Acerronia (gens)
Encyclopedia
The gens Acerronia was a plebeian family at Rome
during the late Republic
and early Empire
. The most distinguished member of the gens
was Gnaeus Acerronius Proculus
, consul
in AD 37.
, where Gnaeus Acerronius Proculus had lived before becoming consul. However, the family was known to Cicero
at least a century earlier.
known to have been used by the family is Gnaeus
. However, the Acerronii may once have used the name Proculus
, which they later bore as a cognomen
. They probably also used the feminine praenomen Paulla, which appears as a personal cognomen in the 1st century.
and may have been an inverted praenomen.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
during the late Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
and early Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The most distinguished member of the gens
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
was Gnaeus Acerronius Proculus
Gnaeus Acerronius Proculus
Gnaeus Acerronius Proculus was a consul of the Roman Empire in 37 AD, the year in which Tiberius died. He was perhaps a descendant of the Cn. Acerronius whom Cicero mentions in his oration for Tullius, Pro Tullio, from 71 BC, as a vir optimus...
, consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
in AD 37.
Origin of the gens
The Acerronii may have come from LucaniaLucania
Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium...
, where Gnaeus Acerronius Proculus had lived before becoming consul. However, the family was known to Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
at least a century earlier.
Praenomina used by the gens
The only praenomenPraenomen
The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
known to have been used by the family is Gnaeus
Gnaeus (praenomen)
Gnaeus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. The feminine form is Gnaea. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Naevia...
. However, the Acerronii may once have used the name Proculus
Proculus (praenomen)
Proculus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was most common during the early centuries of the Roman Republic. It gave rise to the patronymic gentes Proculeia and Procilia, and later became a common cognomen, or surname. The feminine form is Procula...
, which they later bore as a cognomen
Cognomen
The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
. They probably also used the feminine praenomen Paulla, which appears as a personal cognomen in the 1st century.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
Two cognomina are associated with the Acerronii; Proculus, which was a common surname in imperial times, and Polla (the feminine form of Paullus), which was probably a personal nameGiven name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
and may have been an inverted praenomen.
Members of the gens
- Gnaeus Acerronius, mentioned as a vir optimus by Marcus Tullius CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
in his oration, Pro TullioPro TullioPro Tullio is a partially preserved speech delivered by the Roman orator Cicero in 72 BC or 71 BC. The speech was made on behalf of Cicero's client, Marcus Tullius, who claimed legal damages from his neighbor, Publius Fabius, on the basis that Fabius had murdered several of Tullius' slaves in a...
(71 BC) - Gnaeus Acerronius ProculusGnaeus Acerronius ProculusGnaeus Acerronius Proculus was a consul of the Roman Empire in 37 AD, the year in which Tiberius died. He was perhaps a descendant of the Cn. Acerronius whom Cicero mentions in his oration for Tullius, Pro Tullio, from 71 BC, as a vir optimus...
, consulRoman consulA consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
in AD 37 - Acerronia PollaAcerronia PollaAcerronia Polla was a servant and friend of Agrippina the Younger, the mother of Nero. She was drowned in AD 59, when an unsuccessful attempt was made at the same time to drown Agrippina...
(d. AD 59), perhaps the daughter of the consul of AD 37, a friend of Agrippina the YoungerAgrippina the YoungerJulia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, murdered during the attempted assassination of Agrippina by her son, the emperor NeroNeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
.