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63-526: The family is generally thought to have been counted amongst the gentes maiores , the most prominent of the patrician houses at Rome, together with the Aemilii , Claudii , Cornelii , Manlii , and Valerii ; but no list of the gentes maiores has survived, and even the number of families so designated is a complete mystery. Until 480 BC, the Fabii were staunch supporters of the aristocratic policies favoring

126-570: A bird resembling a flamingo on the coins of Gaius Fabius Hadrianus, who may have sought to associate himself with that family by the use of such a symbol. Hadrianus and his descendants form the last distinguishable family of the Fabii. Their surname was probably derived from the Latin colony of Hatria , and it is likely that they were not lineal descendants of the Fabii Buteones, but newly-enfranchised citizens. The flamingo might also allude to

189-563: A class of surnames derived from the habits of the habits of the bearer, and evidently referred to someone with a pleasant demeanor. The Aemilii Lepidi appear only a generation after the Aemilii Paulli, beginning with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, consul in 285 BC, and produced many illustrious statesmen down to the first century AD. In the final decades of the Republic, they revived a number of names originally belonging to older stirpes of

252-545: A kinsman of Numa Pompilius , and his son, Numa Marcius , a childhood friend of Pompilius, who accompanied him to Rome and served as his chief advisor. His son, the younger Numa Marcius, was urban prefect under Tullus Hostilius , and his grandson was Ancus Marcius , the fourth King of Rome . Although the Roman monarchy was not strictly hereditary, tradition holds that the sons of Ancus Marcius hoped to succeed their father, but were prevented from doing so when his chief advisor,

315-462: A publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William , ed. (1870). "Aemilia gens". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . Marcia gens The gens Marcia , occasionally written Martia , was one of the oldest and noblest houses at ancient Rome . They claimed descent from the second and fourth Roman Kings , and the first of the Marcii appearing in the history of

378-510: A total of some four thousand men, stationed itself in arms on a hill overlooking the Cremera , a small river between Rome and Veii. The cause of this secession is said to have been the enmity between the Fabii and the patricians, who regarded them as traitors for advocating the causes of the plebeians. The Fabian militia remained in their camp on the Cremera for two years, successfully opposing

441-522: A type of hawk, was originally given to a member of the Fabia gens because such a bird on one occasion settled upon his ship with a favorable omen. This tradition, related by Plinius, does not indicate which of the Fabii first obtained this surname, but it was probably one of the Fabii Ambusti. Crawford suggests that the buteo of the legend was not a hawk, but a flamingo , based on the appearance of

504-715: Is derived from Mamers , a god worshipped by the Sabelli of central and southern Italy, and usually regarded as the Sabellic form of Mars . At Rome, this name, and its diminutive, Mamercinus , were known primarily as cognomina of the Aemilii and the Pinarii, although the Aemilii continued to use it as a praenomen. A surname of the later Aemilii, Regillus , seems to be derived from the Sabine town of Regillum , better known as

567-435: Is from aemulus , "a rival". According to a different legend, the Aemilii were descended from Aemylos, a son of Ascanius , four hundred years before the time of Numa Pompilius. Still another version relates that the gens was descended from Amulius , the wicked uncle of Romulus and Remus , who deposed his brother Numitor to become king of Alba Longa . In the late Republic, a number of minor families claimed descent from

630-564: Is only found in history for a brief period. The cognomen Rex , meaning "king", is usually interpreted as an allusion to the family's traditional descent from Numa Pompilius and Ancus Marcius. However, another possibility is that the surname was borne by the descendants of a certain Marcus Marcius, Rex Sacrorum , during the third century BC, and perhaps the first plebeian to hold that office. Made from Münzer with corrections from Sumner. The nomen Marcius has been omitted for all

693-442: Is possible that in this instance, Septimus should be regarded as a surname. The ancient praenomina Numa and Ancus evidently passed out of use some time before the establishment of the Republic. Both appear to have been Sabine or Oscan, as were all of the persons known to have borne them. No attempt seems to have been made to revive either of them at Rome, either as praenomen or cognomen . Numa seems to be related to Numitor ,

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756-478: Is recorded of his sons or the generations between them and the Marcii of the early Republic. The nomen Marcius is a patronymic surname, based on the common praenomen Marcus . There is no reason to doubt that both names are in turn derived from the god Mars , although the precise linguistic process by which this occurred is complex and uncertain. The Marcii were relatively conservative with respect to praenomina, with only three names accounting for most of

819-402: Is through this family that the Marcii emerged from obscurity, only a few years after the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia opened the consulship to the plebeians. The son of Gaius Marcius Rutilus, the first plebeian censor , was himself censor twice, and took the name Censorinus , which was thereafter passed down in this family for several centuries. After this family, the next cognomen of

