The gens Pollia () 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 ...

family at

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, 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 ...

. The

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gen ...

must have been very old, as one of the original Servian tribes was named after it, suggesting that the Pollii were important landowners during the

Roman monarchy The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began wit ...

. However, few Pollii are mentioned in history, and none of them attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state. A number of Pollii are known from inscriptions.

Origin

The nomen ''Pollius'' seems to be a patronymic surname derived from the old

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 bir ...

'' Paullus'', "little", which was little used in historical times, except in its feminine form, ''Paulla'', or as a

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

, particularly by the great

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

house of the

Aemilii The gens Aemilia, originally written Aimilia, was one of the greatest patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens was of great antiquity, and claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. Its members held the highest offices ...

. An alternative derivation would be from the surname ''Pollio'', originally referring to one who polished arms. Chase classifies ''Pollius'' among those gentilicia which either originated at Rome, or are not known to have come from anywhere else.

Praenomina

The Pollii used a variety of praenomina, especially '' 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 Asiniu ...

'', '' Marcus'', '' Gnaeus'', and ''

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 ...

'', all of which were very common throughout Roman history. Other names appear occasionally, including '' Quintus'' and '' Numerius'', of which the latter was widespread, but uncommon.

Members

* Pollia, named in an funerary inscription found at Pombal, formerly part of

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lu ...

.. * Pollius, buried at Turris Libisonis in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...

, aged seven years, three months, and five days.. * Gaius Pollius, named in a funerary inscription found at Pombal. * Gnaeus Pollius, named in an inscription found in the church of Santa Maria in Casalpiano, in

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

. * Publius Pollius P. l., a freedman named in an inscription from Baeterrae in

Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was th ...

.. * Quintus Pollius Q. l., a freedman named in an inscription from

Tarracina Terracina is an Italian city and '' comune'' of the province of Latina, located on the coast southeast of Rome on the Via Appia ( by rail). The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity. History Ancient times Terracina appears in a ...

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 w ...

, dating to the late first century BC or early first century AD.. * Gaius Pollius St. l. Acastus, a freedman named in an inscription from Rome. * Quintus Pollius C. f. Africanus, son of Gaius Pollius Felix and Silvana Prima, named in an inscription from

Amiternum Amiternum was an ancient Sabine city, then Roman city and later bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see in the central Abruzzo region of modern Italy, located from L'Aquila. Amiternum was the birthplace of the historian Sallust (86 BC). Histo ...

in Sabinum.. * Gaius Pollius Albanus, named in a dedicatory inscription from

Narona Narona ( grc, Ναρῶνα) was an Ancient Greek trading post on the Illyrian coast and later Roman city and bishopric, located in the Neretva valley in present-day Croatia, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see. History It was founded ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

. * Lucius Pollius Albanus, named in inscriptions from Rome and

Veii Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan civilization, Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the Comuni of the Province of Rome, comune ...

. * Aulus Pollius P. l. Alexander, a freedman named in an inscription from

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

. * Publius Pollius Anoptes, named in a funerary inscription from Rome. * Lucius Pollius L. Ɔ. l. Anteros, named in an inscription from Rome. * Marcus Pollius Apollonius, named in an inscription from

Mediolanum Mediolanum, the ancient city where Milan now stands, was originally an Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Roman city in northern Italy. The city was settled by the Insubres around 600 BC, conquered by the Romans in 222 BC, and ...

Gallia Transpadana Cisalpine Gaul ( la, Gallia Cisalpina, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts (Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC it was con ...

. * Gnaeus Pollius Besa, named in a funerary inscription at Rome.. * Marcus Pollius Ɔ. l. Eros, a freedman buried at Rome.. * Gaius Pollius Felix, husband of Silvana Prima, and father of Quintus Pollius Africanus and Pollia Politta, named in an inscription from Amiternum. * Gaius Pollius Felix, dedicated a tomb at

Lambaesis Lambaesis (Lambæsis), Lambaisis or Lambaesa (''Lambèse'' in colonial French), is a Roman archaeological site in Algeria, southeast of Batna and west of Timgad, located next to the modern village of Tazoult. The former bishopric is also a La ...

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

for his wife, Octavia Clara, aged twenty-five. * Pollia Ɔ. l. Glucinna, a freedwoman buried at Rome. * Marcus Pollius Ɔ. l. Hibricio, a freedman buried at Rome. * Lucius Pollius L. l. Hilario, a freedman named in an inscription from Rome. * Pollius L. l. Hilarus, a freedman named in an inscription from

Cora Cora may refer to: Science * ''Cora'' (fungus), a genus of lichens * ''Cora'' (damselfly), a genus of damselflies * CorA metal ion transporter, a Mg2+ influx system People * Cora (name), a given name and surname * Cora E. (born 1968), German h ...

in Latium. * Publius Pollius Hilarus, buried at Rome.. * Pollius Hypatus, named in a funerary inscription from Rome, dating to the second century AD, or the latter part of the first.''NSA'', 1922-140. * Quintus Pollius Ɔ. l. Kandaules, named in an inscription from Tarracina, dating to the later first century BC, or the earlier part of the first century AD. * Marcus Pollius M. f. Hispanus, a

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 ...

in the fifth legion, buried at

Potaissa Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europ ...

