The gens Nummia was a
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 appear almost exclusively 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 ...
. During the third century, they frequently obtained the highest offices of the Roman state.
[''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, p. 1215 (" Nummius").]
Praenomina
Little can be said about 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 ...
of the early Nummii, for nearly all of the Nummii Albini, the only prominent family, bore the praenomen ''
Marcus'', and were distinguished from one another by their various other names. The only other praenomen occurring among the Nummii who appear in history is ''
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 ...
'', although in inscriptions we also find ''
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 ...
,
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 P ...
,
Publius'', and ''
Quintus''.
Branches and cognomina
The main family of the Nummii bore the surname ''Albinus'', "whitish", an old and honourable
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 ...
long associated with aristocratic Roman families.
[Chase, p. 110.] Members of this family bore additional surnames, such as ''Senecio'' ("old man"), ''Justus'' ("just, upright"), ''Dexter'' ("right, fortunate"), and ''Tuscus'' ("Etruscan"). Besides these, one of the early Nummii adds ''Gallus'', a surname that can be translated as either "cockerel" or "
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
", and perhaps ''Rusticus'' ("rural, rustic").
Members
* Titus Rustius Nummius Gallus, consul ''suffectus'' in AD 34.
* Didius Nummius Albinus, the brother or half-brother of
Marcus Didius Severus Julianus, emperor in AD 193. He was probably put to death by
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
. He may have been the father of Marcus Nummius Umbrius Primus Senecio Albinus, consul in AD 206.
[''PIR'', vol. II, p. 420.]
*
Marcus Nummius M. f. Umbrius Primus Senecio Albinus, consul in AD 206, had been one of the
Salii Palatini. He married Vibia Salvia Varia, and was the father of Marcus Nummius Senecio Albinus, consul in AD 227, and Nummia Varia. Marcus Nummius Justus may have been another son.
[''PIR'', vol. II, pp. 420, 421.]
*
Marcus Nummius M. f. M. n. Senecio Albinus, consul in AD 227, was the step-brother of Lucius Roscius Aelianus Paculus Salvius Julianus, consul in AD 223. Senecio was the father of Marcus Nummius Tuscus, consul in AD 258, and perhaps also of Marcus Nummius Albinus, consul in 263.
* Nummia M. f. M. n. Varia, daughter of the consul of 206, was a priestess of
Venus Felix
Venus (), , is a Roman goddess, whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fle ...
. In AD 242, she was assigned the prefecture of
Peltuinum
Peltuinum was a Roman town of the Vestini, on the ancient Via Claudia Nova, 20 km east of L'Aquila, Italy, between the modern-day settlements of Prata d'Ansidonia and Castelnuovo. It was apparently the chief town of that portion of the ...
.
* Marcus Nummius Justus, perhaps a son of the consul of 206.
[''PIR'', vol. II, p. 421.]
*
Nummius (M. f. M. n.) Albinus, a senator, served as consul in an uncertain year, ''circa'' AD 240. He was
praefectus urbi
The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, an ...
in 256, during the reign of
Valerian, and again from 261 to 263. He was consul for the second time in 263. He is probably the same Albinus who died as an old man under
Aurelian.
[Chronography of 354.]
* Marcus Nummius Attidius Senecio Albinus, possibly identical with Nummius Albinus, consul in 263.
*
Marcus Nummius M. f. M. n. Tuscus, consul in AD 258, was probably the father of Nummius Tuscus, consul in 295.
* Nummius Faustianus, consul in AD 262.
* Marcus Nummius Ceionius Annius Albinus, praetor ''urbanus'' in the late 3rd century. He was likely a son of Albinus, consul in 263.
*
Nummius (M. f. M. n.) Tuscus, consul in AD 295, and praefectus urbi from 302 to 303.
* Nummius Albinus, dedicated an altar to
Jupiter Serenus at Rome, perhaps in the late 3rd or early 4th century.
* Nummius Albinus, named in pottery fragments from Carthage, together with Nummius Tuscus.
* Nummius Tuscus, named in pottery fragments from Carthage, together with Nummius Albinus. Possibly identical with the consuls of 258 or 295.
[
* Marcus Nummius Albinus ''signo'' Triturrius, consul in AD 345.][
* Nummius Aemilianus Dexter, proconsul of ]Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
between AD 379 and 387, and praetorian prefect of Italy in 395.
Notes
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
Bibliography
* ''Chronograph of 354
The ''Chronograph of 354'' (or "Chronography"), also known as the ''Calendar of 354'', is a compilation of chronological and calendrical texts produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrator ...
''.
* Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, '' Historia Augusta'' (Augustan History).
* ''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).
* 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 centu ...
''et alii'', '' Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
* 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).
*
*
* {{cite book , editor1=August Pauly , editor2=Georg Wissowa , editor3=Wilhelm Kroll , editor4=Kurt Witte , editor5=Karl Mittelhaus , editor6=Konrat Ziegler , title=Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft , title-link=Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft , location=Stuttgart , publisher=J. B. Metzler , date=1894–1980 , ref={{harvid, RE
* John C. Traupman, ''The New College Latin & English Dictionary'', Bantam Books, New York (1995).
Roman gentes