Alfena (gens)
Encyclopedia
The gens Alfena or Alfenia was a Roman
family, known from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. The gens
is known chiefly from three individuals, one of whom attained the consulship
. They all shared the cognomen
Varus, and may have been closely related.
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....
family, known from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. 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...
is known chiefly from three individuals, one of whom attained the consulship
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...
. They all shared the 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...
Varus, and may have been closely related.
Members of the gens
- (Publius) Alfenus VarusAlfenus VarusAlfenus Varus was an ancient Roman jurist and writer who lived around the 1st century BC.__FORCETOC__-Life:Alfenus Varus was a pupil of Servius Sulpicius Rufus, and the only pupil of Servius from whom there are any excerpts in the Pandects...
, a juristJuristA jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
and pupil of Servius Sulpicius RufusServius Sulpicius RufusServius Sulpicius Rufus , surnamed Lemonia from the tribe to which he belonged, was a Roman orator and jurist.He studied rhetoric with Cicero, and accompanied him to Rhodes in 78 BC. Finding that he would never be able to rival his teacher he gave up rhetoric for law...
. - Publius Alfenius Varus, perhaps the son of the jurist, consul in AD 2.
- Alfenus or Alfenius Varus, perhaps a descendant of the jurist, a general in the service of Aulus VitelliusVitelliusVitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
in AD 69.