Septimia (gens)
Encyclopedia
The gens Septimia was a plebeian
family at Rome
. The gens
first appears in history towards the close of the Republic
, and they did not achieve much importance until the latter half of the 2nd century, when Lucius Septimius Severus
obtained the imperial dignity.
Septimius is a patronymic surname, derived from the praenomen
Septimus
. Several other gentes obtained their nomina in this way, including the Quinctii from Quintus
, the Sextii
from Sextus
, and the Octavii from Octavius
.
, Lucius
, Gaius
, and Titus
. There are a few instances of other names, including Aulus
, Marcus
, and Quintus. The ancestor of the family must have been named Septimus, although none of the members who are known to history bore this praenomen.
, a Thracian
people. Both cognomina
were associated with the imperial family of the late 2nd and early 3rd century. Severus had been borne by one of the Septimii early in the 1st century BC, but it was a common surname, and it is not known whether the imperial family was descended from that Septimius Severus.
Plebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
family at Rome
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....
. 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...
first appears in history towards the close of the 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 they did not achieve much importance until the latter half of the 2nd century, when Lucius Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
obtained the imperial dignity.
Origin of the gens
The nomenRoman 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...
Septimius is a patronymic surname, derived from the praenomen
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...
Septimus
Septimus (praenomen)
Septimus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was never particularly common at Rome, but it gave rise to the patronymic gens Septimia. The feminine form is Septima. The name was not regularly abbreviated....
. Several other gentes obtained their nomina in this way, including the Quinctii from Quintus
Quintus (praenomen)
Quintus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout all periods of Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Quinctia and Quinctilia. The feminine form is Quinta...
, the Sextii
Sextia (gens)
The gens Sextia was a plebeian family at Rome, from the time of the early Republic and continuing into imperial times. The most famous member of the gens was Lucius Sextius Lateranus, who as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of the annual magistrates, until the...
from Sextus
Sextus (praenomen)
Sextus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout all periods of Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Sextia and Sextilia. The feminine form is Sexta...
, and the Octavii from Octavius
Octavius (praenomen)
Octavius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was never particularly common at Rome, but may have been used more frequently in the countryside. The feminine form is Octavia. The name gave rise to the patronymic gens Octavia, and perhaps also to gens Otacilia...
.
Praenomina used by the gens
The chief praenomina of the Septimii were PubliusPublius (praenomen)
Publius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and was very common at all periods of Roman history. It gave rise to the patronymic gens Publilia, and perhaps also gens Publicia. The feminine form is Publia...
, 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...
, Gaius
Gaius (praenomen)
Gaius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Gaia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Gavia...
, and Titus
Titus (praenomen)
Titus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, and was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Titia. The feminine form is Tita or Titia...
. There are a few instances of other names, including 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...
, Marcus
Marcus (praenomen)
Marcus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Marca or Marcia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Marcia, as well as the cognomen Marcellus...
, and Quintus. The ancestor of the family must have been named Septimus, although none of the members who are known to history bore this praenomen.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
The Septimii of the Republic were not clearly divided into separate families. A number of surnames are found at various periods, of which the most notable are Severus, meaning "stern, serious," or "severe," and Geta, referring to one of the GetaeGetae
The Getae was the name given by the Greeks to several Thracian tribes that occupied the regions south of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria, and north of the Lower Danube, in Romania...
, a Thracian
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
people. Both cognomina
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...
were associated with the imperial family of the late 2nd and early 3rd century. Severus had been borne by one of the Septimii early in the 1st century BC, but it was a common surname, and it is not known whether the imperial family was descended from that Septimius Severus.
Members of the gens
- This list includes abbreviated praenominaPraenomenThe 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...
. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.- Publius Septimius Scaevola, a senatorRoman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
, who was one of the judges allegedly bribed by Aulus Cluentius HabitusAulus Cluentius HabitusAulus Cluentius Habitus, a wealthy citizen of Larinum in Samnium, and subject of a Roman cause célèbre.In 74 BC he accused his stepfather Statius Albius Oppianicus of an attempt to poison him; had it been successful, the property of Cluentius would have fallen to his mother Sassia. Oppianicus was...
in order to obtain the condemnation of Statius Albius Oppianicus in 74 BC. Septimius was condemned two years later, ostensibly on a charge of repetundae, or extortion. - Septimius, one of the conspirators of CatilineCatilineLucius Sergius Catilina , known in English as Catiline, was a Roman politician of the 1st century BC who is best known for the Catiline conspiracy, an attempt to overthrow the Roman Republic, and in particular the power of the aristocratic Senate.-Family background:Catiline was born in 108 BC to...
