The surname Auruncus, borne by the consul of 501 BC, suggests that the Cominii might have been of
Auruncan origin, although if this were so, the family had reached the highest level of Roman society by the beginning of the Republic. However, there could be other explanations for this
cognomen. This early consulship implies that the family was once numbered amongst the patricians, although in the later Republic all of the Cominii seem to have been plebeians.[1]
It may be that the family passed over to the plebeians during the fourth or fifth centuries BC, or that the patrician branch of the gens became extinct. Alternatively it has been suggested that the earliest consuls included members of a number of plebeian families, and that plebeians were not formally excluded from the office until the passage of the
Twelve Tables in 450–449 BC. Furthermore,
Valerius Maximus suggests that the
nomen of Auruncus is uncertain, and that he might instead have belonged to the
Postumia gens, although modern historians agree that Postumus was most likely his praenomen.[1][2]
Praenomina
The main
praenomina of the Cominii were Lucius, Publius, and Gaius, all amongst the most common names at all periods of Roman history. Other praenomina used by this gens include Marcus, Quintus, and Sextus. Postumus, known from the first of the Cominii to hold office at Rome, was an ancient praenomen,[3] sometimes erroneously amended to the
nomenPostumius. Another Cominius is found with the praenomen Pontius, evidently a variation of Pompo, the
Sabine equivalent of Quintus, rather than the nomen Pontius,[4] although in some sources he is Gaius.[5]
Branches and cognomina
The first of the family known to history bore the surname Auruncus, suggesting some connection with the
Aurunci, a people who lived to the southeast of
Latium.[6] Such cognomina belong to a large class of surnames derived from the names of towns, regions, or peoples.[7] Whether the cognomen should be interpreted as meaning that the family migrated from there to Rome under the
kings, or whether the consul of 501 BC acquired it as a personal surname is unknown, but the Romans fought against the Aurunci beginning in 503.[6] None of the other Cominii of the Republic is mentioned with any surname, but a variety of personal surnames appears among the Cominii of the
Empire.
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Cominius Suber, a legendary figure from
Laurentum, and the husband of
Egeria, according to Dositheüs.[i] His second wife, Gidica, hanged herself after being spurned by her stepson, whom she falsely accused in a
suicide note. Cominius then prayed to
Neptune to cause his son's death.[ii][8][9]
Pontius Cominius,[iii] a youth celebrated for swimming the
Tiber and conveying messages back and forth between the
Capitol and the army during the
Gallic occupation of Rome in 390 BC. In one account, he brought word of the army's return to drive out the Gauls; in another he conveyed the
senate's appointment of
Camillus as
dictator to the general at
Veii.[13][14][5]
Publius Cominius, a native of
Spoletium, was a notable orator and friend of
Cicero. He and his brother accused Gaius Cornelius, tribune of the plebs in 67 BC, who was successfully defended by Cicero.[25][26][27]
Lucius or Gaius Cominius, the brother of Publius, in whose accusation of Gaius Cornelius he joined.[28][27]
Quintus Cominius, one of
Caesar's officers, was captured together with Lucius Ticida by Vergilius, one of
Pompeius' commanders, near
Thapsus while they were crossing over to
Africa in 47 BC.[29][30]
Gaius Cominius, an eques, wrote a libellous poem about the emperor
Tiberius, but was pardoned by the emperor at the entreaty of his brother, a
senator, in AD 24.[33][34]
Cominius Proculus, governor of
Cyprus during the reign of
Claudius, was likely the same senator who interceded with Tiberius on behalf of his brother, the eques Gaius Cominius. An inscription referring to a
proconsul named Titus Cominius Proculus, the son of Titus, is a forgery, but may have been partly copied from a genuine inscription.[33][35]
Gaius Cominius Aufillenus Minicianus, dedicated an inscription at
Brixia in
Venetia and Histria, dating between the late first and late second century, to his dear friend, Publius Statius Paullus Postumius Junior, an eques who had been a quaestor, military tribune, and governor of
Africa Proconsularis.[36][37]
Gaius Cominius, dedicated an inscription in
Germania Superior, dating from the second or third century, for the welfare of the emperor. He may have been a person of some importance, but his position is not mentioned.[38]
Lucius Cominius Vipsanius Salutaris, a native of Rome, was governor of
Sicilia and
Hispania Baetica, after having filled several lesser offices, and was summoned to Rome to serve on the emperor's council in AD 195.[49][50]
Cominia L. f. Vipsania Dignitas, a woman of senatorial rank, and perhaps the daughter of Salutaris, was one of the priestesses of
Diana at
Allifae during the early third century.[51][52]
George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII, pp. 103–184 (1897).
Hans Petersen, "The Numeral Praenomina of the Romans", in Transactions of the American Philological Association, vol. xciii, pp. 347–354 (1962).
Géza Alföldy, "Römische Statuen in Venetia et Histria" (Roman Statues in Venetia and Histria), in Epigraphische Quellen, Heidelberg (1984).
Werner Eck, "Die Fasti consulares der Regierungszeit des Antoninus Pius, eine Bestandsaufnahme seit Géza Alföldys Konsulat und Senatorenstand" (The Consular Fasti for the Reign of Antoninus Pius: an Inventory since Géza Alföldy's Konsulat und Senatorenstand), in Studia Epigraphica in Memoriam Géza Alföldy, Werner Eck, Bence Fehér, Péter Kovács, eds., Bonn, pp. 69–90 (2013).