Afrania gens
The gens Afrania was a plebeian family at Rome, which is first mentioned in the 2nd century BC. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gaius Afranius Stellio, who became praetor in 185 BC.[1]
Origin of the gens
The Afranii may have been of Picentine origin. Lucius Afranius, who held the consulship in 60 BC, was from Picenum, and a Titus Afranius or Afrenius was one of the leaders of the Italian confederates during the Marsic War.[2]
Praenomina used by the gens
During the Republic, the Afranii used the praenomina Gaius, Lucius, Spurius, and Marcus. Publius and Sextus appear in imperial times.[3]
Branches and cognomina of the gens
The only cognomen of this gens which occurs under the Republic is Stellio.[4]
Members of the gens
- Gaius Afranius Stellio, praetor in 185, and triumvir for founding a colony in 183 BC.[5]
- Gaius Afranius C. f. Stellio, served in the war against Perseus, and taken captive at the surrender of the Roman garrison at Uscana, 169 BC.[6]
- Spurius Afranius, appears on coins.[7]
- Marcus Afranius, appears on coins.[8]
- Lucius Afranius, a comic poet, who lived at the beginning of the 1st century BC
- Lucius Afranius, legate of Gnaeus Pompeius, and consul in 60 BC.
- Gaia Afrania, wife of the senator Licinius Buccio.
- Lucius Afranius L. f., negotiated with Caesar in Hispania for his life and that of his father.[9]
- Publius Afranius Potitus, executed by Caligula.
- Sextus Afranius Burrus, tutor and advisor to the emperor Nero, and murdered by him in AD 63.
- Afranius Quintianus, compelled to commit suicide as a result of his part in Piso's conspiracy against Nero in AD 65.[10]
- Afranius Dexter, a friend of the epigrammatist Marcus Valerius Martialis, consul suffectus in AD 98, and killed during his consulship.[11][12]
See also
List of Roman gentes
References
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
- ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xxxix. 23, 25.
- ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xliii. 18, 19.
- ^ Eckhel, v. p. 132 ff.
- ^ Eckhel, v. p. 132 ff.
- ^ Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civili, i. 74, 84
- ^ Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales xv. 49, 56, 70.
- ^ Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, Epistulae v. 14.
- ^ Marcus Valerius Martialis, Epigrammata vii. 27.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).