The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent 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 ...

, which from an early period was divided into patrician and

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 ...

branches. 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 ...

was of great antiquity, and frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of the

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 ...

. The first of the family who obtained the

consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early tribunes of the people.

Origin

The orthography of the nomen ''Verginius'' or ''Virginius'' has been disputed since ancient times; but ''Verginius'' is the form usually found in both manuscripts and inscriptions. Modern writers seem to favor ''Virginius'', perhaps by analogy to ''virgo'', a maiden. A similar instance is presented by the nomen ''

Vergilius 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 ...

'', which in modern times is often spelt ''Virgilius''. The gens was likely of Etruscan origins, and may have come to Rome with the Tarquins.

Praenomina

The early Verginii favored the

praenomina 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 birt ...

'' Opiter,

Proculus Proculus (died c. 281) was a Roman usurper, one of the "minor pretenders" according to ''Historia Augusta'', who would have taken the purple against Emperor Probus in 280. This is now disputed. Probably Proculus had family connection with the Fr ...

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

Aulus Aulus (abbreviated A.) is one of the small group of common forenames found in the culture of ancient Rome. The name was traditionally connected with Latin ''aula'', ''olla'', "palace", but this is most likely a false etymology. ''Aulus'' in fact ...

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 ...

'', and '' Spurius''. In later times they used mainly ''Lucius, Aulus,'' and ''Titus''.

Branches and cognomina

All of the patrician Verginii bore the

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 ...

''Tricostus'', but they were divided into various families with the surnames of ''Caeliomontanus, Esquilinus'', and ''Rutilus'', respectively. The surnames ''Caeliomontanus'' and ''Esquilinus'' presumably derive from the Caelian and

Esquiline Hill The Esquiline Hill (; la, Collis Esquilinus; it, Esquilino ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Its southernmost cusp is the ''Oppius'' (Oppian Hill). Etymology The origin of the name ''Esquiline'' is still under much debate. One view is ...

s, where these families probably lived. ''Rutilus'' is derived from a Latin adjective, meaning "reddish," and was probably acquired because some of the Verginii had red hair. The general

Lucius Verginius Rufus Lucius Verginius Rufus (AD 1597; sometimes incorrectly called Lucius Virginus Rufus) was a Roman commander of Germania Superior during the late 1st century. He was three times consul (in 63, 69, and 97). He was born near Comum, the birthplace of b ...

, who lived in the 1st century AD, may have obtained his cognomen for the same reason. Although the plebeian Verginii are also mentioned at an early period, none of them had any cognomen. Under the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

there are Verginii with other surnames.

Members

Verginii Tricosti

* Opiter Verginius Tricostus, father of the consul of 502 BC. * Opiter Verginius Opet. f. Tricostus,

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 502 BC; together with his colleague,

Spurius Cassius Vecellinus Spurius Cassius Vecellinus or Vicellinus (died 485 BC) was one of the most distinguished men of the early Roman Republic. He was three times consul, and celebrated two triumphs. He was the first ''magister equitum'', and the author of the first a ...

, he carried on war against the

Aurunci The Aurunci were an Italic tribe that lived in southern Italy from around the 1st millennium BC. They were eventually defeated by Rome and subsumed into the Roman Republic during the second half of the 4th century BC. Identity Aurunci is the n ...

, and took Pometia, in consequence of which the consuls obtained a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

. * Opiter Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus, according to Livius, consul in 473 BC with

Lucius Aemilius Mamercus Lucius Aemilius Mamercus was a Roman statesman who served as consul three times: in 484, 478 and 473 BC.Livy, ''Ab urbe condita'', 2.42 In 484 BC, as consul, Aemilius led the Roman forces in battle against the Volsci and Aequi. The Romans wer ...

