Furia (gens)

The gens Furia, originally written Fusia, was one of the most ancient and noble patrician houses at Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the state throughout the period of the Roman Republic. The first of the Furii to attain the consulship was Sextus Furius Medullinus in 488 BC.[1]

Origin

The antiquity of the Furii is confirmed by the ancient form of the nomen, Fusius, found in the earliest days of the Republic. A similar process derived the nomina Papirius, Valerius and Veturius from Papisius, Valesius and Vetusius. History leaves us in darkness as to the origin of the Furia gens. A legendary figure named Spurius Fusius appears representing the Roman priests in the time of Tullus Hostilius. From sepulchral inscriptions found at Tusculum, we see that the name Furius was very common at that place, and hence it is generally inferred that the Furia gens, like the Fulvia, had come from Tusculum.[1][2]

As the first member of the gens that occurs in history, Sex. Furius Medullinus, BC 488, is only five years later than the treaty of isopolity which Spurius Cassius Viscellinus concluded with the Latins, to whom the Tusculans belonged, the supposition of the Tusculan origin of the Furia gens does not appear at all improbable. However, the cognomen Medullinus, which belonged to the oldest branch of the gens, may indicate that the family came from the ancient Latin city of Medullia, which was conquered by Ancus Marcius, the fourth King of Rome, toward the end of the 7th century BC.[1][3]

The nomen Furius is a patronymic surname derived from Fusus, apparently an ancient praenomen that had fallen out of use before historical times. This name was preserved, however, as a cognomen used by many of the early Furii, including the families of the Medullini and the Pacili. Cossus, a surname of the gens Cornelia, which they later revived as a praenomen, may have had a similar origin.[1][2]

Praenomina

The principal names used by members of this family are Lucius, Spurius, Publius, Marcus, Agrippa, Sextus, and Quintus. The Furii Pacili used Gaius, a name not used by other branches of the gens.[1]

Other praenomina appear towards the end of the Republic, and may represent plebeian branches of the family. The Furii Brocchi are distinguished by their use of Gnaeus and Titus. A late 2nd century BC poet bore the praenomen Aulus, while a Furius of equestrian rank during the time of Cicero was named Numerius.[1]

Branches and cognomina

The cognomina of this gens are Aculeo, Bibaculus, Brocchus, Camillus, Crassipes, Fusus, Luscus, Medullinus, Pacilus, Philus, and Purpureo. The only cognomina that occur on coins are Brocchus, Crassipes, Philus, and Purpureo.[1]

Fusus was a surname of two families, the Medullini and Pacili. Some members of the Furia gens, who occur in the Fasti without any other surname than that of Fusus, probably belonged either to the Medullini or the Pacili, and must not be regarded as forming a separate family.[1]

There are some persons bearing the gentile name Furius, who were plebeians, since they are mentioned as tribunes of the plebs; and those persons either had gone over from the patricians to the plebeians, or they were descended from freedmen or some family of the Furii, as is expressly stated in the case of one of them.[1]

Members

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

Early Fusii

Furii Medullini

Furii Fusi

Furii Pacili

Furii Camilli

Furii Phili

Furii Bibaculi

Furii Purpureones

Furii Crassipedes

Furii Brocchi

Others

See also

List of Roman gentes

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  2. 1 2 George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897).
  3. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita i. 32, 33.
  4. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita i. 24.
  5. ↑ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia ix. 63.
  6. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita iii. 5.
  7. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita iv. 25, 35, 45.
  8. 1 2 3 Fasti Capitolini
  9. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita vi. 31.
  10. ↑ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica xiv. 35.
  11. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita v. 32.
  12. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita vii. 1.
  13. ↑ Suda, s. v. Πραιτωρ.
  14. ↑ Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales xii. 52, Historiae ii. 75.
  15. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xxii. 53.
  16. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xli. 21., xliii. 2.
  17. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xlii. 28, 31, xliii. 13.
  18. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xxii. 49.
  19. ↑ Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX i. 1. § 9.
  20. ↑ Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Ligario
  21. ↑ Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX vi. 1. § 13.
  22. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita iii. 1.
  23. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita iii. 54.
  24. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita ix. 42.
  25. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xxxi. 21.
  26. ↑ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita xxxviii. 55.
  27. ↑ Marcus Tullius Cicero, In Verrem v. 43.
  28. ↑ Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Oratore iii. 23.
  29. ↑ Marcus Tullius Cicero, In Catilinam iii. 6.
  30. ↑ Gaius Sallustius Crispus, The Conspiracy of Catiline 50.
  31. ↑ P.I. Besier, Diss. de Furio Anthiano, J.C. ejusque fragmentis, Lug. Bat. 1803.

 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. 

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