Cestia (gens)

The gens Cestia was a plebeian family at Rome during the later Republic, and in imperial times. The first member of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Cestius Gallus in AD 35. The family's name is commemorated on two monuments, the Pons Cestius and the Pyramid of Cestius which survive into modern times.[1]

Praenomina used by the gens

The praenomina used by the Cestii included Gaius, Lucius, Numerius, Publius, and Titus. Except for Numerius, all of these were among the most common names throughout Roman history.[1][2]

Branches and cognomina of the gens

The Cestii do not appear to have been divided into distinct families. The cognomina Gallus, Macedonicus, Proculus, and Severus were probably personal surnames, as was Pius, a rhetorician and a native of Smyrna, who was perhaps a freedman of the gens. Gallus may refer to a cock, or to one of the Gauls. Macedonicus alluded to the military service of one of the Cestii in Macedonia, while Proculus was an old praenomen that came to be used as a surname in many families. Severus was a common surname meaning "grave, serious," or "severe", while Pius referred to a person known for being dutiful or pious.[1][3]

Members of the gens

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

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  2. Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft.
  3. D.P. Simpson, Cassell's Latin & English Dictionary (1963).
  4. Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum, v. p. 169.
  5. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Flacco, 13, Epistulae ad Atticum, v. 13, Philippicae, iii. 10.
  6. Appianus, Bellum Civile, iv. 26.
  7. Appianus, Bellum Civile, v. 49.
  8. Marcus Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History, ii. 74.
  9. Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, ap. Chron. Euseb. ad. Ol. (translation and supplement to the Chronicon of Eusebius), cxci.
  10. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Controversiae, iii. praef., Suasoriae, vii.
  11. Marcus Fabius Quintilianus, Institutio Oratoria, x. 5. § 20.
  12. Meyer, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta.
  13. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales, iii. 36, vi. 7, 31.
  14. Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History, lviii. 25.
  15. Gaius Plinius Secundus, Historia Naturalis, x. 43.
  16. Flavius Josephus, The Life of Flavius Josephus, § 43, Bellum Judaicum, ii. 14. § 3, 16. §§ 1, 2, 18. §§ 9, 10, 19. §§ 1-9, 20. § 1, iii. 1.
  17. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Historiae, v. 10.
  18. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum, "Vespasian," 4.
  19. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales, iv. 41.
  20. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Historiae, iv. 41.

 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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