; other authorities name

Vopiscus Julius Iulus Vopiscus Julius Iullus ( 473 BC) was a Roman statesman, who held the consulship in 473 BC, a year in which the authority of the Roman magistrates was threatened after the murder of a tribune of the plebs.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biograp ...

as the colleague of Aemilius. * Proculus Verginius Tricostus, consul in 435 BC, in which year there was a great pestilence at Rome, allowing the Fidenates and

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

to advance deep into Roman territory. While his colleague, Gaius Julius Iulus commanded the city's defenses, Virginius consulted the

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and nominated Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus as

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...

. * Lucius Verginius Tricostus, '' tribunus militum consulari potestate'' in 389 BC, the year following the Gallic sack of Rome.

Tricosti Caeliomontani

* Aulus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus, father of the consuls of 496 and 494 BC. * Titus Verginius A. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 496 BC with

Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis was an ancient Roman who, according to Livy, was Roman dictator in 498 or 496 BC, when he conquered the Latins in the great Battle of Lake Regillus and subsequently celebrated a triumph. Many of the coins of th ...

. * Aulus Verginius A. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 494 BC, he marched against the

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

, whom he defeated, and took the town of

Velitrae Velletri (; la, Velitrae; xvo, Velester) is an Italian '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring com ...

. He was one of the envoys sent by the senate to treat with the plebs during the

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

of that year. * Titus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus, father of the consul of 448 BC. * Aulus Verginius A. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 469 BC, marched against the

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early hist ...

. His army was nearly destroyed in consequence of his own negligence, but through the valor of his soldiers he eventually defeated the Aequian force. * Spurius Verginius A. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 456 BC; in his consulship the '' ludi saeculares'' are said to have been celebrated for the second time. *Spurius Verginius S. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, a patrician youth who gave testimony against

Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul in 455 BC, and decemvir in 451 BC. Family He was the only member of the patrician family to become consul. The '' gens Romilia'' disappears after him in the an ...

, during his trial in 454 BC. * Titus Verginius T. f. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, consul in 448 BC.

Tricosti Esquilini

* Opiter Verginius Tricostus Esquilinus, consul ''suffectus'' in 478 BC, in the place of Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala, who died in his year of office. * Lucius Verginius Opet. f. Tricostus Esquilinus, father of the consular tribune of 402 BC. * Lucius Verginius L. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Esquilinus, ''tribunus militum consulari potestate'' in 402 BC; the siege of Veii was entrusted to him and his colleague, Manius Sergius Fidenas, but because of their personal enmity, the Veientes were relieved, and Sergius' force was overpowered. The two tribunes were compelled to resign, and in the following year they were tried and condemned to pay a heavy fine.

Tricosti Rutili

* Proculus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus, consul in 486 BC, marched against the

, but as they would not meet him in the field, he ravaged their territory. He actively opposed the

agrarian law Agrarian laws (from the Latin ''ager'', meaning "land") were laws among the Romans regulating the division of the public lands, or ''ager publicus''. In its broader definition, it can also refer to the agricultural laws relating to peasants and h ...

brought forward by his colleague,

. * Titus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus, consul in 479 BC with Caeso Fabius Vibulanus; the same year the Fabii resolved to leave Rome in order to carry on the war against

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 ...

. Verginius was an

augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying ...

, and died during the great pestilence which devastated Rome in 463 BC. * Aulus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus, consul in 476 BC.

Others

* Publius Verginius, a senator in 494 BC, during the

first secession of the plebs The first was a significant event in ancient Roman political and social history that occurred between 495 and 493 BC. It involved a dispute between the patrician ruling class and the plebeian underclass, and was one of a number of secessions b ...

, who advocated that debt relief be granted only to those plebeians who had served in the army. * Aulus Verginius,

tribune of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power o ...

in 461 BC, he accused Caeso, son of the dictator

Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus ( – ) was a Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a legendary figure of Roman virtue—particularly civic virtue—by the time of the late Republic. Cincinnatus ...

, and after a severe struggle obtained his condemnation. * Lucius Verginius, the father of Verginia, whose tragic fate occasioned the downfall of the

decemvirs The decemviri or decemvirs ( Latin for "ten men") were some of the several 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic. The most important were those of the two Decemvirates, formally the " decemvirate with consular power for writin ...

