Egnatia gens

The gens Egnatia was a plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Only a few of the Egnatii held any magistracies, of whom the most important may have been Gnaeus Egnatius, who held the praetorship during the second century BC, and served as governor of Macedonia, shortly after its institution as a Roman province.[1]

Origin

The Egnatii were of Samnite origin, and at least some of them had settled at Teanum. At the end of the Social War, the greater part of these appear to have removed to Rome, where two of them were admitted into the senate, though a branch of the family seems to have remained at Teanum.[1][2]

Praenomina

The first of the Egnatii known to history bore the Oscan praenomina Gellius and Marius. The Egnatii who settled at Rome favoured Gnaeus, but also made use of Gaius, Lucius, Marcus, and Publius.[1]

Branches and cognomina

The Egnatii do not seem to have been divided into distinct families during the time of the Republic. Most of the Egnatii bore no cognomen, but individuals are known with the surnames Celer, Maximus, Rufus, and Veratius. Celer means "swift," while Maximus is "great" or "greatest." Rufus, meaning "red," was typically given to someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion.[1]

Members
This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
  • Gellius Egnatius, the leader of the Samnites in the third great Samnite War, which broke out in 298 BC. Three years later, he was slain in battle following the devotion of the consul Publius Decius Mus.[3]
  • Gnaeus Egnatius C. f., praetor before 146 BC, was appointed governor of Macedonia, in which capacity he began construction of a road from the Pindus Mountains to Thessalonica.[4][5]
  • Marius Egnatius, one of the principal leaders of the Italian allies in the Social War. Livius calls him the leader of the Samnites. In 90 BC, he captured Venafrum, and subsequently put the army of the consul Lucius Julius Caesar to flight. In the following year Egnatius was killed in battle against the praetors Gaius Cosconius and Lucceius.[6][7]
  • Gnaeus Egnatius, a man of somewhat disreputable character, was admitted into the Roman senate, but was subsequently expelled by the censors.[8]
  • Egnatius Cn. f., like his father a member of the Roman senate, he retained that dignity when his father's name was struck off the rolls. He was disinherited by his father.[8]
  • Egnatius (Cn. n.), accompanied Marcus Licinius Crassus on his expedition against the Parthians, and after the great defeat which Crassus sustained (53 BC), escaped from the scene of the disaster with three hundred horsemen.[9]
  • Gaius Egnatius Cn. f. Cn. n. Maximus, appears on several coins apparently struck during the time of Gaius Julius Caesar. He is probably the same Egnatius Maximus mentioned by Cicero in 45 BC, and the same Egnatius mentioned without any surname in one or two other passages of Cicero.[10]
  • Lucius Egnatius Rufus, an eques, and friend of Cicero, who carried on an extensive business as a farmer of the taxes, and a money-lender in the provinces. Both Cicero and his brother, Quintus, had pecuniary dealings with him. Cicero frequently recommends him to the governors of the provinces.[11][12]
  • Egnatius Sidicinus, mentioned by Cicero as having had some money transactions with him.[13]
  • Egnatii, father and son, were included in the proscription of the year 43 BC, and were slain by a single blow, while locked in each other's arms.[14]
  • Marcus Egnatius (L. f.) Rufus, aedile in 20 BC, and praetor the following year, in contravention of the laws; he sought the consulship of 18, but the consul Gaius Sentius Saturninus refused to receive his name as one of the candidates. He then joined a plot to murder Augustus, but was detected, imprisoned, and executed.[15][16][17]
  • Egnatius, a poet who wrote before Vergil. Macrobius quotes some lines from his poem, De Rerum Natura.[18]
  • Publius Egnatius Celer, a Stoic philosopher, who served as an informer under the emperor Nero. He was condemned to death during the reign of Vespasian.
  • Egnatia Maximilla, a descendant of that branch of the Egnatia gens which bore the surname of Maximus, is mentioned by Tacitus as the wife of Publius Glitius Gallus, who was banished by the emperor Nero. She accompanied her husband in his exile.[19]
  • Gnaeus Egnatius Veratius, a Roman historian, mentioned only by Aurelius Victor.[20]
  • Marcus Egnatius Marcellinus, consul suffectus in 116.[21]
  • Egnatius Capito, consul suffectus, executed in 183.[22]
  • Marcus Egnatius Postumus, consul suffectus in 183.
  • Quintus Egnatius Proculus, consul suffectus around 219.

See also

References
  1. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, Editor.
  2. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Cluentio 48, Epistulae ad Atticum vi. 1.
  3. Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita x. 18-29.
  4. T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952), vol. III, p. 84.
  5. Andrew Lintott, The Romans in the Age of Augustus, John Wiley & Sons (2009), p. 8.
  6. Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita Epitome lxxv.
  7. Appianus, Bellum Civile i. 40, 41, 45.
  8. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Cluentio 48.
  9. Plutarchus, Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Crassus 27.
  10. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum xiii. 34, 45 ff.
  11. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares xiii. 43-45, 47, 73, 74.
  12. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum vii. 18. § 4, x. 15. § 4, xi. 3. § 3, xii. 18. § 3.
  13. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum vi. 1. § 23.
  14. Appianus, Bellum Civile iv. 21.
  15. Marcus Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History ii. 91-93.
  16. Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History liii. 24.
  17. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum Augustus 19.
  18. Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Saturnalia vi. 5.
  19. Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales xv. 71.
  20. Sextus Aurelius Victor, De Origo Gentis Romanae (attributed) init.
  21. Werner Eck, "Konsuln des Jahres 117 in Militärdiplomen Traians mit Tribunicia Potestas XX", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 185 (2013), pp. 235–238
  22. Paul Leunissen, Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (1989) pp. 196, 399

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