Curtia Gens
Encyclopedia
The Curtia Gens was a very ancient Roman
family, whose roots came from the Sabine
race. According to the historian Titus Livius, the Curtia Gens was one of the hundred families already existing at founding of Rome
.
The name of this gens
came from the Latin curtus, which means "short" or "without a part of the body". It was used first as a nickname of a particular member of the Gens, then later as a first name (a praenomen), becoming at last the name of the entire Gens (a nomen). Some other Ancient Roman gentes took their names from physical qualities, like the famous Gens Flavia from the Latin flavus, meaning "blonde".
The Curtia Gens included several families, that each took their own surname (a cognomen), like "Philon", a family that produced Gaius Curtius Philon, Consul
of the Roman Republic
in 445 BC. Another famous surname was "Rufus", the family of the famous historian Quintus Curtius Rufus
.
. The Lacus Curtius is a very old site in the middle of the Roman Forum
; its origins are explained with three different traditions reported by Titus Livius and Marcus Terentius Varro
.
According to the oldest story by Titus Livius: During the war between Romulus
and Titus Tatius
, begun after the rape of the Sabine Women
, the Roman commander Hostus Hostilius (grandfather of King Tullus Hostilius
) was killed in a duel by the Sabine commander Mettius Curtius. Romulus came with many soldiers to take vengeance upon him; Mettius Curtius had no way out, and fell with his horse into a marsh. Romulus thought he was dead, so retired to his headquarters on the Capitoline hill
's Arx
. But the Sabini went there, found their commander still alive in the marsh, and rescued him. The place henceforth took its name from Mettius Curtius.
A second story is told by Marcus Terentius Varro: in 445 BC lightning hit a spot in the Roman Forum; In accordance with the Roman religion, the place was declared sacred and closed with a palisade by the Consul Gaius Curtius Philon. The place took its name from that Consul's nomen.
A third story, again from Titus Livius, tells that in 362 BC a chasm opened up in the middle of the Roman Forum. The people began to try to fill it, putting in several kinds of votive offerings, but the abyss remained. So they asked the Augur
i what they should do: they answered that the chasm would be closed only putting inside it "the most precious thing of all". The Romans tried to guess what that could be, and tried many different offerings, but the chasm still did not close. Then a young Roman eques named Marcus Curtius had an inspiration: the most precious thing of Rome had to be the courage and strength of Roman soldiers, the real power of Rome. So he wore all his weapons, and riding his horse threw himself as a sacrifice into the hole, which was immediately filled. The heroic act was honoured by the Roman people who gave to the place the same nomen of the young and brave horseman.
In 1553, near the Column of Phocas
, a bas-relief was installed showing the horseman Marcus Curtius falling down the chasm. A copy of the original bas-relief (visible in the near Capitolini Museums) is standing by the side of the Lacus Curtius, in the middle part of the Roman Forum.
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, whose roots came from the Sabine
Sabine
The Sabines were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome...
race. According to the historian Titus Livius, the Curtia Gens was one of the hundred families already existing at founding of Rome
Founding of Rome
The founding of Rome is reported by many legends, which in recent times are beginning to be supplemented by scientific reconstructions.- Development of the city :...
.
The name of this 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...
came from the Latin curtus, which means "short" or "without a part of the body". It was used first as a nickname of a particular member of the Gens, then later as a first name (a praenomen), becoming at last the name of the entire Gens (a nomen). Some other Ancient Roman gentes took their names from physical qualities, like the famous Gens Flavia from the Latin flavus, meaning "blonde".
The Curtia Gens included several families, that each took their own surname (a cognomen), like "Philon", a family that produced Gaius Curtius Philon, Consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
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...
in 445 BC. Another famous surname was "Rufus", the family of the famous historian Quintus Curtius Rufus
Quintus Curtius Rufus
Quintus Curtius Rufus was a Roman historian, writing probably during the reign of the Emperor Claudius or Vespasian. His only surviving work, Historiae Alexandri Magni, is a biography of Alexander the Great in Latin in ten books, of which the first two are lost, and the remaining eight are...
.
Legends of the Lacus Curtius
The Curtia Gens is connected with the Roman legends about the Lacus CurtiusLacus Curtius
The Lacus Curtius is a mysterious hole in the ground in the Roman Forum, now small, more or less filled in and paved over with ancient stone, but once said to have been a widening chasm. Its nature and significance in Rome's early history is unknown, and this was already the case by the late...