882-527: The Basilica Aemilia at Rome. Several stories were told of the foundation of the Aemilii, of which the most familiar was that their ancestor, Mamercus, was the son of Numa Pompilius. In the late Republic, several other gentes claimed descent from Numa, including the Pompilii , Pomponii , Calpurnii , and Pinarii . A variation of this account stated that Mamercus was the son of Pythagoras , who

945-713: The Otacili from Beneventum , the Ogulnii from Etruria , and the Marcii . They also sponsored the emergence of the Caecilii Metelli and Porcii , who owed their first consulate to the Fabii, as well as the re-emergence of the patrician Quinctii . The main direction of the second war against Carthage was disputed between the Fabii and the Cornelii Scipiones. The death of Fabius Verrucosus in 203 marks

1008-470: The Republic would seem to have been patrician ; but all of the families of the Marcii known in the later Republic were plebeian . The first to obtain the consulship was Gaius Marcius Rutilus in 357 BC, only a few years after the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia opened this office to the plebeians. The Marcii are supposed to have been Sabines , descended from a certain Marcus Marcius of Cures ,

1071-586: The Aemilian gens, including Mamercus as a praenomen, Regillus as a cognomen, and Paullus as both. The last generations were related by marriage to the imperial family . The Aemilii Scauri flourished from the beginning of the second century BC to the beginning of the first century AD. Their surname, Scaurus , referred to the appearance of the feet or ankles; Chase suggests "swollen ankles". The cognomina Regillus and Buca apparently belonged to short-lived families. Regillus appears to be derived from

1134-512: The Aemilii Lepidi, who had a particular fondness for old and unusual names, used Paullus , presumably with reference to the family of the Aemilii Paulli, which had died out nearly a century earlier. An obscure family of uncertain date seems to have used Caeso . The daughters of the Aemilii are known to have used the numerical praenomina Prima , Secunda , and Tertia , although these were frequently treated as cognomina, and placed at

1197-645: The Etruscan Lucius Tarquinius , took advantage of their absence at the time of the king's death to solicit support for his own claim, and was elected king. After biding their time for many years, the sons of Marcius gained their revenge by engineering the assassination of Tarquin, but they were again prevented from claiming the throne by a ruse of Tanaquil , the Roman queen, who installed her stepson, Servius Tullius , as regent, until he had sufficient support to rule on his own. The later Marcii claimed descent from Ancus Marcius, but nothing further

1260-508: The Fabia gens at the end of the 3rd century BC. A variety of surnames associated with the Aemilii were also used by this family, and one of the Fabii was called Africanus Fabius Maximus , although his proper name was Quintus Fabius Maximus Africanus . In a manuscript of Cicero, Servius appears among the Fabii Pictores, but this seems to have been a corruption in the manuscript, which originally read Numerius . The cognomina of

1323-469: The Fabii bore the cognomen Vibulanus , which may allude to an ancestral home of the gens. The surname Ambustus , meaning "burnt", replaced Vibulanus at the end of the fifth century BC; the first of the Fabii to be called Ambustus was a descendant of the Vibulani. The most celebrated stirps of the Fabia gens, which bore the surname Maximus , was in turn descended from the Fabii Ambusti. This family

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1386-629: The Fabii had their country estates—was located near the Cremera, on the border with Veii. The day on which the Fabii perished was forever remembered, as it was the same day that the Gauls defeated the Roman army at the Battle of the Allia in 390 BC. The Gauls had marched on Rome only in retaliation after Quintus Fabius Ambustus , sent as an ambassador, broke a truce to attack the Gauls at Clusium . Throughout

1449-429: The Fabii under the Republic were Ambustus, Buteo, Dorso or Dorsuo, Labeo, Licinus, Maximus (with the agnomina Aemilianus, Allobrogicus, Eburnus, Gurges, Rullianus, Servilianus , and Verrucosus ), Pictor , and Vibulanus . Other cognomina belonged to persons who were not, strictly speaking, members of the gens, but who were freedmen or the descendants of freedmen, or who had been enrolled as Roman citizens under

1512-467: The Fabii. The only cognomina appearing on coins are Hispaniensis, Labeo, Maximus , and Pictor . In imperial times it becomes difficult to distinguish between members of the gens and unrelated persons sharing the same nomen. Members of the gens are known as late as the second century, but persons bearing the name of Fabius continue to appear into the latest period of the Empire. The eldest branch of

