Jump to content

Annia gens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Denarius of Gaius Annius, minted c. 81 BC, on his way to fight Sertorius. The obverse depicts Anna Perenna.[1]

The gens Annia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Livy mentions a Lucius Annius, praetor of the Roman colony of Setia, in 340 BC, and other Annii are mentioned at Rome during this period. Members of this gens held various positions of authority from the time of the Second Punic War, and Titus Annius Luscus attained the consulship in 153 BC. In the second century AD, the Annii gained the Empire itself; Marcus Aurelius was descended from this family.[2]

Origin

[edit]

The Annii claimed a descent from the goddess Anna Perenna, the sister of Dido, portrayed on the coins of Gaius Annius Luscus.[3] The nomen Annius was classified by Chase as one of Picentine origin, while the first of the Annii appearing in history (in 340 BC) was praetor of Setia, originally a Volscian town, captured by the Romans in 382 BC. Both the Picentes and the Volsci spoke Umbrian languages, so it may be that Annius was a member of an old Volscian family, rather than one of the Latin colonists, on whose behalf he spoke.[4][5] It seems the gens acquired the citizenship soon after, since a Roman senator named Annius is recorded a generation later.

Praenomina

[edit]

The main families of the Annii at Rome used the praenomina Titus, Marcus, Lucius, and Gaius. Other names occur infrequently, although in imperial times several of the Annii used Appius, an otherwise uncommon praenomen chiefly associated with the Claudii.

Branches and cognomina

[edit]

A number of Annii during the Republic bore no cognomen. The main family of the Annii was surnamed Luscus, "bleary-eyed" or, "one-eyed". One member of this family bore the additional surname Rufus, probably in reference to his red hair.[6][7] A variety of surnames were borne by individual Annii, including Asellus, a diminutive of asinus, a donkey; Bassus, stout; Cimber, one of the Cimbri; Faustus, fortunate; Gallus, a Gaul or cockerel; and Pollio, a polisher.[8][9] Bellienus or Billienus, sometimes described as a cognomen of the Annii, was in fact a separate gens, although Cicero refers to a Gaius Annius Bellienus; it is not certain which of the Bellieni mentioned below actually belong to the Annia gens.[10]

Members

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

Annii Lusci

[edit]

Annii Bellieni

[edit]

Annii Polliones

[edit]
  • Gaius Annius (Pollio), father of the Pollio attested from the columbarium of his freedmen. Maybe the Annius who was triumvir monetalis in 9 BC.[23]
  • Gaius Annius C. f. Pollio, a senator known from the columbarium of his freedmen. Believed to be the father of Gaius Annius Pollio, consul in 21 or 22.[24] Maybe the Annius who was triumvir monetalis in 9 BC.[23]
  • Gaius Annius C. f. C. n. Pollio, consul suffectus in either AD 21 or 22. Accused of majestas during the reign of Tiberius.[25][26]
  • Gaius Annius C. f. C. n. Pollio, son of the consul of 21 or 22, himself consul suffectus circa AD 66. An intimate friend of Nero, banished after being accused of participating in the conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso.[27]
  • Annia C. f. C. n., daughter of the consul of 21 or 22 AD, wife of an Atratinus,[28] possibly either a Sempronius Atratinus or Marcus Asinius Atratinus the consul of 89
  • Lucius Annius C. f. C. n. Vinicianus, younger son of the consul of 21 or 22, and one of the men involved in the assassination of Caligula.[29]
  • (Lucius) Annius L. f. C. n. Vinicianus, son of the conspirator against Caligula, was involved in a plot against Nero. He took his own life rather than defend himself.
  • (Gaius) Annius L. f. C. n. Pollio, son of the elder Vinicianus and husband of Marcia Servilia.

Annii Galli

[edit]

Annii Veri

[edit]

