Verginia (gens)
Encyclopedia
The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at Rome
, which from an early period was divided into patrician and plebeian
branches. The gens
was of great antiquity, and frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of the Republic
. The first of the family who obtained the consulship
was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early tribunes of the people
.
Verginius or Virginius has been disputed since ancient times; but Verginius is the form usually found in both manuscripts and inscriptions. Modern writers seem to favor Virginius, perhaps by analogy to virgo, a maiden. A similar instance is presented by the nomen Vergilius, which in modern times is often spelt Virgilius.
Opiter
, Proculus
, Titus
, Aulus
, Lucius
, and Spurius
. In later times they used mainly Lucius, Aulus, and Titus.
Tricostus, but they were divided into various families with the surnames of Caeliomontanus, Esquilinus, and Rutilus, respectively. The surnames Caeliomontanus and Esquilinus presumably derive from the Caelian
and Esquiline Hill
s, where these families probably lived. Rutilus is derived from a Latin adjective, meaning "reddish," and was probably acquired because some of the Verginii had red hair. The general Lucius Verginius Rufus
, who lived in the 1st century AD, may have obtained his cognomen for the same reason. Although the plebeian Verginii are also mentioned at an early period, none of them had any cognomen. Under the Empire
there are Verginii with other surnames.
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....
, which from an early period was divided into patrician and 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...
branches. 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...
was of great antiquity, and frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years 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...
. The first of the family who obtained the consulship
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...
was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early tribunes of the people
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
.
Origin of the gens
The orthography of 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...
Verginius or Virginius has been disputed since ancient times; but Verginius is the form usually found in both manuscripts and inscriptions. Modern writers seem to favor Virginius, perhaps by analogy to virgo, a maiden. A similar instance is presented by the nomen Vergilius, which in modern times is often spelt Virgilius.
Praenomina used by the gens
The early Verginii favored the praenominaPraenomen
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...
Opiter
Opiter (praenomen)
Opiter is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used primarily during the early centuries of the Roman Republic. It is not usually abbreviated, but is sometimes found with the abbreviation Opet., apparently based on an archaic spelling of the name. No examples of the feminine form are...
, Proculus
Proculus (praenomen)
Proculus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was most common during the early centuries of the Roman Republic. It gave rise to the patronymic gentes Proculeia and Procilia, and later became a common cognomen, or surname. The feminine form is Procula...
, 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...
, 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...
, 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 Spurius
Spurius (praenomen)
Spurius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used primarily during the period of the Roman Republic, and which fell into disuse in imperial times. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Spurilia. The feminine form is Spuria...
. In later times they used mainly Lucius, Aulus, and Titus.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
All of the patrician Verginii bore the cognomenCognomen
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...
Tricostus, but they were divided into various families with the surnames of Caeliomontanus, Esquilinus, and Rutilus, respectively. The surnames Caeliomontanus and Esquilinus presumably derive from the Caelian
Caelian Hill
The Caelian Hill is one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. Under reign of Tullus Hostilius, the entire population of Alba Longa was forcibly resettled on the Caelian Hill...
and Esquiline Hill
Esquiline Hill
The Esquiline Hill is one of the celebrated Seven Hills of Rome. Its southern-most cusp is the Oppius .-Etymology:The origin of the name Esquilino is still under much debate. One view is that the Hill was named after the abundance of holm-oaks, exculi, that resided there...
s, where these families probably lived. Rutilus is derived from a Latin adjective, meaning "reddish," and was probably acquired because some of the Verginii had red hair. The general Lucius Verginius Rufus
Lucius Verginius Rufus
Lucius Verginius Rufus , was a Roman commander of upper Germany during the late 1st century. He was three times consul , born near Comum, the birthplace of the two Plinys....
, who lived in the 1st century AD, may have obtained his cognomen for the same reason. Although the plebeian Verginii are also mentioned at an early period, none of them had any cognomen. Under the Empire
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....
there are Verginii with other surnames.
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.
Verginii Tricosti
- Opiter Verginius Tricostus, father of the consul of 502 BC.
- Opiter Verginius Opet. f. TricostusOpiter Verginius Tricostus (consul 502 BC)Opiter Verginius Tricostus served as consul of the early Roman Republic in 502 BC, with Spurius Cassius Viscellinus. He was the first from the powerful Verginia family to obtain the consulship....
, consulRoman consulA 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 502 BC; together with his colleague, Spurius Cassius Viscellinus, he carried on war against the AurunciAurunciThe Aurunci were an Italic population which lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. Of Indo-European origin, their language belonged to the Oscan group...
, and took PometiaSuessa PometiaSuessa Pometia was an ancient city of Latium, which had ceased to exist in historical times.It bordered on the Pomptinus ager or Pomptinae Paludes, to which it was supposed to have given name. Virgil reckons it among the colonies of Alba, and must therefore have considered it as a Latin city : it...