1575-542: The Mamercini. The most illustrious of the family was undoubtedly Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus , three times dictator in the second half of the fifth century BC. The Aemilii Papi occur in history for about a century and a half, from the time of the Samnite Wars down to the early second century BC. Their surname, Papus , like Mamercus , appears to be of Oscan origin. The name Aemilius Papus occurs again in

1638-408: The Marcii of the Republic. The main branches of the family used Lucius with either Gaius or Quintus , but not generally both. Other names, among them Gnaeus , Publius , and Marcus , appear only occasionally. Most praenomina of the Marcii were common, but history records one person called Septimus Marcius, which if correct represents an example of a rare Latin praenomen—although it

1701-482: The Marcii was Philippus , a Greek name, which first appears as the surname of Quintus Marcius, the consul of 281 BC; but this may anticipate the adoption of the name by his descendant, for a certain Lucius Marcius of this family is said to have had some connection with Philip V of Macedon ; his son, Quintus Marcius Philippus, was consul in 186 BC, and it may therefore have been Lucius who was the first to obtain

1764-528: The Pinarii and Potitii, who were said to have welcomed Hercules and learned from him the sacred rites which for centuries afterward they performed in his honor. Another early legend stated that at the founding of Rome, the followers of the brothers Romulus and Remus were called the Quinctilii and the Fabii, respectively. The brothers were said to have offered up sacrifices in the cave of the Lupercal at

1827-469: The Sabine town of Regillum, perhaps alluding to the Sabine origin of the gens. The Aemilii Regilli flourished for about two generations, beginning at the time of the Second Punic War. Buca , probably the same as Bucca , referred to someone with prominent cheeks, or perhaps someone known for shouting or wailing. The Aemilii Buci are known chiefly from coins, and seem to have flourished toward

1890-472: The Veientes, until at last, on the fifteenth day before the kalends of Sextilis—July 18, 477 BC—they were lured into an ambush and destroyed . Three hundred and six Fabii of fighting age were said to have perished in the disaster, leaving only a single survivor to return home. By some accounts he was the only survivor of the entire gens; but it seems unlikely that the camp of the Fabii included not only all of

1953-567: The ancestral home of the Claudia gens , and perhaps alludes to the Sabine origin of the Aemilii. The roots of the Aemilia gens was also connected to the very founding of Rome through the claim that it descended from Aemilia, the daughter of Aeneas and Lavinia . The Aemilii regularly used the praenomina Lucius , Manius , Marcus , and Quintus , and occasionally Mamercus . The Aemilii Mamercini also used Tiberius and Gaius , while

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2016-579: The ancient religious festival of the Lupercalia . The other college bore the name of the Quinctilii , suggesting that in the earliest times these two gentes superintended these rites as a sacrum gentilicum , much as the Pinarii and Potitii maintained the worship of Hercules . Such sacred rites were gradually transferred to the state, or opened to the Roman populus; a well-known legend attributed

2079-633: The base of the Palatine Hill , which became the origin of the Lupercalia. This story is certainly connected with the tradition that the two colleges of the Luperci bore the names of these ancient gentes. The nomen of the Fabii is said originally to have been Fovius, Favius , or Fodius; Plinius stated that it was derived from faba , a bean, a vegetable which the Fabii were said to have first cultivated. A more fanciful explanation derives

2142-418: The beginning of the second century BC; Quintus Fabius Labeo, the first of that name, was also a poet, but his line vanished before the end of the century. Aemilia gens The gens Aemilia , originally written Aimilia , was one of the greatest patrician families at ancient Rome . The gens was of great antiquity, and claimed descent from Numa Pompilius , the second King of Rome . Its members held

2205-455: The city's legendary founding, and they stood in the hinterland between the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans . Even if many the followers of Romulus and Remus were Latins from the ancient city of Alba Longa , many may also have been Sabines already living in the surrounding countryside. The earliest generations of the Fabii favored the praenomina Caeso , Quintus , and Marcus . They were

2268-560: The cognomen. The initial cognomen of the family may have been Tremulus , since the filiations given in the Fasti link Quintus Marcius Tremulus, consul in 306, and his probable son Quintus Marcius Philippus, consul in 281. Philippus means "lover of horses", and the name had for centuries been associated with the Macedonian kings; Philip II was the father of Alexander the Great . So wide

2331-480: The death of Lucius Aemilius Paullus , the conqueror of Macedonia , in 160 BC. His sons, though grown, were adopted into the families of the Fabii Maximi and the Cornelii Scipiones. The Aemilii Lepidi revived the name toward the end of the Republic, when it was fashionable for younger branches of aristocratic families to revive the surnames of older, more illustrious stirpes. The cognomen Lepidus belongs to

