The gens Istacidia was an obscure

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

family at Pompeii. No members of this

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 ...

are mentioned by ancient writers, but a number are known from inscriptions. Numerius Istacidius Cilix was one of the municipal

duumvirs The duumviri (Latin for "two men"), originally duoviri and also known in English as the duumvirs, were any of various joint magistrates of ancient Rome. Such pairs of magistrates were appointed at various periods of Roman history both in Rome itse ...

of Pompeii around the beginning of the first century. The Istacidii were apparently the residents of the famous "

Villa of the Mysteries The Villa of the Mysteries ( it, Villa dei Misteri) is a well-preserved suburban ancient Roman villa on the outskirts of Pompeii, southern Italy. It is famous for the series of exquisite frescos in Room 5, which are usually interpreted as show ...

", and a large sepulchre found along the bay road contains several tombs for members of this family.Gordon, "The Ordo of Pompeii", p. 174.

Origin

The Istacidii were most likely of

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

n origin, as all of the inscriptions of this family are from Pompeii, and one of them bore the surname ''Campanus'', one of a class of surnames derived from place names, and usually indicating a person's place of origin.

Praenomina

The main

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 bir ...

of the Istacidii were '' Numerius'' 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 L ...

'', accounting for all of the Istacidii whose praenomina are known, except for one instance of ''

Marcus Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl� ...

'', found in a filiation. ''Lucius'' and ''Marcus'' were among the most common of all Roman names at all periods of history, while ''Numerius'' was much more distinctive; while not actually rare, it was typical in families 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.

Branches and cognomina

The inscriptions of the Istacidii at Pompeii suggest that they constituted a single family, together with their freedmen. Several inscriptions of this gens do not include a cognomen, and none of the surnames of this gens appear to have been hereditary. ''Cilix'', a surname originally applied to someone from

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian language, Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from th ...

, gives the appearance of the type of name belonging to a freedman, and indicating his place of origin; but as it belonged to one of the ''duumviri'', it may instead have stemmed from his trading connections.

Members

Roman fresco Villa dei Misteri Pompeii 001

* Istacidia L. f., named in an inscription from Pompeii in

. * Istacidia M. f., the widow of Publius Tintirius, was buried at Pompeii between 30 BC and AD 20, in a tomb dedicated by her daughter, Tintiria. * Lucius Istacidius, named in a first-century inscription from Pompeii. * Lucius Istacidius, named in two graffiti from Pompeii. * Numerius Istacidius Amicus, a money-lender at Pompeii in AD 55, according to an inscription indicating that he was owed the sum of 7,390

sestertii The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The na ...

.Gordon, "The Ordo of Pompeii", pp. 173, 174. * Numerius Istacidius Campanus, named in an inscription from Pompeii, dating between AD 30 and 50. * Nuerius Istacidius N. f. Cilix, one of the municipal

at Pompeii, according to an inscription dating between 7 BC and AD 20, in which he dedicated a section of public seating for the

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

. * Istacidius Crisyrus, named in an inscription from Pompeii, dating between AD 30 and 50. * Lucius Istacidius Eu .. named in an inscription from Pompeii. * Numerius Istacidius Helenus, a freedman buried at Pompeii, in a tomb dating between AD 30 and 60, along with Numerius Istacidius Januarius and Mesonia Satulla.. * Numerius Istacidius Januarius, a freedman buried at Pompeii, in a tomb dating between AD 30 and 60, along with Numerius Istacidius Helenus and Mesonia Satulla. * Numerius Istacidius Nyptnus, named in an inscription from Pompeii. * Numerius Istacidius Orion, named in an inscription from Pompeii. * Istacidia N. f. Rufilla, perhaps the daughter of Cilix, was a priestess at Pompeii. * Numerius Istacidius N. f. S ..Menophilus, buried at Pompeii, in a tomb dating between AD 30 and 50. * Istacidia Scapis, named in an inscription from Pompeii, dating between AD 30 and 60.. * Lucius Istacidius Zosimus, a freedman of the Istacidii, probably acquired the

from his former masters following the earthquake of 62.

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

Mausoleo degli Istacidii a Porta Ercolano

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classics, classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19 ...

''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 thr ...

'' (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, pp. 103–184 (1897). *

August Mau August Mau (15 October 1840 – 6 March 1909) was a prominent German art historian and archaeologist who worked with the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut while studying and classifying the Roman paintings at Pompeii, which was destroyed with ...