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This article is about Gens in the ancient world. For Gens in Nova Roma, see Gens (Nova Roma).

Introduction

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.

Early social organization in central Italy was centered around the gens, (clan), an "aristocratic lineage or group of lineages and some of their lesser followers and dependents"^[1] . Inscriptions from the 7th century BCE show names consisting by that date of praenomen (identifies the individual) and nomen (identifies the gens)^[1] .

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.

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.

For more on selecting a Roman name in Nova Roma, visit Choosing a Roman name.

Gentes of ancient Rome

The following is a list of the more common gentes see in Roman history. This list is not exhaustive.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Gentes of ancient Rome 2.1 Albia 2.2 Ambrosia 2.2.1 Ambrosia in Nova Roma 2.3 Mucia 2.4 Sicinia 2.5 Suetonia 2.6 References

Albia

No persons of this gens obtained any offices in the state till the first century B. C. They all bore the cognomen CARRINAS. ^[2]

Ambrosia

The name Ambrosius is derived from the Greek name Αμβροσιος (Ambrosios) meaning "immortal." It was a common Roman cognomen. St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan (c340-397) was born at Trier, where his father Aurelius Ambrosius was Praefectus of Gallia Narbonensis.

As a nomen, Ambrosius is documented in the Late Empire. Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius was a Roman grammarian and Neoplatonic philosopher who flourished during the reigns of Honorius and Arcadius (395-423). As usual for this period, his praenomen is not known. He tells us that that Latin was to him a foreign tongue, but no evidence about his origin survives. He is variously thought to have been Greek or African. He might have been the Macrobius who was mentioned in the Codex Theodosianus as a praetorian prefect of Spain in 399-400, proconsul of Africa in 410, and lord chamberlain in 422. His Saturnalia is a dialogue in seven books. It is chiefly a literary evaluation of Vergil. Macrobius also wrote a commentary on Cicero's Dream of Scipio, which was popular in the Middle Ages and influenced Chaucer. Macrobius was among the first to hold the idea of a spherical earth.

Ambrosius Aurelianus (fl. 440), called the "Last of the Romans", led the Romans in Britain following the withdrawal of the legions in 410. He gave his name to Amesbury in Wiltshire. According to Gildas, Ambrosius was "courageous, faithful, valiant and true; a man of Roman birth who had alone survived the conflict, his parents, who had worn the purple, having perished in the struggle; his descendants, greatly degenerated in these days from the excellence of their grandfather, still provoke their conquerors [the Saxons] to battle, and by the grace of God their prayers for victory are heard."^[3] According to Bede, Ambrosius came to power in 479.^[4] Fragments of his life were preserved in the Historia Britonum.^[5] In Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudo-history, he is incorrectly called Aurelius Ambrosius and said, controversially, to have been a son of Constantine III, who was elected Emperor of Britannia, Gaul and Hispania in the reign of [Honorius].^[6] Ambrosius' history became entangled with, and obscured by, the legend of King Arthur, his supposed nephew.

Ambrosia in Nova Roma

Gens Ambrosia was one of the original gentes of Nova Roma. Its early members were patrician. When its founder Lucian Ambrosius Neptunius left Nova Roma in April 2751 a.u.c., Merlinia Ambrosia Artoria became the materfamilias. Its members have previously shared an interest in Roman Britannia.

Mucia

Mucia was a very ancient patrician house, ascending to the earliest aera of the republic (Dionys. A. R. 5.25; Liv. 2.12). It existed in later times, however, only as a plebeian house. Its only cognomens are CORDUS and SCAEVOLA, under which are given all persons of the name of Mucius.^[7]

Sicinia

Sicinia patrician and plebeian. The only patrician member of the gens was T. Sicinius Sabinus, who was consul B. C. 487. [SABINUS, p. 691a.] All the other Sicinii mentioned in history were plebeians; and although none of them obtained the consulship, they gained great celebrity by their advocacy of the rights of the plebeians in the struggles between the two orders. There are a few coins of this gens; one example of which, on the obverse is a female head, with "FORT. P. R." i. e. Fortune Populi Romani, and on the reverse a caduceus and a palm branch, with " Q. SICINIVS IIIVIR." This Q. Sicinius is not mentioned by any ancient writer. (Eckhel. vol. v. p. 313.)^[8]

Suetonia

References

1. ↑ ^1.1 1.2 Boatwright, M., Gargola, D., Talbert, R. (2004), "The Romans From Village to Empire", Oxford University Press
2. ↑ William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street. In the article on Soranus, we find: "at this present time (1848)" and this date seems to reflect the dates of works cited. 1873 - probably the printing date.
3. ↑ Gildas, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, circa 540
4. ↑ Bede, Chronica Majora, 725
5. ↑ Nennius, Historia Britonum, circa 833
6. ↑ Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae, circa 1136
7. ↑ William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street. In the article on Soranus, we find: "at this present time (1848)" and this date seems to reflect the dates of works cited. 1873 - probably the printing date.
8. ↑ William Smith. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street. In the article on Soranus, we find: "at this present time (1848)" and this date seems to reflect the dates of works cited. 1873 - probably the printing date.