, in 449 BC; he was subsequently elected one of the ''tribuni plebis'' for that year. * Verginia L. f., was taken into custody by Marcus Claudius, a client of

Appius Claudius Crassus Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis (or Crassinus Regillensis) Sabinus ( 471–451 BC) was a Roman senator during the early Republic, most notable as the leading member of the ten-man board (the Decemvirate) which drew up the Twelve Tables o ...

, who claimed her as his slave. According to legend, the judgment of Appius that Verginia was indeed a slave led to the downfall of the decemvirs. * Aulus Verginius, ''tribunus plebis'' in 395 BC, together with his colleague, Quintus Pomponius Rufus, opposed a measure to establish a

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

. Two years later, the tribunes were condemned and fined for their position. * Aulus Verginius, one of the patrician Verginii; his daughter, Verginia, went over to the plebeians. * Verginia A. f., a patrician by birth, married the plebeian

Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens was a consul of the Roman Republic, a ''novus homo'' ("new man") who was the first consul to come from his plebeian '' gens''. Volumnius served as consul twice, in 307 BC and 296 BC, both times in partnership with ...

, who was consul in 307 and 296 BC. She dedicated a chapel in which plebeian women could honor the goddess

Pudicitia Pudicitia ("modesty" or "sexual virtue") was a central concept in ancient Roman sexual ethics. The word is derived from the more general ''pudor'', the sense of shame that regulated an individual's behavior as socially acceptable. ''Pudicitia' ...

, after being excluded from her worship by the patricians on account of her marriage to a plebeian. * Lucius Verginius,

military tribune A military tribune (Latin ''tribunus militum'', "tribune of the soldiers") was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone ...

in 207 BC, during the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

. He brought the captured messengers of Hasdrubal to the consul,

Gaius Claudius Nero Gaius Claudius Nero (c. 247 BCc. 189 BC) was a Roman general active during the Second Punic War against the invading Carthaginian force, led by Hannibal Barca. During a military career that began as legate in 214 BC, he was propraetor in 211 B ...

. * Verginius, according to

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

us, the ''tribunus plebis'' who accused

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had t ...

in 87 BC; according to

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

, his name was ''Marcus Vergilius''. * Verginius, an orator proscribed by the triumvirs in 43 BC; he escaped to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

by promising large sums of money to his slaves, and then to the soldiers who were sent to kill him. * Verginius Capito, the master of a slave who escaped from the citadel at

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 ...

during the war between

Vitellius Aulus Vitellius (; ; 24 September 1520 December 69) was Roman emperor for eight months, from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius was proclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of ci ...

and

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 ...

, in AD 69, and betrayed the citadel to

Lucius Vitellius Lucius Vitellius (before 7 BC – AD 51) was the youngest of four sons of procurator Publius Vitellius and the only one who did not die through politics. He was consul three times, which was unusual during the Roman empire for someone who was ...

, the emperor's brother. * Verginius Flavus, a rhetorician, who flourished during the first century AD; he was one of the teachers of

Aulus Persius Flaccus Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satires, he shows a Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he considered to be the stylistic abuses of his ...

. *

, consul in AD 63, 69, and 97; a general in Germania at the death of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...

, he three times refused the demand of his soldiers to claim the imperial dignity. * Verginius Romanus, a contemporary of Pliny the Younger, was an author of comedies and mimi-iambi, which were much praised by Pliny. Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, '' Epistulae'', vi. 21.

Footnotes

{{SmithDGRBM

Bibliography

* T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association, 1951–1952. *

Robert Maxwell Ogilvie Robert Maxwell Ogilvie FRSE FSA FBA DLitt (5 June 1932 – 7 November 1981) was a British scholar of Latin literature and Classical language, classical philology. Life His parents were Sir Frederick Wolff Ogilvie (1893–1949), director-general ...

, ''Commentary on Livy, books 1–5'', Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965. Roman gentes