The
nomenCanidius belongs to a common class of gentilicia formed from cognomina ending in -idus. It is derived from the
cognomenCanidus, "whitish" or "greyish", itself derived from the
Latin adjective canus or kanus, "white, grey", typically referring to the color of a person's hair, also sometimes used as a cognomen.[1] This was certainly the association that Horace intended; the name Gratidia suggests pleasant, winsome attributes, while the nickname Canidia suggests an elderly crone.[2]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Canidius Fortunatus, a veteran of the
Third Legion, buried at
Lambaesis in
Numidia, aged fifty-seven, with a monument from his wife, Geminia Manica.[8]
Gaius Canidius Fundanus, known from a sepulchral inscription from
Lusitania.[9]
Canidia Marcianis, together with Marcus Canidius Nicephorus and Julia Marcianis, dedicated a monument at Rome to Marcus' wife, Canidia Phaedra.[11]
Canidia C. l. Musa, a freedwoman named in an inscription from Rome.[12]
Marcus Canidius Nicephorus, together with Canidia Marcianis and Julia Marcianis, dedicated a monument at Rome to his beloved wife, Canidia Phaedra.[11]
Gaius Canidius C. C. l. Pantagathus, the freedman and client of Gaius Canidius Cerdo and Gaius Canidius Suavis.[6]
Canidia Phaedra, buried at Rome with a monument from her husband, Marcus Canidius Nicephorus, Canidia Marcianis, and Julia Marcianis.[11]
Publius Canidius Primus, buried at Rome during the second century, with a monument dedicated by the freedman Publius Vettius Chrysanthus.[13]
Lucius Canidius Priscus, the patron, and perhaps former master of the freedman and argentarius Lucius Canidius Euelpistus.[7]
Gaius Canidius Suavis, together with Gaius Canidius Cerdo, one of the patrons and former masters of Gaius Canidius Pantagathus.[6]
Horace's Canidia
The "Canidia" mentioned by Horace in his fifth and seventeenth
epodes, and in the eighth satire in his first book of satires, and perhaps alluded to in the sixteenth ode of his first volume of Palinodia, was actually named "Gratidia"; the scholiasts describe her as a
Neapolitanhetaira who had deserted the poet. Horace bestowed the ironic nickname upon her, and portrayed her as a sorceress, who used magic perfumes to enchant her lover, Varus.[2][14] Maxwell Paule cautions against reading Horace's description literally; his portrayal was that of the anti-muse, who torments rather than inspires the artist.[15]
Britta Ager, "Magic Perfumes and Deadly Herbs: The Scent of Witches' Magic in Classical Literature", in Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural (2019), pp. 1–34.