The ''gens Ennia'' was a family of
Calabria
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n descent. It is known chiefly from a single individual,
Quintus Ennius
Quintus Ennius (; c. 239 – c. 169 BC) was a writer and poet who lived during the Roman Republic. He is often considered the father of Roman poetry. He was born in the small town of Rudiae, located near modern Lecce, Apulia, (Ancient Calabria, ...
, a soldier, dramatist, and poet, whom the Romans came to regard as the father of their literature. Ennius was born at
Rudiae, a village near
Brundisium
Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Histor ...
in Calabria, in 239 BC. He claimed descent from the ancient lords of
Messapia. As a young man, he served as a soldier in the Roman army, rising to the rank of
centurion
A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...
. At the age of thirty-eight, he came to Rome in the train of
Marcus Porcius Cato Marcus Porcius Cato can refer to:
*Cato the Elder (consul 195 BC)
*Cato the Younger (praetor 54 BC)
*Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 118 BC)
* Marcus Porcius Cato (consul 36)
*Marcus Porcius Cato (father of Cato the Younger)
*Marcus Porcius C ...
. Most of his works have been lost, or exist only in fragments, but he was greatly influential on later Roman writers, including
Vergil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...
.
Members
*
Quintus Ennius
Quintus Ennius (; c. 239 – c. 169 BC) was a writer and poet who lived during the Roman Republic. He is often considered the father of Roman poetry. He was born in the small town of Rudiae, located near modern Lecce, Apulia, (Ancient Calabria, ...
, the dramatist.
* Manius Ennius, Prefect of the Camp under
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...
in AD 14, he suppressed a mutiny, executing two soldiers; but having exceeded his authority, he was put to flight and subsequently captured. He avoided death by arguing that his execution would constitute treason against both Germanicus and the emperor, and was able to lead the troops back to their winter quarters.
*
Lucius Ennius
Lucius Ennius was a Roman EquesLevick, ''Tiberius: The Politician'', pp. 137, 230Tacitus, '' Annales'', iii.70 who lived in the second half of the 1st century BC and first half of the 1st century.
Little is known about the origins of Ennius, howev ...
, an
eques
Eques, ''horseman'' or ''rider'' in Latin, may refer to:
* Equites, a member of the Roman Equestrian order
* the Latin word for a knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or ...
in the time of
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
, who forbade his prosecution on a charge of treason, after he allegedly melted a silver statue of the emperor.
*
Ennia Thrasylla, wife of
Quintus Naevius Sutorius Macro,
Praetorian Prefect
The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...
under Tiberius and his successor,
Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...
, with whom Ennia had an affair. After falling out of favour in AD 38, Macro and his wife were commanded to take their own lives.
* Lucius Ennius L. f. Ferox, a Roman soldier in the sixth Praetorian cohort during the time of
Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...
. He lived at
Aquae Statiellae
Acqui Terme (; pms, Àich ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is about south-southwest of Alessandria. It is one of the principal winemaking communes of the Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d' ...
.
[Allan Chester Johnson, Paul Robinson Coleman-Norton, and Frank Card Bourne, ''Ancient Roman Statutes,'' University of Texas Press, Austin (1961), pp. 186.]
See also
*
List of Roman gentes
References
Roman gentes
{{Roman-gens-stub