Aquillia (gens)

The gens Aquillia or Aquilia was a family at Rome with both patrician and plebeian branches. This gens was of great antiquity. Two of the Aquillii are mentioned among the Roman nobles who conspired to bring back the Tarquins, and a member of the house, Gaius Aquillius Tuscus, is mentioned as consul was early as 487 BC.^[1]^[2]

1 Origin of the gens
2 Praenomina used by the gens
3 Branches and cognomina of the gens
4 Members of the gens
5 See also
6 Notes

Origin of the gens

The nomen Aquilius or Aquillius is probably derived from aquila, an eagle. On coins and inscriptions the name is almost always written Aquillius, but in manuscripts generally with a single l. The oldest branch of the family bore the cognomen Tuscus, suggesting that the gens may have been of Etruscan origin, although the nomen of the gens is indisputably Latin, and the name Tuscus could have been acquired in other ways.^[3]

Praenomina used by the gens

The oldest families of the Aquillii bore the praenomina Gaius, Lucius, and Marcus, which were the three most common names at all periods of Roman history. However, one family, which rose to considerable prominence in the final century of the Republic, preferred the less-common praenomen Manius.^[4]

Branches and cognomina of the gens

The cognomina of the Aquillii under the Republic are Corvus, Crassus, Florus, Gallus, and Tuscus.^[5]

Tuscus, the oldest surname of the gens, means "Etruscan", and this branch of the family was certainly patrician. Corvus refers to a raven. This surname is more famous from the gens Valeria. The Aquilii Flori first appear during the First Punic War, although they must have existed since the 4th century BC, and flourished at least until the time of Augustus. Gallus may refer to a cock, or to a Gaul. Crassus, a surname common in many gentes, may be translated as "thick," "dull," "simple," or "crude."^[6]

Members of the gens

Aquilii Tusci

Gaius Aquillius Tuscus, consul in 487 BC, carried on war against the Hernici, and received an Ovation.

Aquilii Corvi

Lucius Aquillius Corvus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 388 BC.

Aquilii Flori

Gaius Aquillius Florus, grandfather of the consul of 259 BC.
Marcus Aquillius Florus, father of the consul of 259 BC.
Gaius Aquillius M. f. C. n. Florus, consul in 259 BC, the sixth year of the First Punic War.
Lucius Aquillius Florus, triumvir monetalis under Augustus.^[7]

Aquilii Galli

Lucius Aquillius Gallus, praetor in 170 BC, obtained Sicily for his province.^[8]
Gaius Aquillius Gallus, praetor in 67 BC, an early jurist, and pupil of Quintus Mucius Scaevola.

Others

Manius Aquillius M'. f. M'. n., consul in 129 BC, triumphed over Aristonicus of Pergamon.
Manius Aquillius M'. f. M'. n., consul in 101 BC, captured and put to death by Mithradates in 88 BC.
Manius Aquillius M'. f. M'. n., a senator, and triumvir monetalis in 71 BC.
Aquillia, reportedly engaged to marry Quintus Tullius Cicero circa 44 BC.^[9]
Marcus Aquilius Crassus, praetor in 43 BC, sent by the Senate to oppose Octavianus, and later proscribed. Perhaps the same as Acilius, also proscribed, whose escape is related by Appian.^[10]
Aquilius Niger, a writer referred to by Suetonius for a statement respecting the death of the consul Hirtius.^[11]
Marcus Aquillius Julianus, consul in AD 38.^[12]^[13]
Marcus Aquillius Regulus, one of the delatores, or informers, in the time of Nero, and again under Domitian.
Aquillius Severus, a minor poet from Hispania during the time of Valentinian I.^[14]

Notes

^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita ii. 4.
^ 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.
^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
^ Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum v. 142, 143, vi. 94-99.
^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xli. 18, 19.
^ Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum xiv. 13, 17.
^ Appianus, Bellum Civile iii. 93, 94, iv. 39.
^ Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum Augustus 11.
^ Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History lix. 9.
^ Sextus Julius Frontinus, De Aquaeductu 13.
^ Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, De Viris Illustribus c. 3.

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