. The Lacus Curtius is a very old site in the middle of the Roman Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
; its origins are explained with three different traditions reported by Titus Livius and Marcus Terentius Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro was an ancient Roman scholar and writer. He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus.-Biography:...
.
According to the oldest story by Titus Livius: During the war between Romulus
Romulus
- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...
and Titus Tatius
Titus Tatius
The traditions of ancient Rome held that Titus Tatius was the Sabine king of Cures, who, after the rape of the Sabine women, attacked Rome and captured the Capitol with the treachery of Tarpeia. The Sabine women, however, convinced Tatius and the Roman king, Romulus, to reconcile and subsequently...
, begun after the rape of the Sabine Women
Sabine
The Sabines were an Italic tribe that lived in the central Appennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome...
, the Roman commander Hostus Hostilius (grandfather of King Tullus Hostilius
Tullus Hostilius
Tullus Hostilius was the legendary third of the Kings of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius, and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius...
) was killed in a duel by the Sabine commander Mettius Curtius. Romulus came with many soldiers to take vengeance upon him; Mettius Curtius had no way out, and fell with his horse into a marsh. Romulus thought he was dead, so retired to his headquarters on the Capitoline hill
Capitoline Hill
The Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...
's Arx
Arx (Roman)
Arx is the Latin word for citadel. In the ancient city of Rome, the Arx, not always capitalized, was located on the northern spur of the Capitoline Hill, and is sometimes specified as the Arx Capitolina. Sentries were posted there to watch for a signal to be displayed on the Janiculum if an enemy...
. But the Sabini went there, found their commander still alive in the marsh, and rescued him. The place henceforth took its name from Mettius Curtius.
A second story is told by Marcus Terentius Varro: in 445 BC lightning hit a spot in the Roman Forum; In accordance with the Roman religion, the place was declared sacred and closed with a palisade by the Consul Gaius Curtius Philon. The place took its name from that Consul's nomen.
A third story, again from Titus Livius, tells that in 362 BC a chasm opened up in the middle of the Roman Forum. The people began to try to fill it, putting in several kinds of votive offerings, but the abyss remained. So they asked the Augur
Augur
The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of...
i what they should do: they answered that the chasm would be closed only putting inside it "the most precious thing of all". The Romans tried to guess what that could be, and tried many different offerings, but the chasm still did not close. Then a young Roman eques named Marcus Curtius had an inspiration: the most precious thing of Rome had to be the courage and strength of Roman soldiers, the real power of Rome. So he wore all his weapons, and riding his horse threw himself as a sacrifice into the hole, which was immediately filled. The heroic act was honoured by the Roman people who gave to the place the same nomen of the young and brave horseman.
In 1553, near the Column of Phocas
Column of Phocas
The Column of Phocas , is a Roman monumental column in the Roman Forum of Rome, Italy. Erected before the Rostra and dedicated or rededicated in honour of the Eastern Roman Emperor Phocas on August 1, 608, was the last addition made to the Forum Romanum...
, a bas-relief was installed showing the horseman Marcus Curtius falling down the chasm. A copy of the original bas-relief (visible in the near Capitolini Museums) is standing by the side of the Lacus Curtius, in the middle part of the Roman Forum.
Other Notable Family Members
Other members of the Curtia Gens that are remembered by history include:- Quintus Curtius, Triunvir for minting coins in 116-115 BC, together with Marcus Iunius Silanus and Cneus Domitius Enobarbus. He had silver coins (denarii) marked with his name, shortened to: "Q CURT".
- Quintus Curtius, an auctioneer in Abidos, Egypt.
- Curtius Rufus, ProconsulProconsulA 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, probably father of Quintus Curtius Rufus.
- Quintus Curtius RufusQuintus Curtius RufusQuintus Curtius Rufus was a Roman historian, writing probably during the reign of the Emperor Claudius or Vespasian. His only surviving work, Historiae Alexandri Magni, is a biography of Alexander the Great in Latin in ten books, of which the first two are lost, and the remaining eight are...
, historian, author of the "Histories of Alexander the Great"; he was the first Roman to write about foreign affairs.
- Gaius Curtius, a famous Roman eques and relative of the Senator Gaius Rabirius.