Gens (Nova Roma)

A gens is a group of families sharing a common nomen: for example, P. Cornelius Scipio, L. Cornelius Sulla, and P. Cornelius Dolabella were all Cornelii, or members of the gens Cornelia.

Membership of a gens is hereditary: a Roman child is in the gens of his or her father. Some ancient gentes claimed that all their members were descended from a common ancestor, but this was perhaps never true; in any case it was not true by the middle of the ancient republic, and is certainly not true today.

Nonetheless, in ancient times many noble gentes maintained close internal ties of kinship and support, and members of the same gens were often political allies. Many gentes also had shared religious traditions (sacra gentilicia), and it was socially unacceptable for members of the same gens to marry.