2394-512: The destruction of the Potitii to the abandonment of its religious office. In later times the privilege of the Lupercalia had ceased to be confined to the Fabii and the Quinctilii. According to legend, the Fabii claimed descent from Hercules, who visited Italy a generation before the Trojan War , and from Evander , his host, through Fabius . This brought the Fabii into the same tradition as

2457-468: The earliest cognomen of the Marcii, and the only one generally believed to have belonged to any of the patrician Marcii, was the personal surname of Gaius Marcius , a young soldier whose brilliant charge through the gates of Corioli resulted in the capture of that town from the Volscians . We are told that he had two young sons, from whom one might imagine that the later Marcii were descended; but all of

2520-506: The end of the Fabian leadership on Roman politics, by now assumed by their rivals: Scipio Africanus and his family. After the consulship of Fabius Maximus Eburnus in 116, the Fabii entered a century-long eclipse, until their temporary revival under Augustus . The name of the Fabii was associated with one of the two colleges of the Luperci , the priests who carried on the sacred rites of

2583-412: The end of the Republic. As with other prominent gentes of the Republic, there were some Aemilii whose relationship to the major families is unclear, as the only references to them contain no surname. Some of these may have been descended from freedmen , and been plebeians . Aemilii with a variety of surnames are found in imperial times. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

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2646-485: The end of the name. The oldest stirps of the Aemilii bore the surname Mamercus , together with its diminutive, Mamercinus ; these appear somewhat interchangeably in early generations. This family flourished from the earliest period to the time of the Samnite Wars . Several other important families, with the surnames Papus, Barbula, Paullus , and Lepidus , date from this period, and were probably descended from

2709-466: The family used the praenomen Gaius , Quintus is the name most frequently associated with the Fabii of the later Republic. The Fabii Maximi used it almost to the exclusion of all other names until the end of the Republic, when they revived the ancient praenomen Paullus . This was done in honor of the Aemilii Paulli, from whom the later Fabii Maximi were descended, having been adopted into

2772-544: The family's coastal origins. The surname Pictor , borne by another family of the Fabii, signifies a painter, and the earliest known member of this family was indeed a painter, famed for his work in the temple of Salus , built by Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus between 307 and 302 BC. The later members of this family, several of whom were distinguished in the arts, appear to have been his descendants, and must have taken their cognomen from this ancestor. The cognomen Labeo —originally denoting someone with prominent lips—appears at

2835-430: The figures of Rome's legendary past, including through otherwise unknown sons of Numa. Modern historians dismiss these as late inventions, but the claim of the Aemilii was much older, and there was no corresponding need to demonstrate the antiquity of a gens that was already prominent at the beginning of the Republic. In any case, the Aemilii, like Numa, were almost certainly of Sabine origin. The praenomen Mamercus

2898-429: The first of that name might have been the second son of Quintus Marcius Philippus, the consul of 281. The Figuli flourished until the end of the Republic, and obtained two consulships. Ralla seems to be the next surname of the Marcii, first appearing toward the close of the third century BC. It may mean "scraper", and Chase suggests a common origin with the radula , or "scraper", a standard carpentry tool. This family

2961-586: The highest offices of the state, from the early decades of the Republic to imperial times . The Aemilii were almost certainly one of the gentes maiores , the most important of the patrician families. Their name was associated with three major roads (the Via Aemilia , the Via Aemilia Scauri , and the Via Aemilia in Hirpinis  [ it ] ), an administrative region of Italy, and

3024-458: The history of the Republic, the Fabii made several alliances with other prominent families, especially plebeian and Italian ones, which partly explains their long prominence. The first of such alliances that can be traced dates from the middle of the fifth century and was with the Poetelii ; it lasted for at least a century. In the fourth century, the Fabii were allied to the patrician Manlii and

3087-456: The incorporation of the Sabines into the nascent Roman state. It may nonetheless be noted that, even supposing this tradition to be based on actual historical events, the followers of the brothers were described as "shepherds," and presumably included many of the people then living in the countryside where the city of Rome was to be built. The hills of Rome were already inhabited at the time of

3150-438: The later Marcii known to history were plebeians. If any of them were descendants of Coriolanus, then they must have stepped down or been removed from the patrician order. The surname Coriolanus does not appear to have been passed down to later generations of the Marcii. The earliest family of the plebeian Marcii bore the surname of Rutilus , meaning "reddish", probably signifying that the first of this family had red hair. It

