The gens Aliena or Alliena was a plebeian family of the Roman 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...

. The first 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...

to achieve prominence was Lucius Alienus

Lucius Alienus

Lucius Alienus was a citizen of ancient Rome who served as plebeian aedile in 454 BC. According to the Roman historian Livy, he accused Gaius Veturius Cicurinus, the consul of the previous year, of illegally selling the plunder which had been gained in war , and placing the amount in the Aerarium...

, plebeian aedile

Aedile

Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...

 in 454 BC. However, the family then slipped into obscurity for several centuries, emerging once more in the 1st century BC.

Origin of the gens

The nomen

Roman naming conventions

By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts : praenomen , nomen and cognomen...

 Alienus may be derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 adjective, alienus, "a stranger". It was also used as a personal 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...

in the Etruscan gens Caecina

Caecina (gens)

Caecina was the name of an Etruscan family of Volaterrae, one of the ancient cities of Etruria. Persons of this gens are first mentioned in the 1st century BC. Under the Empire the name is of frequent occurrence...

. The Alieni were of great antiquity at Rome, but do not appear ever to have been a particularly large or important family.

Praenomina used by the gens

The Alieni are known to have used the praenomina

Praenomen

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...

 Lucius

Lucius (praenomen)

Lucius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Lucia . The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Lucia and Lucilia, as well as the cognomen Lucullus...

and Aulus

Aulus (praenomen)

Aulus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout Roman history from the earliest times to the end of the Western Empire in the fifth century. The feminine form is Aula. An alternative pronunciation leads to the variant spellings Olus or Ollus and Olla. Aulus was widely...

.

Members of the gens

• Lucius Alienus
  Lucius Alienus
  Lucius Alienus was a citizen of ancient Rome who served as plebeian aedile in 454 BC. According to the Roman historian Livy, he accused Gaius Veturius Cicurinus, the consul of the previous year, of illegally selling the plunder which had been gained in war , and placing the amount in the Aerarium...
  
  , plebeian aedile
  Aedile
  Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...
  
   in 454 BC.
• Aulus Allienus
  Aulus Allienus
  Aulus Allienus was the name of two ancient Romans who lived roughly around the 1st century BC, and who may have been the same person:*Aulus Allienus was a politician and general of ancient Rome. He was a friend of Cicero's, who spoke of him in high terms. He was the legate of Cicero's brother...
  
  , praetor
  Praetor
  Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
  
   in 49 BC, with Sicilia
  Sicily
  Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
  
   as his province, and later served as proconsul
  Proconsul
  A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
  
   in Africa under Gaius Julius Caesar
  Julius Caesar
  Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
  
  .
• Aulus Allienus
  Aulus Allienus
  Aulus Allienus was the name of two ancient Romans who lived roughly around the 1st century BC, and who may have been the same person:*Aulus Allienus was a politician and general of ancient Rome. He was a friend of Cicero's, who spoke of him in high terms. He was the legate of Cicero's brother...
  
  , sent by Publius Cornelius Dolabella
  Publius Cornelius Dolabella
  Publius Cornelius Dolabella was a Roman general, by far the most important of the Dolabellae. He arranged for himself to be adopted by a plebeian so that he could become a Tribune.. He married Cicero's daughter Tullia Ciceronis...
  
   to Egypt, in order to return with four legions stationed there, in 49 BC.