Annia (gens)

The gens Annia was a plebeian family of considerable antiquity at Rome. The first person of this name whom Livy mentions is the Latin praetor Lucius Annius of Setia, a Roman colony in 340 BC. By the time of the Second Punic War, the Annii were obtaining minor magistracies at Rome, and in 153 BC, Titus Annius Luscus attained the consulship. The gens remained prominent at Rome through the first century. The emperor Marcus Aurelius was descended from a family of this name.[1]

Origin

Although the earliest of the Annii was from the Volscian town of Setia, he seems to have been a Latin, and the names used by the various members of this family are consistent with a Latin origin. Whether Roman Annii were descended from this Lucius Annius is not known. At least one early Annius was from Campania, but by this time, the family was already established at Rome.[1]

Praenomina

The main families of the Annii at Rome used the praenomina Titus, Lucius, and Gaius. The Annii Lusci preferred Titus and Gaius, while the Annii Bellieni used Lucius and Gaius. Other members of the gens used Lucius, Publius, Gaius, and Quintus.[1]

Branches and cognomina

A number of Annii during the Republic bore no cognomen. The principal branches of the Annii were surnamed Luscus and Bellienus (or Bilienus). Luscus is derived from a word variously translated as "one-eyed", "bleary-eyed", or "partly blind". It must have been applied to an ancestor of the oldest family of the gens, and the only one to obtain the consulship at Rome. One member of this family bore the additional surname Rufus, probably in reference to his red hair. The last noteworthy member of the family became known as Milo, apparently a reference to a notorious robber in southern Italy. A variety of surnames were borne by individual Annii, including Asellus, Bassus, Cimber, Faustus, Gallus, and Pollio.[1]

Members of the gens

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

Annii Lusci

Annii Bellieni

Annii Veri

Others

See also

List of Roman gentes

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  2. Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xxi. 25.
  3. Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xlii. 25, xliii. 17.
  4. Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Tiberius Gracchus 14.
  5. Fasti Capitolini
  6. Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Jugurthine War 104.
  7. T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1952).
  8. Quintus Asconius Pedianus, in Toga Candida p. 92, ed. Orelli.
  9. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Fonteio 4.
  10. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Philippicae ii. 36.
  11. Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae vii. 9.
  12. Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita ix. 46.
  13. Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX vi. 4. § 1.
  14. Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xxiii. 6, 22.
  15. Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Jugurthine War 37.
  16. Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX ix. 2. § 2.
  17. Appianus, Bellum Civile i. 72.
  18. Marcus Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History ii. 41.
  19. Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Sertorius 7.
  20. Marcus Tullius Cicero, In Verrem i. 41 ff.
  21. Gaius Sallustius Crispus, The Conspiracy of Catiline 17, 50.
  22. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales vi. 9, xv. 56, 71, xvi. 30.
  23. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Historiae ii. 10.
  24. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Historiae iii. 50.
  25. 25.0 25.1 Birley, The Roman government of Britain p. 112
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 Pomeroy, The murder of Regilla: a case of domestic violence in antiquity
  27. 27.0 27.1 Birley, The Roman government of Britain p. 114
  28. de:Appius Annius Atilius Bradua

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.