The gens Furia, originally written Fusia, and sometimes found as Fouria on coins, 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 in 488 BC.[1]
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. This change probably occurred after the orthographic reform of Appius Claudius Caecus, passed during his censorship in 312 BC.[2][3] 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][4]
As the first member of the gens that occurs in history, Sextus Furius, BC 488, is only five years later than the treaty of isopolity which Spurius Cassius Vecellinus 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][5]
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.[1][4]
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.
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 poet during the late second century BC bore the praenomen Aulus, while a Furius of equestrian rank during the time of Cicero was named Numerius.[1]
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]
The oldest branch of the Furii bore the surname Medullinus, which may indicate that they had originally come from the Latin town of Medullia.[1][7] All of the early Medullini probably bore the additional surname Fusus, probably an ancient praenomen that had fallen out of use before historical times, from which the nomen Furius (originally Fusius) was derived.[i][4] This surname was also borne by the Furii Pacili, who were probably a cadet branch of the Medullini; Chase considers Pacilus a surname of Oscan origin, suggesting that this branch of the family had Sabine connections.[8] Fusus was probably applicable to all of the early Furii, but was sometimes dropped or used in place of other surnames. Those Furii mentioned without any surname other than Fusus probably belonged to either the Medullini or the Pacili, and did not constitute a separate family.[1]
The Furii Camilli were descended from the dictator Marcus Furius Camillus, one of the most famous heroes of the early Republic, credited both with the final defeat of Veii, and with driving the Gauls from Rome following the Gallic sack of Rome in 390 BC.[9] He was a younger son of Lucius Furius Medullinus Fusus, who had thrice served as consular tribune. A camillus was a youth entrusted with certain religious obligations, a role likely to be filled by the younger son of a prominent magistrate.[10] The family then vanishes during the last three centuries of the Republic, but reappears under the early Empire. According to Ronald Syme, their fortune was restored by Augustus, who tried to revive several impoverished patrician families.[11]
Of the other surnames borne by families of the Furii, Aculeo, "sharp", is probably derived from aculeus, a spur;[7] Bibaculus originally referred to a tippler;[12] Brocchus to someone with prominent teeth;[13] Crassipes means "thick-footed";[14] Luscus "one-eyed";[13] and Philus is borrowed from the Greek Φιλος.[15]
The cognomen Purpureo, "rosy, purple", might originally have referred to a person's complexion, but may also have alluded to the family's wealth and influence, or some trading connection; a coin of this family depicts a murex-shell, the source of the expensive dye Tyrian purple, with which the most luxurious clothing was coloured. The toga picta, originally worn by the Roman kings, and later by triumphant generals, and the broad stripe of the toga praetexta, worn by senators and curule magistrates, were dyed with Tyrian purple. A similar reference to togae was made by a family of the patrician gens Sulpicia, which bore the cognomen Praetextatus.[14][6]
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 a particular family of the Furii, as is expressly stated in the case of one of them.[1]
