The gens Ovinia was a plebeian family at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Members of this gens occur in history toward the end of the Republic, and from then to at least the fourth century. They produced generations of

Roman senators The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

, with Gaius Ovinius Tertullus obtaining 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 ...

toward the end of the second century.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 74 ("Ovinius").

Origin

The nomen ''Ovinius'' belongs to a class of gentilicia formed from other names using the suffix ''-inius''. In this case, it seems to be a patronymic surname derived from the

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 ...

praenomen ''Ovius''.

Branches and cognomina

Among the surnames of the Ovinii were ''Camillus'', ''Rusticus'', and ''Tertullus''. ''Camillus'' was an ancient

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 ...

referring to a youth in the service of a priestly office, and was made famous by the

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 tim ...

Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus (; c. 446 – 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of the patrician class. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of ''Second Founder ...

during the fourth century BC. ''Rusticus'' referred to someone of rural origin or habits. ''Tertullus'' is a diminutive of the cognomen ''Tertius'', "third".

Members

* Ovinius, proposed a law known as the ''lex Ovinia'', granting certain powers to the

censors Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

in order to maintain the list of senators. The law was passed by ''plebiscitum'', but its date is uncertain. * Quintus Ovinius, a Roman senator at the time of the war between Octavian and Marcus Antonius, who had taken charge of Cleopatra's spinning and weaving workshops.

Octavian Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, who considered this conduct disgraceful for a senator, had Ovinius put to death at the conclusion of the war.''PIR'', vol. II, p. 442. * Gaius Ovinius Tertullus, consul ''suffectus'' before AD 198, subsequently became

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

''pro praetore'' of Moesia Inferior during the reigns of

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 ...

and

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...

.''PIR'', vol. II, p. 443. * Ovinius Camillus, a senator who considered instigating a rebellion against the emperor

Severus Alexander Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...

. When his inclinations were discovered, the emperor treated him with clemency. * Lucius Ovinius L. f. Rusticus Cornelianus, consul in AD 237, during the reign of

Maximinus Thrax Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus "Thrax" ("the Thracian"; – 238) was Roman emperor from 235 to 238. His father was an accountant in the governor's office and sprang from ancestors who were Carpi (a Dacian tribe), a people whom Diocleti ...

. He had been

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 ...

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

, legate of one of the legions in

Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; el, Μυσία; lat, Mysia; tr, Misya) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on th ...

inferior, and curator of the ''Via Tiburtina'' and the ''Via Flaminia''. * Rufria Ovinia L. f. L. n. Corneliana, daughter of the consul Rusticus Cornelianus. * Ovinius Pacatianus, ''

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 AD 276 and 277.''Chronography of 354''. * Ovinius Paternus, ''praefectus urbi'' in AD 281, could possibly be the same person as Nonius Paternus, the consul of 279. * Lucius Ovinius Curius Proculus Modianus Africanus, consul in an uncertain year. His wife was Claudiana Eusebia, and he was the grandfather of Lucius Ovinius Africanus. His monument at Rome dates to the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century.. * Lucius Ovinius Africanus, grandson of the consul Africanus. * Ovinius Gallicanus, ''praefectus urbi'' in AD 316, and consul ''suffectus'' the following year.''PLRE'', vol. 1, p. 383 ("Ovinius Gallicanus").

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* Aelius Lampridius, Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, ''Historia Augusta'' ( Augustan History). * ''

Chronography 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 ...

''. *

Paulus Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in ''Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), th ...

, ''Historiarum Adversum Paganos'' (History Against the Pagans). * ''

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). * A. H. M. Jones & J. R. Martindale, ''

The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...