The gens Opetreia 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

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

. No members 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 ...

are known to have held any important magistracies, but a number of them are found in inscriptions.

Origin

The nomen ''Opetreius'' appears to be a patronymic surname based on the ancient

praenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bi ...

'' Opiter'', best known as a result of its use by the gentes ''

Verginia Verginia, or Virginia (c. 465 BC449 BC), was the subject of a story of ancient Rome, related in Livy's ''Ab Urbe Condita''.Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology > v. 3, page 1267 /ref> The story of Verginia In 451 BC ...

'' and ''

Lucretia According to Roman tradition, Lucretia ( /luːˈkriːʃə/ ''loo-KREE-shə'', Classical Latin: ʊˈkreːtɪ.a died c. 510 BC), anglicized as Lucrece, was a noblewoman in ancient Rome, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin) and subseq ...

'' during the early

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 ...

. The nomen '' Opiternius'' is derived from the same praenomen, and both are probably related to other gentilicia, including ''

Oppius The Oppian Hill (Latin, ''Oppius Mons''; it, Colle Oppio) is the southern spur of the Esquiline Hill, one of the Seven hills of Rome, Italy. It is separated from the Cispius on the north by the valley of the Suburra, and from the Caelian Hill ...

'' and '' Opsius''. The name may be grouped with a large class of nomina, many of which are 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 divide ...

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 th ...

origin, formed from other names using the suffix ''-eius''.

Praenomina

'' Publius,

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 Pol ...

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 L ...

'', and '' Gnaeus'' appear to have been the chief praenomina of the Opetrei. All of these were very common names throughout Roman history. An inscription from

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celts, Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were th ...

mentions a '' Decimus'' Opetrius; this would be a much more distinctive praenomen, but from the limited number of individuals, it is impossible to say if it was regularly used by the gens.

Members

* Decimus Opetrius, named in an inscription from

Aguntum The ruins of Aguntum are an ancient Roman site in East Tirol, Austria, located approximately 4 km east of Lienz in the Drau valley. The city appears to have been built to exploit the local sources of iron, copper, zinc and gold. During the ear ...

in Noricum. * Gaius Opetreius, buried at

Philippi Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colon ...

in Macedonia. * Publius Opetreius, named in a list of members of the carpenters' guild at Rome. * Publius Opetreius, dedicated a monument at Rome to his son, Publius.. * Publius Opetreius P. f., buried at Rome, aged ..years, eight months, and twenty-eight days. * Opetreia Asclepias, wife of Publius Aelius Hermeros, buried at Rome. * Publius Opetreius Augustalis, a child buried at Rome, aged two years, three months.. * Publius Opitreius Butas, buried at Rome in 48 BC. * Gnaeus Opetreius Carpus, a freedman buried at Rome.. * Lucius Opetreius L. l. Dionysius, a freedman buried at Rome, and the husband of Opetreia Prima.. * Publius Opetreius Epaphroditus, the husband of Vigellia Calliste, buried at Rome, aged forty-five. * Gnaeus Opetreius Eros, named in an inscription from Rome. * Opetreia Haline, named in an inscription from Rome.. * Opetreia Hilara, a freedwoman buried at Rome. * Gnaeus Opetreius Hilarus, a freedman buried at Rome. * Publius Opetreius Hilarus Eubulus, one of the sexviri at

Frusino Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the V ...

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whi ...

. * Gaius Opetreius C. l. Hyginus, a freedman buried at Rome. * Gaius Opetreius Januarius, husband of Sulpicia Postumia, buried at Rome, aged fifty-two. * Lucius Opetreius Januarius, named in a list of soldiers at Rome, dating from AD 70. * Gnaeus Opetreius Cn. l. Menogenes, a freedman buried at Rome. * Opetreia Musa, buried at Rome, aged thirteen. * Opetreia C. f. Paulla, buried at Beneventum in

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 lan ...

* Gaius Opetrius Philetus, named in a libationary inscription from Julia Concordia in the province of

Venetia et Histria Venetia et Histria (Latin: ''Regio X Venetia et Histria'') was an administrative subdivision in the northeast of Roman Italy. It was originally created by Augustus as the tenth ''regio'' in 7 AD alongside the nine other ''regiones''. The region ...

. * Publius Opetreius P. l. Philotaerus, a freedman, named in an inscription from Rome. * Gaius Opetreius Plistus, named in an inscription from

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

. * Opetreia C. C. l. Prima, a freedwoman, built a monument at Rome for herself and her husband, Lucius Opetreius Dionysus, at the cost of 12,500

sestertii The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The n ...

. * Publius Opetreius Pullus, named in an inscription from Pompeii. * Opetreia Salva, buried at Philippi. * Opetreia P. l. Secunda, a freedwoman, named in an inscription from Rome. * Opetreia Cn. l. Selenio, a freedwoman buried at Rome. * Opetreia C. l. Tima, named in an inscription from Rome. * Opetreia P. l. Thetis, a freedwoman named in two inscriptions from

Aquinum Aquino is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of Italy, northwest of Cassino. The name comes from the Latin Aquinum, probably from ''aqua'', meaning "water" as witnessed by the abundance of water that still ...

in Latium. * Opetreia Trophime, dedicated a monument at Rome to her husband, Lucius Annius Asticus..

Footnotes

References

{{reflist, 30em

Bibliography

* ''

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). *

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...

''et alii'', ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present). * ''Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale in Roma'' (Bulletin of the Municipal Archaeological Commission of Rome, abbreviated ''BCAR''), (1872–present). * ''Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità'' (News of Excavations from Antiquity, abbreviated ''NSA''), Accademia dei Lincei (1876–present). * René Cagnat ''et alii'', ''

L'Année épigraphique ''L'Année épigraphique'' (''The Epigraphic Year'', standard abbreviation ''AE'') is a French publication on epigraphy (i.e the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing). It was set up by René Cagnat, as holder of the chair of 'Epigraphy an ...