Caesius
Encyclopedia
The gens Caesia was a plebeian
family at Rome
during the late Republic
, and through imperial times
. The first member of the gens
to achieve prominence was Marcus Caesius, praetor
in 75 BC. Under the Empire, the gens was distinguished for its literary achievements.
of the Caesii may be derived from the Latin adjective caesius, meaning a light blue or blue-grey color, typically used to refer to the color of a person's eyes. The same root may have given rise to the praenomen
Caeso
, and perhaps also to the cognomen
Caesar.
, Lucius
, Titus
, Publius
, and Sextus
.
, in northern Italy.
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....
during the late 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 through imperial times
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. 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 Marcus Caesius, 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 75 BC. Under the Empire, the gens was distinguished for its literary achievements.
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...
of the Caesii may be derived from the Latin adjective caesius, meaning a light blue or blue-grey color, typically used to refer to the color of a person's eyes. The same root may have given rise to 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...
Caeso
Caeso (praenomen)
Caeso or Kaeso is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, usually abbreviated K. Although never a common name, Caeso was regularly used by a number of prominent families, both patrician and plebeian, during the period of the Roman Republic. The feminine form is Caesula...
, and perhaps also to 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...
Caesar.
Praenomina used by the gens
The Caesii are known to have used the praenomina MarcusMarcus (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...
, 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...
, 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...
, Publius
Publius (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...
, and 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...
.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
The Caesii under the Republic are not known to have used any regular cognomina. In imperial times, the surnames Cordus, Bassus, Nasica, and Taurinus appear. The first three are typical Latin cognomina, while Taurinus may indicate that its bearer was a native of TaurinumTurin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, in northern Italy.
Members of the gens
- Marcus Caesius, praetor in 75 BC.
- Marcus Caesius, a rapacious farmer of the tithes in SiciliaSicilySicily 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,...
during the administration of VerresVerresGaius Verres was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. It is not known what gens he belonged to, though some give him the nomen Licinius.-As governor:...
, in and after 73 BC. - Lucius Caesius, a friend of CiceroCiceroMarcus 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...
, who accompanied him during his administration as 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 CiliciaCiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
in 50 BC. - Marcus Caesius, an intimate friend of CiceroCiceroMarcus 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...
, who held the office of 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...
at ArpinumArpinoArpino is a comune in the province of Frosinone in the region of Latium in central Italy. Its Roman name was Arpinum.-History:...
, the only municipiumMunicipiumMunicipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...
which had such a magistracy, in 47 BC. - Publius Caesius, an eques of RavennaRavennaRavenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, enrolled as a Roman citizenRoman citizenshipCitizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
by Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo. - Sextus Caesius, an eques, mentioned by Cicero as a man of great honesty and integrity.
- Titus Caesius, 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...
. - Caesius Cordus, governor of CreteCreta et CyrenaicaCreta et Cyrenaica was a senatorial province of the Roman empire created in 20 BC. It comprised the island of Crete and the region of Cyrenaica in north Africa ....
during 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...
, accused of extortion and condemned. - Caesius NasicaCaesius NasicaCaesius Nasica was a Roman military officer.He commanded Legio IX Hispana in Britain, and defeated the first revolt of Venutius of the Brigantes during the governorship of Aulus Didius Gallus ....
, commander of a legion in BritainRoman BritainRoman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
under Aulus Didius GallusAulus Didius GallusAulus Didius Gallus was a Roman general and politician of the 1st century AD. He was governor of Britain between 52 and 57 AD.-Career:The career of Aulus Didius Gallus up to 51 can be partly reconstructed from an inscription from Olympia. He was quaestor under Tiberius, probably in 19...
. - Caesius BassusCaesius BassusCaesius Bassus was a Roman lyric poet, who lived in the reign of Nero.He was the intimate friend of Persius, who dedicated his sixth satire to him, and whose works be edited . He is said to have lost his life in the eruption of Vesuvius . He had a great reputation as a poet; Quintilian Caesius...
, a lyric poet of the 1st century, who perished in the eruption of VesuviusMount VesuviusMount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
in AD 79. - Caesius Bassus, a grammarian of uncertain date, author of the tract Ars Caesii Bassi de Metris.
- Titus Caesius Taurinus, a poet, who probably lived in the 4th century, and the author of a poem, Votum Fortunae.