3213-530: The meaning of "servant", perhaps in the religious sense. The only surname associated with the patrician Marcii was Coriolanus , which does not seem to have represented a distinct family of the Marcian gens. During the time of the Republic, the plebeian Marcii bore the cognomina Censorinus, Crispus, Figulus, Libo, Philippus, Ralla, Rex, Rufus, Rutilus, Septimus, Sermo , and Tremulus . Those of Censorinus, Libo , and Philippus are found on coins. Coriolanus ,

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3276-495: The men, but the women and children of the family as well. They and the elders of the gens probably remained at Rome. This story was considerably embellished at a later date in order to present the Battle of the Cremera as a Roman counterpart to the Greek Battle of Thermopylae . However, historian Tim Cornell writes that there is no reason to doubt the historicity of the battle, because the tribus Fabia —presumably where

3339-416: The name from fovea , ditches, which the ancestors of the Fabii were said to have used in order to capture wolves. It is uncertain whether the Fabii were of Latin or Sabine origin. Niebuhr , followed by Göttling, considered them Sabines. However, other scholars are unsatisfied with their reasoning, and point out that the legend associating the Fabii with Romulus and Remus would place them at Rome before

3402-480: The name of one of the ancient Kings of Alba Longa , and the grandfather of Romulus , and may share a common root with the praenomen Numerius , which remained in use at Rome for many centuries; Chase suggests a meaning related to "arranger" or "orderer", which would suit both Numa Pompilius and his kinsman, Numa Marcius. For Ancus , otherwise known only from the legendary founder of the Publicia gens , he suggests

3465-434: The only patrician gens to make regular use of Numerius , which appears in the family after the destruction of the Fabii at the Cremera. According to the tradition related by Festus , this praenomen entered the gens when Quintus Fabius Vibulanus , the consul of 467, married a daughter of Numerius Otacilius of Maleventum, and bestowed his father-in-law's name on his son. Although the Fabii Ambusti and some later branches of

3528-483: The patricians and the senate against the plebs . However, following a great battle that year against the Veientes , in which victory was achieved only by cooperation between the generals and their soldiers, the Fabii aligned themselves with the plebs. One of the thirty-five voting tribes into which the Roman people were divided was named after the Fabii; several tribes were named after important gentes, including

3591-588: The plebeian Genucii and Licinii , whom they supported during the Conflict of the Orders . They then occupied an unprecedented leading position in the third century, as three generations of Fabii were princeps senatus —a unique occurrence during the Republic. During this period, they allied with the plebeian Atilii from Campania , where the Fabii had significant estates, the Fulvii and Mamilii from Tusculum ,

3654-507: The time of the emperor Hadrian , but properly speaking these appear to have belonged to the Messia gens, and probably claimed descent from the more illustrious Aemilii through a female line. Barbula , or "little beard", occurs as the surname of one branch of the Aemilii, which appears in history for about a century beginning in the time of the Samnite Wars, and accounting for several consulships. Paullus , occasionally found as Paulus ,

3717-446: The tribes Aemilia, Claudia, Cornelia, Fabia, Papiria, Publilia, Sergia , and Veturia . Several of the others appear to have been named after lesser families. The most famous legend of the Fabii asserts that, following the last of the seven consecutive consulships in 479 BC, the gens undertook the war with Veii as a private obligation. A militia consisting of over three hundred men of the gens, together with their friends and clients,

3780-428: Was an old praenomen, meaning "little". As a praenomen, its masculine form had fallen into disuse at Rome, although the feminine form, Paulla , in various orthographies, was very common. As a surname, Paullus appeared in many families down to the latest period of the Empire, but none were more famous than the Aemilii Paulli. This family was descended from Marcus Aemilius Paullus, consul in 302 BC, and vanished with

3843-456: Was famous for its statesmen and its military exploits, which lasted from the Samnite Wars , in the fourth century BC until the wars with the Germanic invaders of the second century BC. Most, if not all of the later Fabii Maximi were descendants of Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus , one of the Aemilii Paulli, who as a child was adopted into that illustrious family. Buteo , which described

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3906-444: Was sometimes said to have taught Numa. However, as Livy observed, this was not possible, as Pythagoras was not born until more than a century after Numa's death, and was still living in the early days of the Republic. This Mamercus is said to have received the name of Aemilius because of the persuasiveness of his language ( δι᾽ αἱμυλίαν λόγου ), although such a derivation is certainly false etymology . A more likely derivation

3969-457: Was the fame of this dynasty, that it is not entirely impossible that the name had reached Rome at an earlier date. The Philippi were proud of this association since Lucius Marcius Philippus, the consul of 91, even put the portrait of Philip V of Macedon on the denarii he minted. Friedrich Münzer considers that the Marcii bearing the cognomen Figulus ("potter") were linked to the Philippi;

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