. * Marcus Pollius Lic .. a freedman named in an inscription from Mediolanum. * Gnaeus Pollius Lucrio, named in a funerary inscription from Rome. * Pollius Marinus L. l., buried at

Altinum Altinum (in Altino, a ''frazione'' of Quarto d'Altino) was an ancient town of the Veneti 15 km SE of modern Treviso, close to the mainland shore of the Lagoon of Venice. It was also close to the mouths of the rivers Dese, Zero and Sile. ...

Venetia and 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 h ...

. * Publius Pollius Murranus, freedman of Pancarpus, and husband of Pollia Urbana, buried at Narbo in Gallia Narbonensis.. * Gnaeus Pollius Parthenopaeus, buried at Rome. * Pollius Paternus, son of Sabinus, named in an inscription from Vicus Dolensis in

Gallia Aquitania Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gal ...

. * Publius Pollius Peplus, buried at Narbo. * Lucius Pollius Philetus, named in a list of soldiers stationed at Rome in AD 70. * Pollia C. f. Politta, daughter of Gaius Pollius Felix and Silvana Prima, named in an inscription from Amiternum. * Numerius Pollius Primus Senior, named in a dedicatory inscription from

Cumae Cumae ( grc, Κύμη, (Kumē) or or ; it, Cuma) was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BC and soon becoming one of the strongest colonies. It later became a rich Ro ...

in Campania, dating to AD 251.. * Numerius Pollius Primus Junior, named in a dedicatory inscription from Cumae. * Publius Pollius Primus, freedman of Silo, buried at Baeterrae. * Pollia Privata, buried at Narbo. * Gnaeus Pollius Protus, named in a funerary inscription from Rome. * Marcus Pollius Pudens, named in a graffito 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 burie ...

. * Lucius Pollius Restitutus, buried at Rome, aged eleven years, two months, and thirty days, in a tomb dating to the second century AD, or the latter part of the first. * Gaius Pollius Rogatus, buried at Cuicul in Numidia, aged eighty. * Publius Pollius Romanus, buried at Rome, aged five. * Pollius Saturninus, buried at Ucubi in Numidia, aged eighty. * Pollius Savinus, named in a funerary inscription from Turris Libisonis. * Titus Pollius Severus, named in an inscription from

Teurnia Teurnia (later Tiburnia) was a Roman city (''municipium''). Today its ruins lie in western Carinthia. In late antiquity it was also a bishop's see, and towards the end of Roman times it was mentioned as the capital of the province of Noricum me ...

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the nor ...

. * Lucius Pollius Siccensis, buried at

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

Africa Proconsularis Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, aged seventy. * Marcus Pollius M. f. Silenus, one of the

Seviri Augustales The Sodales or Sacerdotes Augustales (''singular'' Sodalis or Sacerdos Augustalis), or simply Augustales,Tacitus, ''Annales'' 1.54 were an order ('' sodalitas'') of Roman priests originally instituted by Tiberius to attend to the maintenance of t ...

, named in an inscription from Mediolanum. * Publius Pollius S. f. Speratus, buried at Rome, aged twenty-one. * Publius Pollius Spinther, named in an inscription from Rome. * Pollius N. l. Stabilio, a freedman buried at Rome. * Gaius Pollius Truentino Restitutus Picens, a soldier in the

praetorian guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...

, buried at Rome, aged thirty three, having served thirteen years. * Pollia Urbana, wife of Publius Pollius Murranus, buried at Narbo. * Pollius Victor, buried at Thabraca in Africa Proconsularis, aged eight. * Gnaeus Pollius Cn. l. Victor, a freedman named among the Seviri Augustales at

Puteoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...

in Campania, in AD 56. * Naevius Pollius Priscus, named in a dedicatory inscription from Cumae. * Titus Volusinus Pollius, son of Rufimus, named in an inscription from Vicus Haterianus in Africa Proconsularis.''ILAfr'', 78, 3. *Publius Pollius Felix, a wealthy Roman from

who was mentioned in the

Silvae The is a collection of Latin occasional poetry in hexameters, hendecasyllables, and lyric meters by Publius Papinius Statius (c. 45 – c. 96 CE). There are 32 poems in the collection, divided into five books. Each book contains a prose prefa ...

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, ...

. Pollius Felix is said by Statius to have owned a massive villa in

Surrentum Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

, which is now used as the Regina Giovanna bath. Pollius Felix is best known as a character in

Caroline Lawrence Caroline Lawrence (born 1954) is an English American author, best known for '' The Roman Mysteries'' series of historical novels for children. The series is about a Roman girl called Flavia and her three friends: Nubia (a freed slave girl), Jon ...

's novel series

The Roman Mysteries ''The Roman Mysteries'' is a series of historical novels for children by Caroline Lawrence. The first book, '' The Thieves of Ostia'', was published in 2001, finishing with '' The Man from Pomegranate Street'', published in 2009, and totaling ...

. It is said that he had a daughter named Polla who married a man named Julius Menecrates. He also had a wife named Polla.

Footnotes

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

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 centur ...

''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). * ''Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità'' (News of Excavations from Antiquity, abbreviated ''NSA''), Accademia dei Lincei (1876–present). * Gustav Wilmanns, ''Inscriptiones Africae Latinae'' (Latin Inscriptions from Africa, abbreviated ''ILAfr''), Georg Reimer, Berlin (1881). * 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 ...