The gens Aulia was a Roman

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 during the period 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 was probably plebeian

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...

. They do not appear to have been particularly numerous, but one 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...

, Quintus Aulius Cerretanus

Quintus Aulius Cerretanus

Quintus Aulius Q. f. Q. n. Cerretanus was twice consul in the Second Samnite War, first in 323 BC with Gaius Sulpicius Longus, when he had the conduct of the war in Apulia, and a second time in 319 BC with Lucius Papirius Cursor, when he conquered the Ferentani and received their city into...

, obtained the consulship twice during the Second Samnite War

Samnite Wars

The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars, between the early Roman Republic and the tribes of Samnium, extended over half a century, involving almost all the states of Italy, and ended in Roman domination of the Samnites...

, in 323 and 319 BC.

Origin of the gens

The nomen Aulius 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...

 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...

, just as Sextius was derived 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...

, Marcius from 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 Quinctius 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...

. Although there were Aulii at Rome in the 4th century BC, the gens may have been spread throughout Latium, as one of them was prefect of the allies during the Second Punic War

Second Punic War

The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...

.

Praenomina used by the gens

The most famous member of the Aulii bore the praenomen Quintus, as did his father and grandfather. A later Aulius was named Manius

Manius (praenomen)

Manius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. The feminine form is Mania. The name was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Manlia and Manilia...

. Although no members by the name are known, the ancestor of the gens must have been called Aulus.

Branches and cognomina of the gens

The only 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...

belonging to this gens is Cerretanus.

Members of the gens

• Quintus Aulius, grandfather of the consul of 323 and 319 BC.
• Quintus Aulius, father of the consul of 323 and 319 BC.
• Quintus Aulius Q. f. Q. n. Cerretanus
  Quintus Aulius Cerretanus
  Quintus Aulius Q. f. Q. n. Cerretanus was twice consul in the Second Samnite War, first in 323 BC with Gaius Sulpicius Longus, when he had the conduct of the war in Apulia, and a second time in 319 BC with Lucius Papirius Cursor, when he conquered the Ferentani and received their city into...
  
  , 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 323 and 319 BC.
• Manius Aulius, praefectus
  Prefect
  Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
  
  of the allies, was killed in the battle in which Marcellus
  Marcus Claudius Marcellus
  Marcus Claudius Marcellus , five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War...
  
   was defeated by Hannibal, in 208 BC.