The gens Pactumeia was a minor
plebeian 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 BC ...
. Members of this
gens are not mentioned by the historians until
imperial times, when one branch of the family achieved high rank, holding several
consulships during the first and second centuries.
Origin
The nomen ''Pactumeius'' belongs to a class of
gentilicia formed from other names using the suffix ''-eius''. This type of name is frequently, but not uniformly associated with names of
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 ...
origin. Its root is uncertain, as its root would be expected to be 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 ...
, ''Pactumus'', or perhaps another gentile name, ''Pactumius'', both of which are unknown. The closest known name seems to be the Oscan
praenomen ''
Paccius
''Paccius'' is a genus of African araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1898 as a member of Corinnidae, and moved to Trachelidae in 2014.
Species
it contains eight species from Madagascar and Seychelles
Seychelles (, ...
'', occasionally written ''Pactius'', which was itself used as a nomen gentilicium, as well as forming nomina with other suffixes, such as ''
Pacilius,
Paconius'', and probably ''
Pacidius''.
Branches and cognomina
The most illustrious family of the Pactumeii used the cognomina ''Clemens'', ''Fronto'', and ''Magnus'', of which ''Clemens,'' meaning "gentle" or "mild", seems to have been the original surname. This family was descended from a Publius Pactumeius, who evidently lived in
Africa
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 ...
. Both of his sons were named ''Quintus'', but were distinguished by their cognomina, the elder retaining ''Clemens'', while the younger son assumed the surname ''Fronto'', originally designating someone with a prominent forehead. A later generation of the family bore the cognomen ''Magnus'', meaning "great".
Members
*
Quintus Aurelius Pactumeius P. f. Clemens,
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
in an uncertain year during the reign 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 was the first consul to have been born in
Africa
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 ...
.
[''PIR'', vol. III, p. 5.]
*
Quintus Aurelius Pactumeius P. f. Fronto, the brother of Clemens, was consul ''suffectus'' in AD 80.
* Pactumeia Vera, probably the daughter of Quintus Pactumeius Clemens.
[''PIR'', vol. III, p. 6.]
*
Publius Pactumeius P. f. Clemens, consul ''suffectus'' in AD 138, held a number of public posts under the emperors
Hadrian and
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius ( Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Born into a senatori ...
. He was also a jurist, whom
Sextus Pomponius Sextus Pomponius was a jurist who lived during the reigns of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman e ...
cites as an authority on the constitution of Antoninus Pius.
* Titus Pactumeius Magnus, governor of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
from AD 176 to 179.
* Pactumeia Q. l., a freedwoman known from an inscription at
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
.
* Titus Pactumeius P. f. P. n. Magnus, consul ''suffectus'' in AD 183. He was one of a group of six former consuls put to death by
Commodus, together with their families.
[.]
* Pactumeia T. f. P. n. Magna, daughter of the consul Pactumeius Magnus.
[''Digesta'', 28. tit. 5. s. 92.]
* Pactumeius Androsthenes, apparently a freedman of the consul Pactumeius Magnus.
See also
*
List of Roman gentes
The gens (plural gentes) was a Roman family, of Italic or Etruscan origins, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same '' nomen'' and claimed descent from a common ancestor. It was an important social and legal structure in early ...
References
{{reflist
Bibliography
* Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (
Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
), ''Roman History''.
* Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, ''
Historia Augusta'' (Augustan History).
* ''Digesta seu Pandectae'' (
The Digest).
* ''
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 ...
'',
William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
* George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897).
*
Paul von Rohden,
Elimar Klebs, &
Hermann Dessau, ''
Prosopographia Imperii Romani
The ', abbreviated ''PIR'', is a collective historical work to establish the prosopography of high-profile people from the Roman empire. The time period covered extends from the Battle of Actium in 31 BC to the reign of Diocletian. The final vol ...
'' (The Prosopography of the Roman Empire, abbreviated ''PIR''), Berlin (1898).
*
Guido Bastianini Guido Bastianini (born September 10, 1945 in Florence), Italian papyrologist and palaeographer.
Bastianini finished his papyrological studies in Florence 1970.
He had participated in various archaeological missions in Egypt organized by the Isti ...
,
Lista dei prefetti d'Egitto dal 30a al 299p, in ''
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik
The ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' (commonly abbreviated ZPE; "Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy") is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to papyrology and epigraphy. It has been described as " ...
'', vol. 17, pp. 278 ''ff.'' (1975).
* Paul A. Gallivan
"The ''Fasti'' for A.D. 70–96" in ''
Classical Quarterly'', vol. 31, pp. 186–220 (1981).
* John C. Traupman, ''The New College Latin & English Dictionary'', Bantam Books, New York (1995).
Roman gentes