Otacilia (gens)

The gens Otacilia, originally Octacilia, was a plebeian family at Rome. The gens first rose to prominence during the First Punic War, but afterwards lapsed into obscurity. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Manius Otacilius Crassus, in 263 BC.^[1]

Origin of the gens

The nomen Otacilius may be derived from the praenomen Octavius. Octacilius is the correct orthography, but Otacilius is the form most common in later sources. The earliest known member of the family was a native of Maleventum, an ancient city of Campania, which according to Plinius was inhabited by the Hirpini.^[1][2][3]

Praenomina used by the gens

The early Otacilii favored the praenomina Manius, Titus, and Gaius. The earliest known Otacilius bore the praenomen Numerius, which passed through his daughter to the Fabii. In later times, Gnaeus and Lucius are found.^[1][3]

Branches and cognomina of the gens

The only family-names of the Otacilii are Crassus and Naso. Crassus was a common surname, meaning "dull, thick," or "solid." It could refer to appearance, demeanor, or intellect. Naso is thought to refer to a prominent nose.^[1][4]

Members of the gens

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

• Numerius Otacilius Maleventanus, a wealthy native of Maleventum in the first half of the 5th century BC.^[3]
• Otacilia N. f., married Quintus Fabius Vibulanus.^[3]
• Gnaeus Otacilius Naso, recommended by Cicero to the notice and favor of Manius Acilius Glabro in 46 BC.^[5]
• Lucius Otacilius Pilitus, a freedman, who opened a school at Rome, where he taught rhetoric, in 81 BC. Amongst his pupils was Gnaeus Pompeius, and Otacilius wrote a history of his pupil, and of his father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo.^[6][7]
• (Otacilius) Severus or Severianus, the father-in-law or brother-in-law of Marcus Julius Philippus, emperor from AD 244 to 249, by whom Severus was appointed Governor of Mesopotamia (Roman province) and Moesia.^[8]
• Marcia Otacilia Severa, wife of Marcus Julius Philippus, and Roman empress from AD 244 to 249.

Otacilii Crassi

• Manius Otacilius Crassus, grandfather of the consuls of 263 and 261 BC.
• Gaius Otacilius M'. f. Crassus, father of the consuls of 263 and 261 BC.
• Manius Otacilius C. f. M'. n. Crassus, consul in 263 BC, during the First Punic War. He crossed into Sicily with a large army, and concluded a peace with Syracuse. He was consul a second time in 246.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}
• Titus Otacilius C. f. M'. n. Crassus, consul in 261 BC, continued the war against the Carthaginians in Sicily.^[14]
• Titus Otacilius (T. f. C. n.) Crassus, praetor in 217 and 214 BC.
• Otacilia, condemned in a judgment of the jurist Gaius Aquillius Gallus, who was praetor in 67 BC. She may have been the wife of Marcus Juventius Laterensis; the phrase ab Otacilia Laterensi[s] occurs in Valerius Maximus.^[15]
• Otacilius Crassus, an officer in the army of Gnaeus Pompeius, he had the command of Lissus in Macedonia. He massacred two hundred and twenty of Caesar's soldiers, who had surrendered to him on the promise that they should be uninjured. Shortly afterward, he abandoned Lissus, and joined the main body of Pompeius' army.^[16]

See also

• List of Roman gentes

Footnotes

1. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
2. Gaius Plinius Secundus, Historia Naturalis, iii. 11. s. 16.
3. Sextus Pompeius Festus, epitome of Marcus Verrius Flaccus De Verborum Significatu, s. v. Numerius, pp. 170, 173, ed. Müller.
4. D.P. Simpson, Cassell's Latin & English Dictionary (1963).
5. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, xiii. 33.
6. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Claris Rhetoribus, 3.
7. Gerardus Vossius, De Historicis Latinis Libri III., i. 9. p. 40
8. Michael Grant, The Roman Emperors (1985).
9. Polybius, The Histories, i. 16 ff.
10. Joannes Zonaras, Epitome Historiarum, viii. 9.
11. Eutropius, Breviarium historiae Romanae, ii. 10.
12. Paulus Orosius, Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII, iv. 7.
13. Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, x. 6.
14. Polybius, The Histories, i. 20.
15. Valerius Maximus, Factorum ac Dictorum Memorabilium libri IX, viii. 2. § 2.
16. Gaius Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Civili, iii. 28, 29.

Notes

 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.