The gens Sabellia was an obscure plebeian family at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, and none of them achieved any of the higher offices of the Roman state. The most famous of this family was Sabellius of Ptolemais in Pentapolis, the author of the so-called Sabellian Heresy. Other Sabellii are known from inscriptions.[1]

Origin

The nomen Sabellius belongs to a class of gentilicia typically formed directly from cognomina ending in -illus and -ellus, typically diminutive suffixes. The surname Sabellus referred to a member of the Oscan-speaking peoples of central and southern Italy, particularly the Sabines, Marsi, Samnites, and their relatives, and thus the name belongs to a common type of cognomen derived from the names of peoples and places of origin.[2]

Branches and cognomina

The only cognomina known from this gens were Primus, first, a surname that usually indicated the eldest of a group of siblings, and Dilectus, dear or beloved. There is no evidence that either of these represented distinct families of the Sabellii.[3]

Members

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

Footnotes

  1. ^ Timotheus, presbyter of Byzantium, calls Sabellius bishop of the Pentapolis, and distinguishes him from Sabellius the Libyan, but without evidence. Abulpharagius calls him a presbyter of Byzantium, but this is contradicted by all of the evidence.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, pp. 685, 686 ("Sabellius").
  2. ^ Chase, pp. 113, 114, 124.
  3. ^ New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. s. dilectus, primus.
  4. ^ Cicero, Brutus, 34. s. 131.
  5. ^ AE 1987, 285.
  6. ^ CIL IX, 396.
  7. ^ CIL VI, 10108.

Bibliography

Category