The ''gens Canutia'' or ''Cannutia'' was a

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

family at Rome. The ''

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 ...

'' appears toward the end 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 ...

, and is best known from two individuals, the orator

Publius Canutius Publius Canutius or Cannutius was described by Cicero as the most eloquent orator of the senatorial order. Canutius was born in 106 B.C., the same year as Cicero. After the death of Publius Sulpicius Rufus, who was one of the most celebrated orato ...

, and Tiberius Canutius, tribune of the plebs in 44 B.C., the year of Caesar's assassination. A Gaius Canutius mentioned by

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

is probably the same person as Tiberius; the reference to Canutius in Tacitus' '' Dialogus de Oratoribus'' may refer to either Publius or Tiberius, or perhaps to a different person altogether. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, '' Dialogus de Oratoribus'', 21.

Footnotes

Roman gentes {{Roman-gens-stub

See also

Footnotes