The gens Spurinnia was a minor
plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary.
Etymology
The precise origins of the gro ...
family of
Etruscan descent at
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
. No members of this
gens
In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...
are mentioned in ancient writers, but several are known from inscriptions.
[''PW'', "Spurinna".]
Origin
The
nomen ''Spurinna'' belongs to a class of gentilicia of
Etruscan origin, readily distinguished by the suffix ', characteristic of Etruscan nomina. The inscriptions of this gens, mostly belonging to the
imperial era, and all of which come from either Rome or
Etruria
Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...
, demonstrate that the feminine form was ''Spurinnia''. As a
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...
, ''Spurinna'' appears in the
Vestricia gens, the members of which gained considerable fame from the time of
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...
to that of
Trajan
Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
, but the majority of epigraphic occurrences are as a ''nomen gentilicium''.
Praenomina
The inscriptions of the Spurinnae indicate that their favoured
praenomina
The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...
were ''
Lucius'', ''
Publius'', and ''
Quintus
Quintus is a male given name derived from ''Quintus (praenomen), Quintus'', a common Latin language, Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth".
Quintus is ...
'', three of the most common names throughout Roman history. There is also an example of ''Velthur'', a typical Etruscan praenomen.
Members
* Publius Spurinna, named in a sepulchral inscription from
Tarquinii in
Etruria
Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...
, dating from the third quarter of the second century BC.
* Velthur Spurinna, named in a first-century inscription from Tarquinii.
* Spurinnia P. l. Eleutheris, a freedwoman buried at Rome during the first century.
* Spurinna Firmus, buried at Tarquinii, aged thirty.
* Lucius Spurinna Florus, one of the
quattuorviri at
Volsinii
Volsinii or Vulsinii (Etruscan language, Etruscan: Velzna or Velusna; Ancient Greek, Greek: Ouolsinioi, ; ), is the name of two ancient cities of Etruria, one situated on the shore of Lacus Volsiniensis (modern Lago di Bolsena), and the other on ...
in Etruria.
* Lucius Spurinna Ɔ. l. Hilarus, a freedman buried at Rome.
* Spurinnia Longa, buried at Tarquinii in Etruria, aged seventy-five, in a tomb dating from the third quarter of the first century BC.
* Spurinnia Nice Torquatiana, the nurse of Titus Julius Antigonus, buried at Rome during the middle part of the first century, in a tomb dedicated by Antigonus and his brother-in-law, Primigenius, the slave of Lucius Volusius Saturninus, for Spurinnia and Charis, the wife of Primigenius.
* Quintus Spurinna Q. f. Quintianus, an
eques from
Laurentum
Laurentum was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman city of Latium situated between Ostia Antica, Ostia and Lavinium, on the west coast of the Italian Peninsula southwest of Rome. Roman writers regarded it as the original capital of Italy, before Lavin ...
in
Latium
Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire.
Definition
Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...
, was one of the municipal
duumvirs at
Arretium in Etruria during the reign of
Severus Alexander
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – March 235), also known as Alexander Severus, was Roman emperor from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. Alexander took power in 222, when he succeeded his slain c ...
, and held several other positions of trust during his public career.
* Spurinnia L. f. Thannia, buried at Tarquinii, aged ninety-four, in a tomb dating from the third quarter of the first century BC.
[.]
See also
*
List of Roman gentes
The gens (plural gentes) was a Roman family, of Italic or Etruscan origins, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same '' nomen'' and claimed descent from a common ancestor. It was an important social and legal structure in earl ...
References
{{reflist
Bibliography
* ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...
'',
William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
*
Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...
''et alii'', ''
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...
'' (The Body of Latin Inscriptions, abbreviated ''CIL''), Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1853–present).
* René Cagnat ''et alii'', ''
L'Année épigraphique
''L'Année épigraphique'' (''The Epigraphic Year'', standard abbreviation ''AE'') is a French publication on epigraphy (i.e the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing). It was set up by René Cagnat, as holder of the chair of 'Epigraphy a ...
'' (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated ''AE''), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
*
August Pauly
August Friedrich von Pauly (; ; 9 May 1796, in Benningen am Neckar – 2 May 1845, in Stuttgart) was a German educator and classical philologist.
From 1813 to 1818 he studied at the University of Tübingen, then furthered his education at Heide ...
,
Georg Wissowa
Georg Otto August Wissowa (17 June 1859 – 11 May 1931) was a German classical philologist born in Neudorf, near Breslau.
Education and career
Wissowa studied classical philology under August Reifferscheid at the University of Bresl ...
, ''et alii'', ''
Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft
The Pauly encyclopedias or the Pauly-Wissowa family of encyclopedias, are a set of related encyclopedias on Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman classical studies, topics and scholarship. The first of these, or (1839–1852), was begun by compiler A ...
'' (Scientific Encyclopedia of the Knowledge of Classical Antiquities, abbreviated ''RE'' or ''PW''), J. B. Metzler, Stuttgart (1894–1980).
* George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
* Mario Torelli, ''Elogia Tarquiniensia'', Sansoni, Florence (1975).
Roman gentes
Etruscans