The gens Albia was a minor plebeian family at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. They were of

senatorial A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

rank during the latter part of the

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

, but the only of this

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (p ...

who obtained the

consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

was Lucius Albius Pullaienus Pollio, in AD 90. Other Albii are known from various parts of Italy.

Origin

The nomen ''Albius'' is derived from the common

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

surname ''Albus'', meaning "white".Chase, pp. 110, 127, 129. Chase classifies it among those gentilicia that either originated at Rome, or cannot be shown to have come from anywhere else. The Albii Oppianici mentioned by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

in his oration, '' Pro Cluentio'', bore the unusual praenomen ''

Statius Publius Papinius Statius ( Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...

'', which was scarce at Rome except among slaves or freedmen. It was an

Oscan Oscan is an extinct Indo-European language of southern Italy. The language is in the Osco-Umbrian or Sabellic branch of the Italic languages. Oscan is therefore a close relative of Umbrian. Oscan was spoken by a number of tribes, including ...

name that seems to have been fairly common in central and southern Italy.Chase, pp. 137, 138. This may indicate that at least part of the family was of

Sabine The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines di ...

or Samnite origin, and indeed the Albii Oppianici were residents of

Larinum Larino ( nap, label= Campobassan dialect, Larìne; la, Larinum) is a town and ''comune'' of approximately 8,100 inhabitants in Molise, province of Campobasso, southern Italy. It is located in the fertile valley of the Biferno River. The old t ...

Samnium Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The ...

, although the surname ''Oppianicus'' implies that they had some connection with the Oppian Hill at Rome.

Praenomina

The few Albii known from historical sources mostly bear common praenomina, such as '' Publius'', ''

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from '' Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames ('' praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from ...

'', or ''

Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist *Gaius Acilius *Gaius Antonius *Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus *Gaius Asinius P ...

''. The use of ''Statius'' by an apparently Roman or Romanized family of the Albii was unusual; but although the name was generally associated with the servile classes at Rome, its use among the general populace in Samnium would probably have been understood.

Branches and cognomina

The senator Publius Albius, known from a decree of the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

dating to 129 BC, bore no surname; under the Republic many plebeian families had no hereditary cognomina. The surname ''Oppianicus'', known from the family of Larinum, indicates that this family may previously have lived at Rome, presumably acquiring the cognomen from some association with the Oppian Hill; but their use of the praenomen ''Statius'' suggests that they were natives of Samnium. ''Pollio'', borne by the consul of AD 90, was a common surname of Latin origin, and originally indicated a polisher. The nomen '' Carrinas'' was long supposed to be a surname of the Albia gens, due to its unusual form. This connection was proposed by Sigebert Havercamp, in his ''Thesaurus Morelliantes''. However, ''Carrinas'' does not appear together with ''Albius'' in any known inscriptions. It would therefore seem to be a separate gentilicium of

Umbri The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC on ...

an origin; Chase notes that Umbrian nomina frequently end in .

Members

* Publius Albius, father of the senator Publius Albius. * Publius Albius P. f., a senator in 129 BC. He might be the same person as the quaestor of 120.Sherk, "''Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno''", p. 367. * Publius Albius, quaestor in 120 BC, serving under the praetor Quintus Mucius Scaevola in Asia. * Statius Albius Oppianicus, a notorious poisoner, and the villain of Cicero's speech '' Pro Cluentio'', in defense of Oppianicus' step-son,

Aulus Cluentius Habitus Aulus 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 Cluent ...

, who had been accused of poisoning Oppianicus.Cicero, ''Pro Cluentio'', ''passim''. * Gaius Albius Oppianicus, brother of Statius, who according to Cicero poisoned Gaius and his wife, Auria. * Statius Albius St. f. Oppianicus, accused his step-brother, Aulus Cluentius, of poisoning his father. *

Albia Terentia Albia may refer to: * Albia gens, an ancient Roman family * Albia Terentia, mother of Roman emperor Otho * Albia Dominica, wife of Roman emperor Valens * Albia, a medieval name for the river Elbe * Albia, Iowa Albia is a city in and the county ...

, the mother of

Otho Marcus Otho (; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was the seventh Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors. A member of a noble Etr ...

, emperor in AD 69. * Lucius Albius Pullaienus Pollio, consul ''suffectus'' in September and October of AD 90, and proconsul of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

from 104 to 105.Eck, "Jahres- und Provinzialfasten", p. 340.

References

Bibliography

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

, ''

Epistulae ad Atticum ''Epistulae ad Atticum'' (Latin for "Letters to Atticus") is a collection of letters from Roman politician and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero to his close friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. The letters in this collection, together with Cicero's ot ...

, Pro Cluentio''. * Sigebert Havercamp, ''Thesaurus Morelliantes'' (1734). * ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897). * T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952–1986). * Robert K. Sherk,
The Text of the ''Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno''
, in ''Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies'', vol. 7, pp. 361–369 (1966). * Paul A. Gallivan, "The ''Fasti'' for A.D. 70–96", in ''

Classical Quarterly The Classical Association is a British learned society in the field of classics, aimed at developing classical study and promoting its importance in education. Constitution The association was founded on 19 December 1903, and its objects are de ...

'', vol. 31, pp. 186–220 (1981). *

Werner Eck Werner Eck (born 17 December 1939) is Professor of Ancient History at Cologne University, Germany, and a noted expert on the history and epigraphy of imperial Rome.Eck, W. (2007) ''The Age of Augustus''. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, cover notes. Hi ...