Aternia gens
The gens Aternia, also written Aeternia, was a
Aulus Aternius Varus, consul in 454 BC, and later one of the only patricians ever to be chosen tribune of the plebs. Other Aternii are known from inscriptions.[1]
Branches and cognomina
The only surnames of the Aternii in Republican times are Varus and Fontinalis. Varus belongs to a large class of cognomina originally derived from the physical characteristics of the bearer, and indicated someone "knock-kneed"; that is, with inwardly-turned legs.[2] Fontinalis is derived from fons, and must have indicated someone who lived near a spring; it belongs to a common class of surname derived from the names of everyday objects.[3]
Members
- This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
- tribunes of the plebs, when only five candidates received sufficient votes for election, and Marcus Duilius, presiding over the election, instructed these five to co-opt five colleagues. Although patricians, they were favourably disposed to the interests of the plebs, and so acceptable to their colleagues.[4][5][6]
- Aternia, a maker of small pottery, whose maker's mark has been found in Ariminum in Cisalpine Gaul.[7]
- Aeternius, a young man buried in a third-century tomb at Africa Proconsularis, aged twenty-seven years and six months.[8]
- Aeternia C. l. Etaera, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Rome.[9]
- Aeternia Feculina, an elderly woman buried in a third-century tomb at Ammaedara, aged ninety-two, in a tomb dedicated by Cornelius Felix.[10]
- Publius Aternius Hilarus, named in an undated inscription from Rome.[11]
- Gaius Aeternius Rufus, a soldier in the Misenum in Campania, who together with Lucius Statius Valens and Marcus Musidius Petra, dedicated a second-century tomb at Misenum for their late colleague, Lucius Pomponius Varus, aged thirty-five years, nine months, who had named them his heirs. All except for Musidius belonged to the century of Gaius Tarulius Vitalis; Musidius was from the century of Clemens.[12]
- Marcus Aternius M. f. Successus, a boy buried at Rome, aged nine, with a monument from his father, Marcus Vennius Successus.[13]
- Aternia Zaba, a woman buried at Gillium in Africa Proconsularis, aged eighty-one.[14]
See also
References
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 392 ("A. Aternius or Aterius").
- ^ Chase, p. 109.
- ^ Chase, pp. 112, 113.
- ^ Fasti Capitolini, AE 1900, 83; 1904, 114.
- ^ Livy, iii. 31, 65.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 42, 43, 50.
- ^ CIL III, 6010,020,CIL III, 12014,008a, CIL XI, 6700,108.
- ^ AE 2013, 1808.
- ^ CIL VI, 16628.
- ^ AE 2013, 1859.
- ^ CIL VI, 34546.
- ^ CIL X, 3387.
- ^ CIL VI, 38045.
- ^ Merlin, Inscriptions Latines de La Tunisie, 1368, 1.
Bibliography
- Titus Livius (History of Rome.
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
- Theodor Mommsen et alii, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated CIL), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
- René Cagnat et alii, L'Année épigraphique (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated AE), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
- George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
- Alfred Merlin, Inscriptions Latines de La Tunisie (Latin Inscriptions from Tunisia), Fondation Dourlans, Paris (1944).
- T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952–1986).