, in consequence of which the consuls obtained a triumphRoman triumphThe Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
. - Opiter Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus, according to LiviusLivyTitus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, consul in 473 BC with Lucius Aemilius Mamercus; other authorities name Vopiscus Julius Iulus as the colleague of Aemilius. - Proculus Verginius Tricostus, consul in 435 BC, in which year there was a great pestilence at Rome, allowing the FidenatesFidenaeFidenae, or Fidenes, home of the Fidenates, was an ancient town of Latium, situated about 8 km north of Rome on the Via Salaria, which ran between it and the Tiber. As the Tiber was the border between Etruria and Latium, the left-bank settlement of Fidenae represented an extension of Etruscan...
and VeientesVeiiVeii was, in ancient times, an important Etrurian city NNW of Rome, Italy; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome...
to advance deep into Roman territory. While his colleague, Gaius Julius Iulus commanded the city's defenses, Virginius consulted the senateRoman 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...
and nominated Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus as dictatorRoman dictatorIn the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
. - Lucius Verginius Tricostus, tribunus militum consulari potestateTribuni militum consulari potestateThe tribuni militum consulari potestate , in English commonly also Consular Tribunes, were tribunes elected with consular power during the "Conflict of the Orders" in the Roman Republic, starting in 444 BC and then continuously from 408 BC to 394 BC and again from 391 BC to 367 BC.According to the...
in 389 BC, the year following the Gallic sack of RomeBattle of the AlliaThe Battle of the Allia was a battle of the first Gallic invasion of Rome. The battle was fought near the Allia river: the defeat of the Roman army opened the route for the Gauls to sack Rome. It was fought in 390/387 BC.-Background:...
.
Tricosti Caeliomontani
- Aulus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus, father of the consuls of 496 and 494 BC.
- Titus Verginius A. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 496 BC with Aulus Postumius Albus RegillensisAulus Postumius Albus RegillensisAulus Postumius Albus Regillensis was an ancient Roman who, according to Livy, was dictator in 498 BC, when he conquered the Latins in the great Battle of Lake Regillus. Many of the coins of the Albini commemorate this victory of their ancestor, as in the one pictured...
. - Aulus Verginius A. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 494 BC, he marched against the VolsciVolsciThe Volsci were an ancient Italic people, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. They then inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from...
, whom he defeated, and took the town of VelitraeVelletriVelletri is an Italian town of 53,298 inhabitants. It is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio - Italy. It is bounded by other communes of Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, Lanuvio...
. He was one of the envoys sent by the senate to treat with the plebs during the secessionSecessio plebisSecessio plebis was an informal exercise of power by Rome's plebeian citizens, similar to a general strike taken to the extreme. During a secessio plebis, the plebs would simply abandon the city en masse and leave the patrician order to themselves...
of that year. - Titus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus, father of the consul of 448 BC.
- Aulus Verginius A. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 469 BC, marched against the AequiAequithumb|300px|Location of the Aequi in central Italy.The Aequi were an ancient people of northeast Latium and the central Appennines of Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long struggle for independence from Rome they were defeated and substantial Roman colonies were...
. His army was nearly destroyed in consequence of his own negligence, but through the valor of his soldiers he eventually defeated the Aequian force. - Spurius Verginius A. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 456 BC; in his consulship the ludi saecularesSecular gamesThe Secular Games were a religious celebration, involving sacrifices and theatrical performances, held in ancient Rome for three days and nights to mark the end of a saeculum and the beginning of the next...
are said to have been celebrated for the second time. - Titus Verginius T. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 448 BC.
Tricosti Esquilini
- Opiter Verginius Tricostus Esquilinus, consul suffectus in 478 BC, in the place of Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala, who died in his year of office.
- Lucius Verginius Opet. f. Tricostus Esquilinus, father of the consular tribune of 402 BC.
- Lucius Verginius L. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Esquilinus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 402 BC; the siege of Veii was entrusted to him and his colleague, Manius Sergius Fidenas, but because of their personal enmity, the Veientes were relieved, and Sergius' force was overpowered. The two tribunes were compelled to resign, and in the following year they were tried and condemned to pay a heavy fine.
Tricosti Rutili
- Proculus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus, consul in 486 BC, marched against the AequiAequithumb|300px|Location of the Aequi in central Italy.The Aequi were an ancient people of northeast Latium and the central Appennines of Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long struggle for independence from Rome they were defeated and substantial Roman colonies were...
, but as they would not meet him in the field, he ravaged their territory. He actively opposed the agrarian lawAgrarian lawAgrarian laws were laws among the Romans regulating the division of the public lands, or ager publicus.There existed three types of land in ancient Rome: private land, common pasture, and public land...
brought forward by his colleague, Spurius Cassius Viscellinus. - Titus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus, consul in 479 BC with Caeso Fabius VibulanusCaeso Fabius VibulanusCaeso Fabius Vibulanus can refer to* Caeso Fabius Vibulanus, father of Quintus Fabius K. f. Vibulanus, Caeso Fabius K.f. Vibulanus, and Marcus Fabius K. f. Vibulanus, Roman consuls from 485 to 479 B.C....
; the same year the Fabii resolved to leave Rome in order to carry on the war against VeiiVeiiVeii was, in ancient times, an important Etrurian city NNW of Rome, Italy; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome...
. Verginius 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...
, and died during the great pestilence which devastated Rome in 463 BC. - Aulus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus, consul in 476 BC.
