Cilnia gens
The gens Cilnia was an
Etruscan family at ancient Rome, from the late Republic into imperial times. This gens is best known from Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, a trusted friend and advisor of Augustus, who was famous for his immense wealth and patronage of the arts. At least two of the Cilnii obtained the consulship under the Empire.[1]
Origin
The Cilnii hailed from the Etruscan city of
Arretium, where they were amongst the local nobility, and had once held the title of Lucumo, or king. Their nomen was originally written Cfelne or Cfenle, which was subsequently Latinized as Cilnius, much as the Etruscan Lecne became Licinius. The Cilnii supported Roman interests in Etruria, and were expelled from Arretium in 301 BC, but regained their position with Roman aid.[2][1]
Branches and cognomina
The only family of the Cilnii to achieve prominence under the Republic bore the
Varro a popular etymology held that it originally designated a child born when his father was far from home.[7]
Members
- This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.
- Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, an Marcus Livius Drusus in 91 BC; he was probably the grandfather, or perhaps the father, of the famous Maecenas.[8]
- Octavian, afterwards the emperor Augustus, whose trusted advisor he became.[9]
- Gaius Cilnius P. f. Paetinus, praetor and legate under Tiberius.[10]
- Gaius Cilnius Proculus, consul suffectus for the last four months of AD 87.[11]
- Lucius Cilnius Secundus, commander of an Moesia Superior around AD 93.[12]
- Gaius Cilnius C. f. Proculus, consul suffectus in AD 100, probably for the months of May and June.[13] He is thought to be the son of Gaius Cilnius Proculus, the consul of 87.[14]
See also
References
- ^ a b Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 748 ("Cilnii").
- ^ Müller, Die Etrusker, vol. i, p. 414.
- ^ Varro, De Lingua Latina, viii. 84, ed. Müller.
- ^ Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis, xiv. 8.
- ^ Müller, Die Etrusker, vol. i, p. 404.
- ^ Chase, p. 109.
- ^ Chase, p. 145.
- ^ Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 56.
- ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 890–895 ("Maecenas, C. Cilnius").
- ^ CIL VI, 1376.
- ^ Gallivan, "The Fasti for A.D. 70–96", pp. 190, 217.
- ^ CIL XVI, 39 = ILS 9053.
- ^ Fasti Ostienses, CIL XIV, 244.
- Classical Philology, 71 (1976), pp. 256-257
Bibliography
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Cluentio.
- Marcus Terentius Varro, De Lingua Latina (On the Latin Language).
- Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), Historia Naturalis (Natural History).
- 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).
- Karl Otfried Müller, Die Etrusker, Albert Heitz, Stuttgart (1877).
- Hermann Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae (Select Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ILS), Berlin (1892–1916).
- George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
- Paul A. Gallivan, "The Fasti for A.D. 70–96", in Classical Quarterly, vol. 31, pp. 186–220 (1981).