Others

[edit]
  • Lucius Annius, a native of Setia, was praetor of the Latin League in 340 BC. He demanded that the Latins be treated as half the Roman state, and that one of the consuls and half the senate be chosen from among them. On receiving the indignant reply from the senators and the consul Titus Manlius, he is said to have harangued Capitoline Jupiter. He then fell and struck his head while leaving the senate house, though sources differ as to whether he died.[35]
  • Lucius Annius, a senator in 307 BC, who was expelled from the senate by the censors after repudiating his wife without previously consulting the consilium domesticum.[36][37]
  • Annius, a freedman, and reportedly the father of Gnaeus Flavius, curule aedile in 304 BC.[38][39]
  • Gaius Annius C. f., a quaestor or praetor during the third century BC.[40][41]
  • Annius, a Campanian ambassador to Rome in 216 BC, demanded that one of the consuls should henceforth be a Campanian.[42][43]
  • Gaius Annius C. f., a senator in 135 BC.[44]
  • Lucius Annius L. f., a senator in 135 BC.[44]
  • Gaius Annius C. f., a senator in 129 BC, should probably be distinguished from the Gaius Annius of 135, who was a member of the tribus Camilia, while the senator of 129 was from Arniensis.[45]
  • Marcus Annius P. f., quaestor in Macedonia circa 119 BC, won a victory over the Celts who had killed the propraetor Sextus Pompeius.[46][47]
  • Lucius Annius, tribune of the plebs in 110 BC, possibly the son of Lucius Annius, senator in 135, wished to continue in office the next year, but was resisted by his colleagues.[48]
  • Publius Annius, a military tribune in 87 BC, murdered Marcus Antonius, the orator, and brought his head to Marius.[49][50]
  • Annia, the wife of Lucius Cornelius Cinna, who died in 84 BC, and afterwards of Marcus Pupius Piso Frugi Calpurnianus, whom Sulla compelled to divorce her, because of her former marriage to Cinna.[51]
  • Publius Annius Asellus, a senator who died in 75 BC, leaving his only daughter as his heiress. His property was seized by the praetor Verres. He was quaestor in Sicily soon before.[52][53][54]
  • Quintus Annius Chilo, a senator, and one of Catiline's conspirators in 63 BC.[55]
  • Lucius Annius, a quaestor in Sicily before 50 BC.[53]
  • Sextus Annius, a quaestor in Sicily before 50 BC.[53]
  • Quintus Annius, an officer of Sextus Pompey in Sicily between 43 and 36 BC.[56]
  • Gaius Annius Cimber, a supporter of Marcus Antonius in 43 BC.
  • Annius Rufus, governor of Judea from AD 12 to 15.
  • Annius Faustus, a man of equestrian rank, and one of the informers (delatores) in the reign of Nero, was condemned by the Senate in AD 69, on the accusation of Vibius Crispus.[57]
  • Marcus Annius Afrinus, consul suffectus in AD 66.
  • Annius Bassus, commander of a legion under Marcus Antonius Primus in AD 70.[58]
  • Publius Annius Florus, a poet and rhetorician from the time of Domitian to Hadrian, wrote a dialogue titled Vergilius orator an poeta. He is possibly identical with the historian Annaeus Florus.[59]
  • Lucius Annius Arrianus, consul in AD 243.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, pp. 381-386.
  2. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 180 ("Annia Gens"), 439–443 ("Aurelius", "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus").
  3. ^ Babelon, Monnaies de la République romaine, vol. I, p. 139.
  4. ^ Chase, p. 128.
  5. ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd Ed., p. 1131 ("Volsci").
  6. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 842, 843 ("Luscus", "Annius Luscus").
  7. ^ Chase, pp. 109, 110.
  8. ^ Chase, p. 110–112, 114.
  9. ^ New College Latin & English Dictionary, s. v. Cimber.
  10. ^ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 481 ("Bellienus").
  11. ^ Livy, xxi. 25.
  12. ^ Livy, xlii. 25, xliii. 17.
  13. ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Tiberius Gracchus", 14.
  14. ^ Fasti Capitolini, AE 1927, 101; 1940, 59, 60.
  15. ^ Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 77.
  16. ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Sertorius", 7.
  17. ^ a b Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, pp. 1085, 1086 ("Titus Annius Papianus Milo").
  18. ^ Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 104.
  19. ^ Broughton, vol. I, pp. 551, 552 (note 3).
  20. ^ Cicero, Pro Fonteio 4.
  21. ^ Asconius Pedianus, in Toga Candida p. 92, ed. Orelli.
  22. ^ Cicero, Philippicae ii. 36.
  23. ^ a b Sutherland, Roman Imperial Coinage, vol. I, p. 74.
  24. ^ CIL VI, 7395 = ILS 7852
  25. ^ Tacitus, Annales vi. 9
  26. ^ CIL VI, 14221
  27. ^ Tacitus, Annales xv. 56, 71, xvi. 30.
  28. ^ Torelli, Marina R. (2002). Benevento romana. Saggi di storia antica. Vol. 18 (illustrated ed.). L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. p. 182. ISBN 9788882652098.
  29. ^ Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae xviii. 20.
  30. ^ a b Birley, The Roman government of Britain p. 112
  31. ^ a b c Pomeroy, The murder of Regilla.
  32. ^ a b Birley, The Roman government of Britain p. 114.
  33. ^ de:Appius Annius Atilius Bradua
  34. ^ Birley, Anthony R (2012). Marcus Aurelius A Biography. Taylor & Francis. p. 243. ISBN 9781134695690.
  35. ^ Livy, viii. 3–5.
  36. ^ Valerius Maximus, ii. 9 § 2. Some manuscripts give him the name of L. Antonius, but Syme restored his name.
  37. ^ Syme, "Missing Senators", p. 55.
  38. ^ Aulus Gellius, vii. 9.
  39. ^ Livy, ix. 46.
  40. ^ CIL 12.20
  41. ^ Broughton, vol. II, pp. 462, 474.
  42. ^ Valerius Maximus, vi. 4. § 1.
  43. ^ Livy, xxiii. 6, 22.
  44. ^ a b SIG, 688.
  45. ^ Sherk, "Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno", p. 367.
  46. ^ SIG, 700.
  47. ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 526.
  48. ^ Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 37.
  49. ^ Valerius Maximus, ix. 2. § 2.
  50. ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, i. 72.
  51. ^ Velleius Paterculus, ii. 41.
  52. ^ Marcus Tullius Cicero, In Verrem i. 41 ff.
  53. ^ a b c Broughton, vol. II, p. 478.
  54. ^ Syme, "Missing Senators", p. 55. Syme explains that the praenomen Gaius found in the manuscript of Cicero is a mistake, as the other mentions of his name in the rest of the book mention him as Publius.
  55. ^ Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Bellum Catilinae, 17, 50.
  56. ^ Broughton, vol. II, p. 479.
  57. ^ Tacitus, Historiae ii. 10.
  58. ^ Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Historiae iii. 50.
  59. ^ RE vol. 1.2, cols. 2266–2268 (Annius 47)

Bibliography

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Annia_gens&oldid=1255784536"