Acilia (gens)

This article is about the Roman family. For the genus of diving beetles, see Acilius (genus).

The gens Acilia was a Roman family, or gens, which flourished from the middle of the 3rd century BC until at least the 5th century, a period of seven hundred years. It was probably of plebeian origin, and the first two stirpes to appear were certainly plebeian. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Acilius Glabrio, who was quaestor in 203 and tribune of the plebs in 197 BC.[1]

Contents

Praenomina used by the gens

The Acilii were particularly fond of the praenomina Manius, which they used more than any other. They also used the names Gaius, Lucius, Caeso, and Marcus.[1]

Branches and cognomina of the gens

The three main branches of the Acilii bore the cognomina Aviola, Balbus, and Glabrio. The Glabriones were the first family to appear in history, and they continued the longest. Both they and the Balbi are were certainly plebeian, as many of them were tribunes of the plebs. A tomb of the Acilii Glabriones was found in Rome in 1888. The Glabriones also had a garden, the Horti Aciliorum, on the Pincian Hill in the 2nd century.[1]

Members of the gens

See also

List of Roman gentes

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor
  2. ^ Marcus Tullius Cicero, In Verrem, Act. Pr. 17, ii. 1, 9.
  3. ^ Pseudo-Asconius, in Act. I. Verr. p. 149, in Act. II. Verr. p. 165, ed. Orelli.
  4. ^ a b Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor (s. v. M. Annaeus Mela).

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).