Others
- Aulus Verginius, tribunus plebisTribuneTribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
in 461 BC, he accused Caeso Quinctius CincinnatusCaeso QuinctiusCaeso Quinctius was the son of the Roman patrician Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus.Caeso was renowned for his eloquence in the forum. Just as his father, he opposed the plebeians' push for greater legal recognition and often drove the tribunes of the plebes from the forum, preventing them from...
, son of the dictator Lucius Quinctius CincinnatusCincinnatusLucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was an aristocrat and political figure of the Roman Republic, serving as consul in 460 BC and Roman dictator in 458 BC and 439 BC....
, and after a severe struggle obtained his condemnation. - Lucius Verginius, the father of Verginia, whose tragic fate occasioned the downfall of the decemvirsDecemviriDecemviri is a Latin term meaning "Ten Men" which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic...
, in 449 BC; he was subsequently elected one of the tribuni plebis for that year. - Verginia L. f.VerginiaVerginia, or Virginia, was the subject of a story of Ancient Rome, related in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita.The people of Rome were already angry with the decemviri for not calling the proper elections, taking bribes, and other abuses. It seemed that they were returning to the rule of the Kings of Rome...
, was taken into custody by Marcus Claudius, a client of Appius Claudius CrassusAppius Claudius CrassusAppius Claudius Crassus was a decemvir of the Roman Republic ca 451 BC.His father was Appius Claudius Sabinus, Consul in 471 BCE...
, who claimed her as his slave. According to legend, the judgment of Appius that Verginia was indeed a slave led to the downfall of the decemvirs. - Aulus Verginius, tribunus plebis in 395 BC, together with his colleague, Quintus Pomponius Rufus, opposed a measure to establish a colonyColonia (Roman)A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
at VeiiVeiiVeii was, in ancient times, an important Etrurian city NNW of Rome, Italy; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome...
. Two years later, the tribunes were condemned and fined for their position. - Aulus Verginius, one of the patrician Verginii; his daughter, Verginia, went over to the plebeians.
- Verginia A. f.Virginia (Volumnius)Virginia was the daughter of Aulus Verginius, a patrician. Verginia is the usual orthography found in Latin manuscripts.Virginia’s new husband in 296 BCE was Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens. He became a novus homo the previous year...
, a patrician by birth, married the plebeian Lucius Volumnius Flamma ViolensLucius Volumnius Flamma ViolensLucius Volumnius Flamma Violens was a Roman politician, the first consul from a plebeian gens: see novus homo.-Background:According to Roman tradition, membership of the Roman Senate, the city's magistracies, the offices of consul and various religious positions were restricted to patricians...
, who was consul in 307 and 296 BC. She dedicated a chapel in which plebeian women could honor the goddess PudicitiaPudicitiaPudicitia was a central concept in ancient Roman sexual ethics. The word is derived from the more general pudor, the sense of shame that regulated an individual's behavior as socially acceptable...
, after being excluded from her worship by the patricians on account of her marriage to a plebeian. - Lucius Verginius, tribunus militumMilitary tribuneA military tribune was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion...
in 207 BC, during the Second Punic WarSecond Punic WarThe 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...
. He brought the captured messengers of Hasdrubal to the consul, Gaius Claudius NeroGaius Claudius NeroGaius Claudius Nero was a Roman consul who fought in the Battle of the Metaurus . He was member of the gens Claudia. He is not to be confused with the Roman Emperor Nero.In 207 BC, the thirteenth year of the war, he was elected consul with Marcus Livius Salinator, and with his colleague he led the...
. - Verginius, according to PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
us, the tribunus plebis who accused Lucius Cornelius SullaLucius Cornelius SullaLucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
in 87 BC; according to 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...
, his name was Marcus Vergilius. - Verginius, an orator 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 escaped to SicilySicilySicily 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,...
by promising large sums of money to his slaves, and then to the soldiers who were sent to kill him. - Verginius Capito, the master of a slave who escaped from the citadel at TarracinaTerracinaTerracina is a town and comune of the province of Latina - , Italy, 76 km SE of Rome by rail .-Ancient times:...
during the war between VitelliusVitelliusVitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
and VespasianVespasianVespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
, in AD 69, and betrayed the citadel to Lucius VitelliusLucius Vitellius the youngerLucius Vitellius was a Roman who lived in the 1st century. He was the second son of Lucius Vitellius the elder and Sextilia and younger brother of emperor Aulus Vitellius....
, the emperor's brother. - Verginius Flavus, a rhetorician, who flourished during the first century AD; he was one of the teachers of Aulus Persius Flaccus.
- Lucius Verginius RufusLucius Verginius RufusLucius Verginius Rufus , was a Roman commander of upper Germany during the late 1st century. He was three times consul , born near Comum, the birthplace of the two Plinys....
, consul in AD 63, 69, and 97; a general 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...
at the death of NeroNeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
, he three times refused the demand of his soldiers to claim the imperial dignity. - Verginius Romanus, a contemporary of the younger PliniusPliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
, was an author of comedies and mimi-iambi, which were much praised by Plinius.