Considia (gens)

The gens Considia was a plebeian family at Rome. None of the members of this gens ever obtained any higher office in the state than the praetorship, and are, with one exception, mentioned only in the last century of the Republic.^[1]

Origin

The Considii were an old family, first appearing early in the fifth century B.C. However, they quickly faded into obscurity, from which they did not emerge for nearly four centuries. The nomen Considius could perhaps be related to the mysterious and relatively obscure god Consus.

Praenomina used

The Considii used the praenomina Quintus, Lucius, Publius, Marcus, and Gaius, all of which were amongst the most common names throughout Roman history.^[1]

Branches and cognomina

The cognomina of this gens are Gallus, Longus, Nonianus, and Paetus, the last two of which also occur on coins. Gallus may refer to a Gaul, or to a cockerel. Longus implies that the bearer was tall, or perhaps "long-winded," although the name could also have been bestowed ironically on a short man. Nonianus implies a connection with the gens Nonia, although whether the individual bearing it was adopted from that family, or descended from it through the maternal line, cannot be determined. Paetus translates as "squinty" or "nearsighted."^[1][2]

Members of the gens

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

• Quintus Considius, tribunus plebis in 476 B.C., brought forward an agrarian law that had previously been rejected, and accused Titus Menenius Lanatus, consul in the preceding year, of neglect resulting in the disaster of the Cremera and destruction of the Fabii.^[3][4]
• Considius, a publicanus, brought an action against Lucius Sergius Orata, Praetor in 98 B.C., for illegally appropriating the waters of the Lucrine Sea.^[5]
• Lucius Considius, together with Sextus Saltius, led a colony to Capua at the direction of the tribune Marcus Junius Brutus in 83 B.C.^[6]
• Quintus Considius, a senator and jurist, was praised by Cicero for his integrity and uprightness. Plutarchus records an anecdote concerning his visit to Caesar's house as an old man in 59 B.C.^[7][8]
• Quintus Considius, a moneylender at the time of the Catilinian conspiracy in 63 B.C., forwent the collection of debts and interest owed him in order to mitigate the alarm over the rapid depreciation of property, and inability of debtors to pay their creditors. Possibly the same man as the jurist.^[9]
• Quintus Considius Q. f. Gallus, perhaps the son of the jurist, was one of the heirs of Quintus Turius in 43 B.C.^[10]
• Lucius Considius L. f. Gallus.^[11]
• Publius Considius, a veteran soldier, who served under Sulla, Crassus, and Caesar, who mentions him in his account of his first campaign in Gaul, in 58 B.C.^[12]
• Marcus Considius Nonianus, praetor in 52 B.C., he assisted Pompeius in his preparations at Capua in 49.^[13][14]
• Gaius Considius Nonianus, appears on coins.^[15]
• Gaius Considius C. f. Longus, propraetor in Africa at the time of the Civil War, he espoused the side of Pompeius, but fled following the defeat of Scipio at Thapsus in 46 B.C., and was murdered by his own Gaetulian mercenaries.
• Gaius Considius C. f. C. n. (Longus), son of the propraetor, fell into Caesar's power after the Battle of Thapsus and capture of Hadrumetum, and was pardoned. Could be the same person as Gaius Considius Paetus.^[16]
• Gaius Considius C. f. C. n. Paetus, appears on coins. Possibly the same person as the son of Considius Longus.^[15]
• Considius Aequus.^[11]
• Considius Proculus.^[11]

See also

List of Roman gentes

References

1. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
2. D.P. Simpson, Cassell's Latin & English Dictionary (1963).
3. Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, ii. 52.
4. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Romaike Archaiologia, ix. 27.
5. Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium libri IX, ix. 1. § 1.
6. Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Legibus Agr. ii. 34.
7. Marcus Tullius Cicero, In Verrem, i. 7, Pro Cluentio, 38, Epistulae ad Atticum, ii. 24.
8. Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, "Caesar", 14.
9. Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium libri IX, iv. 8. § 3.
10. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xii. 26.
11. Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft.
12. Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, i. 21.
13. Quintus Asconius Pedianus, in Cic. Mil. p. 55 (ed. Orelli)
14. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xvi. 12, Epistulae ad Atticum, viii. 11, B.
15. Joseph Hilarius Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum Veterum, v. p. 177.
16. Gaius Julius Caesar (attributed), De Bello Africo, 89.

 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.