The gens Matia was a minor

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 ancient Rome during the first century BC, and into imperial times. 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 ...

is best known from a single individual,

Gaius Matius Gaius Matius (fl. 1st century BC) ('' PW'' 1) was a citizen of ancient Rome notable as a friend of Julius Caesar and of Cicero, who described him in a letter to Trebatius (53BC) as "homo suavissimus doctissimusque". (Cic. Fam. 7,15,2) A member of t ...

, surnamed ''Calvena'', a learned

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 ...

, who was an intimate friend of both

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

and Cicero.

Members

* Gaius Matius Calvena, the friend of Caesar and Cicero, subsequently befriended Octavian, but never exploited his relationship for personal gain. He is probably the same Gaius Matius who translated the '' Iliad'' into Latin, and wrote several other well-respected works on economics, agriculture, and cookery. * Gaius Matius Sabinius Sullinus Vatinianus Anicius Maximus Caesulenus Martialis Pisibanus Lepidus, Flamen Julianus about AD 186, was consul in an uncertain year.

Paul von Rohden Paul von Rohden (12 December 1862, Barmen – 28 February 1939, Pieterlen) was a German-Swiss schoolteacher and historian known for his research in the field of prosopography. He was the son of theologian Ludwig von Rohden (1815–1889) and the bro ...

Elimar Klebs Elimar Klebs (15 October 1852 – 16 May 1918) was a German historian of ancient history. He was the brother of botanist Georg Klebs. Biography Klebs was born in Braunsberg (Braniewo), Prussia. He studied in Berlin under Theodor Mommsen a ...

, &

Hermann Dessau Hermann Dessau (6 April 1856, Frankfurt am Main – 12 April 1931, Berlin) was a German ancient historian and epigrapher. He is noted for a key work of textual criticism published in 1889 on the ''Historia Augusta'', which uncovered reasons to ...

, '' Prosopographia Imperii Romani'' (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire), Berlin (1898), vol. II, p. 355.

References

{{Roman-gens-stub Roman gentes

Members

See also

References