Asinia (gens)

The gens Asinia was a plebeian family at Rome, which rose to prominence during the first century BC. The first person of the name who occurs in history is Herius Asinius, in the Social War, BC 90.[1]

Origin

The Asinii came from Teate, the chief town of the Marrucini, and their name is derived from asina, which was a cognomen of the Scipios, as asellus was of the Annii and Claudii. The Herius, spoken of by Silius Italicus in the time of the Second Punic War, about 218 BC, was an ancestor of the Asinii.[2][3][4]

Praenomina

The first of the Asinii bore the Oscan praenomen Herius, which was apparently of long standing amongst their ancestors. However, at Rome the family used the common Latin praenomina Gaius, Gnaeus, Lucius, Marcus, and Servius.[1]

Branches and cognomina

The principal cognomina of the Asinii are Agrippa, Celer, Dento, Gallus, Pollio, and Saloninus. Of these, Pollio is the first, and gave rise to many of the others. Gaius Asinius Pollio, consul in 40 BC was the father of Gaius Asinius Gallus Saloninus, whose sons bore the cognomina Pollio, Agrippa, Saloninus, Celer, and Gallus. The Asinii Marcelli were descended from Marcus Asinius Agrippa.[1]

Another family of the Asinii, perhaps related to the Polliones, bore the surnames Rufus, Bassus, Frugi, Nicomachus, and Quadratus. It is not clear whether the Asinius Dento, a centurion under Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, or the Gaius Asinius Lepidus Praetextatus who was consul in AD 242, belonged to either of these families.[1]

Members

This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

Asinii Polliones et Galli

Asinii Rufi et Quatrati

Others

See also

List of Roman gentes

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 

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