The gens Scaevinia, sometimes written Scaevina, was an obscure
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 o ...
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 (753–50 ...
. 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 not mentioned in ancient writers, but several are known from inscriptions.
Origin
The
nomen ''Scaevinius'' belongs to a class of gentilicia formed using the suffix ''-inius'', typically derived from
cognomina
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 ...
ending in ''-inus''. The root of the name is probably ''Scaevinus'', although ''-inius'' came to be regarded as a regular gentile-forming suffix, and might have been applied directly to ''
Scaevius'', an existing gentile name. The nomen ''Scaevilius'' seems to have arisen in the same manner. All of these are ultimately derived from 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 her ...
''Scaeva'', originally referring to someone left-handed, or by extension someone strongly affected by fate, whether for good or ill.
Branches and cognomina
Of the cognomina borne by the Scaevinii, ''Capito'' originally described someone with a large or prominent head, while ''Quadratus'', literally "square" might describe someone stocky, or particularly angular. ''Proculus'', of which ''Procilla'' is a diminutive, was an old Roman
praenomen
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 b ...
that later became a surname. It was usually explained as a name given to a child born while his father was abroad, but might perhaps have been a diminutive of ''Proca'', a name known from Roman myth, possibly referring to a suitor, or from ''procer'', a prince or leader.
Members
* Scaevinia, named in a second century inscription dedicated to
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted th ...
at
Nomentum
Mentana is a town and ''comune'', former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. It is located north-east of Rome and has a population of about 23,000.
History
Mentana's name in ...
in
Latium
Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire.
Definition
Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on ...
.
* Scaevinius, the master of Saturio, a slave named in an inscription from
Interamna Lirenas
Interamna Lirenas was an ancient Roman colony near the current Pignataro Interamna, in the southern province of Frosinone, central Italy.
Modern archaeological excavations at the site commenced in 2010.
History
Interamna Lirenas was founded in 3 ...
in Latium, dating to AD 38.
* Scaevinius L. f. Capito, a veteran buried at
Garda in
Venetia and Histria
Venetia et Histria (Latin: ''Regio X Venetia et Histria'') was an administrative subdivision in the northeast of Roman Italy. It was originally created by Augustus as the tenth ''regio'' in 7 AD alongside the nine other ''regiones''. The region h ...
, with a monument dedicated by the
sodales
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on ...
Marcus Turallasius and Satyrius Culicionis.
* Scaevinia Procilla, buried at
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
in
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul ( la, Gallia Cisalpina, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts ( Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC.
After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC it was ...
, aged eighteen, with a monument from her parents, Scaevinius Proculus and Caecilia Quinta.
[.]
* Scaevinius Proculus, together with his wife, Caecilia Quinta, dedicated a monument at Ravenna to their daughter, Scaevinia Procilla.
* Lucius Scaevinus L. l. Quadratus, a freedman buried at
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...
in Venetia and Histria, together with his sister, Aucta.
[.]
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 earl ...
References
Bibliography
*
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).
* René Cagnat ''et alii'', ''
L'Année épigraphique
''L'Année épigraphique'' (''The Epigraphic Year'', standard abbreviation ''AE'') is a French publication on epigraphy (i.e the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing). It was set up by René Cagnat, as holder of the chair of 'Epigraphy an ...
'' (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated ''AE''), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
* George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
* John C. Traupman, ''The New College Latin & English Dictionary'', Bantam Books, New York (1995).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scaevinia gens
Roman gentes