] CIL VI, 2744, CIL VI, 7794, CIL VI, 7805.

[CIL_9_5775-15] 1 2 CIL IX, 5775.

[CIL_6_10378-16] 1 2 CIL VI, 10378.

[CIL_6_33450-17] 1 2 3 CIL VI, 33450.

[CIL_6_38673a-18] 1 2 CIL VI, 38673a.

[20] CIL XI, 3782.

[21] CIL VI, 2744.

[CIL_6_7794-22] 1 2 CIL VI, 7794.

[23] CIL VI, 2483.

[24] CIL VI, 33266.

[25] CIL VI, 7805.

[26] CIL VI, 7809.

[27] CIL VI, 33265.

[28] CIL XIV, 4563.

[29] Dutsch, Dorota; Suter, Ann (28 November 2015). "Ancient Obscenities: Their Nature and Use in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds". University of Michigan Press. p. 248. ISBN 9780472119646.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[lower-roman 1]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[lower-roman 2]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]