, who was sent into the ager PicenusPicenumPicenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was the birthplace of such notables as Pompey the Great and his father Pompeius Strabo. It was situated in what is now Marche...
in 63 BC. - Titus Septimius Severus, curule aedileAedileAedile 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...
, apparently after the consulship of LucullusLucullusLucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix...
, in 74 BC. - Lucius SeptimiusLucius SeptimiusLucius Septimius was an Ancient Roman soldier stationed in Egypt in the 1st century BC. He is remembered by history as one of the assassins of Pompey the Great....
, a centurionCenturionA centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
under PompeiusPompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
during the war against the pirates, in 67 BC, and afterward under Aulus GabiniusAulus GabiniusAulus Gabinius, Roman statesman and general, and supporter of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, was a prominent figure in the later days of the Roman Republic....
in Egypt; after the Battle of Pharsalia, in 48 BC, he slew his old commander. - Gaius Septimius, a secretary of the consul Marcus Calpurnius BibulusMarcus Calpurnius BibulusMarcus Calpurnius Bibulus was a politician of the late Roman Republic.Bibulus was the son in law of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticencis. In 59 BC he was elected consul, supported by the optimates, conservative republicans in the Senate and opponents of Julius Caesar's triumvirate...
, in 59 BC. - Publius Septimius, one of the witnesses against Lucius Valerius Flaccus, in 59 BC.
- Gaius Septimius, praetorPraetorPraetor 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 57 BC, supported Cicero'sCiceroMarcus 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...
recall from banishment. He was an augurAugurThe 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...
in 45 BC. - Publius Septimius, the quaestorQuaestorA Quaestor was a type of public official in the "Cursus honorum" system who supervised financial affairs. In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official whereas, with the autocratic government of the Roman Empire, quaestors were simply appointed....
of Marcus Terentius VarroMarcus Terentius VarroMarcus 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:...
, who sent him three books of De Lingua Latina. Septimius is probably the same man who wrote two books on architecture, as his name is mentioned by VitruviusVitruviusMarcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
in connection with Varro's. - Septimia, the wife of Sicca, a friend of Cicero.
- Septimius, proscribed by the triumvirsSecond TriumvirateThe Second Triumvirate is the name historians give to the official political alliance of Octavius , Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony, formed on 26 November 43 BC with the enactment of the Lex Titia, the adoption of which marked the end of the Roman Republic...
in 43 BC, he was betrayed by his wife to the assassins. - Septimius, a friend of the poet HoratiusHoraceQuintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
, who dedicated to him one of his odes. In a letter to Horatius, AugustusAugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
refers to him as Septimius noster, "our Septimius". - Septimius, a centurion slain by the soldiers in GermaniaGermaniaGermania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
, when they revolted at the commencement of the reign of TiberiusTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. - Aulus Septimius Serenus, a lyric poet, whose subject matter concerned mainly rural pursuits.
- Septimius, the author of a life of Alexander SeverusAlexander SeverusSeverus Alexander was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty...
, which LampridiusAugustan HistoryThe Augustan History is a late Roman collection of biographies, in Latin, of the Roman Emperors, their junior colleagues and usurpers of the period 117 to 284...
referred to as an authority. - Quintus Septimius, the translator of a work on the Trojan WarTrojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, bearing the name of Dictys CretensisDictys CretensisDictys Cretensis of Knossus was the legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary of its events, that deployed some of the same materials worked up by Homer for the Iliad...
. - Lucius Septimius Flaccus, consul suffectus in AD 183.
- Publius Septimius Geta, father of the emperor Septimius Severus.
- Lucius Septimius P. f. SeverusSeptimius SeverusSeptimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
, emperor from AD 193 to 211. - Lucius Septimius L. f. P. n. BassianusCaracallaCaracalla , was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211...
, the elder son of Septimius Severus, better known as Caracalla; emperor with his father from AD 198 to 211, and sole emperor from 211 to 217. - Publius Septimius L. f. P. n. GetaPublius Septimius GetaGeta , was a Roman Emperor co-ruling with his father Septimius Severus and his older brother Caracalla from 209 to his death.-Early life:Geta was the younger son of Septimius Severus by his second wife Julia Domna...
, the younger son of Septimius Severus; emperor with his father from AD 209 to 211. - Quintus Septimius Florens TertullianusTertullianQuintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
, an early Christian writer, who exposited the doctrine of the TrinityTrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
.
- Publius Septimius Scaevola, a senator