The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at ancient Rome, which from an early period was divided into patrician and plebeian branches. The gens was of great antiquity. It frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of the Republic. The first of the family who obtained the consulship was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early tribunes of the people.[1]

Origin

The orthography of the nomen Verginius or Virginius has been disputed since ancient times; but Verginius is the form usually found in both manuscripts and inscriptions. Modern writers seem to favor Virginius, perhaps by analogy to virgo, a maiden. A similar instance is presented by the nomen Vergilius, which in modern times is often spelt Virgilius.[2] The gens was likely of Etruscan origins, and may have come to Rome with the Tarquins.[3]

Praenomina

The early Verginii favored the praenomina Opiter, Proculus, Titus, Aulus, Lucius, and Spurius. In later times they used mainly Lucius, Aulus, and Titus.[4][5][6]

Branches and cognomina

All of the patrician Verginii bore the cognomen Tricostus, but they were divided into various families with the surnames of Caeliomontanus, Esquilinus, and Rutilus, respectively. The surnames Caeliomontanus and Esquilinus presumably derive from the Caelian and Esquiline Hills, where these families probably lived. Rutilus is derived from a Latin adjective, meaning "reddish," and was probably acquired because some of the Verginii had red hair. The general Lucius Verginius Rufus, who lived in the 1st century AD, may have obtained his cognomen for the same reason. Although the plebeian Verginii are also mentioned at an early period, none of them had any cognomen. Under the Empire there are Verginii with other surnames.[7][8]

Members

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

Verginii Tricosti

Tricosti Caeliomontani

Tricosti Esquilini

Tricosti Rutili

Others

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  2. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  3. ^ Ogilvie, Commentary, p. 277.
  4. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  5. ^ T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1952).
  6. ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft.
  7. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  8. ^ D.P. Simpson, Cassell's Latin & English Dictionary (1963).
  9. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 17.
  10. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, v. 49.
  11. ^ T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1952).
  12. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 54.
  13. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, iv. 21.
  14. ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, xii. 49.
  15. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, vi. 1.
  16. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 21.
  17. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, vi. 2.
  18. ^ T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1952), vol. 1 p. 12
  19. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 28-30
  20. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, vi. 34, 42, 69.
  21. ^ Quintus Asconius Pedianus, in Cornel., p. 76, ed. Orelli.
  22. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 63
  23. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, ix. 56.
  24. ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, xi. 70.
  25. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, iii. 31.
  26. ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, xii. 4.
  27. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, x. 31.
  28. ^ Censorinus, De Die Natali, 17.
  29. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, x. 40.
  30. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, iii. 65.
  31. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, xi. 51.
  32. ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, xii. 27.
  33. ^ Fasti Capitolini.
  34. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, v. 8, 9, 11, 12.
  35. ^ T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1952), vol. 1 p. 83 and note.
  36. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 41.
  37. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, viii. 68, ix. 51.
  38. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 48, 49, iii. 7.
  39. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, ix. 14.
  40. ^ T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1952).
  41. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 51.
  42. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, ix. 25.
  43. ^ T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1952).
  44. ^ Livy, Ab urbe condita, ii. 29-30.
  45. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, iii. 11-13.
  46. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, v. 29.
  47. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, x. 23.
  48. ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, xxvii. 43.
  49. ^ Marcus Tullius Cicero, Brutus, 48.
  50. ^ Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, "Sulla," 10.
  51. ^ Appianus, Bellum Civile, iv. 48.
  52. ^ Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Historiae, iii. 77, iv. 3.
  53. ^ Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Claris Rhetoribus, "Persius."
  54. ^ Burmann, Praefat. ad. Cic. Herennium. ed. Schütz, p. xiv.
  55. ^ Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, Epistulae, vi. 21.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. ((cite encyclopedia)): Missing or empty |title= (help)

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