Numitoria (gens)

The gens Numitoria was an ancient but minor plebeian family at Rome. The first member of this gens to appear in history was Lucius Numitorius, elected tribune of the plebs in 472 BC. Although Numitorii are found down to the final century of the Republic, none of them ever held any of the higher magistracies.^[1]

Origin

The nomen Numitorius is a patronymic surname, based on the name Numitor, traditionally remembered as the name of the grandfather of Romulus and Remus, and the last of the Silvan kings of Alba Longa. Chase considers this to have been a genuine name from Latium's archaic past, signifying one who "arranges" or "orders".^{[lower-roman 1][2]}

Branches and cognomina

The only surname occurring among the Numitorii of the Republic is Pullus, meaning "dark" or "black".^[1][3]

Members

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

• Lucius Numitorius, elected tribune of the plebs in 470 BC, the first year in which the tribunes were elected by the comitia tributa.^[4][5]
• Numitoria, wife of the centurion Lucius Verginius, and the mother of Verginia.^[6]
• Publius Numitorius, the uncle of Verginia, opposed the schemes of Appius Claudius Crassus, and after the downfall of the decemvirs in 449 BC, was elected tribune of the plebs. He accused the decemvir Spurius Oppius Cornicen of cruelly beating an old soldier, resulting in Oppius' condemnation and execution.^[7][8][9]
• Quintus Numitorius Pullus, a native of Fregellae, which revolted in 125 BC, demanding Roman citizenship. Numitorius betrayed the Fregellates to the praetor Lucius Opimius, who captured and destroyed the town. His daughter was the wife of Marcus Antonius Creticus.^[10][11][12]
• Numitoria Q. f., the wife of Marcus Antonius Creticus. They had no children.^[13]
• Gaius Numitorius, a member of the aristocratic party, was put to death by Marius and Cinna after they entered Rome in 88 BC. Numitorius' body was then dragged through the forum.^[14][15]
• Gaius Numitorius, an eques who testified against Verres.^[16]
• Numitorius, the publisher of Vergil's Eclogues.^[17]

Footnotes

See also

• List of Roman gentes

References

Bibliography

• Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Inventione, In Verrem, Philippicae.
• Publius Vergilius Maro (Vergil), Eclogues (Bucolics).
• Titus Livius (Livy), Ab Urbe Condita (History of Rome).
• Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia.
• Marcus Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History.
• Lucius Annaeus Florus, Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum Omnium Annorum DCC (Epitome of Livy: All the Wars of Seven Hundred Years).
• Appianus Alexandrinus (Appian), Bellum Civile (The Civil War).
• Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Cassius Dio), Roman History.
• Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
• George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897).
• Paul von Rohden, Elimar Klebs, & Hermann Dessau, Prosopographia Imperii Romani (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire, abbreviated PIR), Berlin (1898).
• T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952).
• John C. Traupman, The New College Latin & English Dictionary, Bantam Books, New York (1995).