The gens Gegania was an old
patrician family at
ancient Rome, which was prominent from the earliest period of the
Republic to the middle of the fourth century BC. The first of this
gens to obtain the
consulship was
Titus Geganius Macerinus in 492 BC. The gens fell into obscurity even before the
Samnite Wars, and is not mentioned again by Roman historians until the final century of the Republic.[1]
Origin
The Geganii claimed to be descended from
Gyas, who accompanied
Aeneas to Italy.[2] They were said to be one of the noblest families of the
Alban aristocracy, and were incorporated into the Roman state after that city's destruction by
Tullus Hostilius.[3][4] However, according to Plutarch, even before this a Gegania is supposed to have been one of the first
Vestal Virgins, appointed by
Numa Pompilius.[5] Elsewhere, Plutarch describes a Gegania who was the wife of
Servius Tullius,[6] although
Dionysius makes her the wife of
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.[7] A third Gegania is mentioned by Plutarch during the time of
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus.[8]
Praenomina
The Geganii mentioned in history bore the common
praenominaLucius, Marcus, and Titus, with one example of the rare praenomen Proculus. Those found in inscriptions mostly bore the names Lucius, Sextus, and Marcus, although other praenomina are occasionally found, including Aulus, Publius, and Quintus. As the inscription naming the priest Clesipus Geganius cannot be securely dated, it is unclear what sort of name "Clesipus" is, although it may be a cognomen being used in place of a praenomen, or an instance of the sort of polyonymous nomenclature that was typical of Imperial times.[9]
Branches and cognomina
The only family of the Geganii during the early Republic bore the
cognomenMacerinus, a diminutive of Macer, meaning "lean" or "skinny".[1][10] Epigraphic sources mention a number of Geganii living under the early
Empire, bearing a variety of surnames, but there is no evidence of how they were related to their Republican forebears.
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Gegania, one of the first Vestal Virgins, selected by Numa Pompilius, the second
king of Rome.[11]
Gegania, according to one tradition, the wife of Servius Tullius, the sixth King of Rome. Dionysius makes Gegania the wife of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome. However, according to most traditions, Tarquin's wife,
Tanaquil, survived him and ensured the succession of Servius Tullius.[12][13]
Gegania, the mother of Pinarius, lived during the time of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome; her quarrel with her daughter-in-law Thalaea was cited by Plutarch as a rare example of domestic disharmony at early Rome.[14]
Marcus Geganius Macerinus, consular tribune in 367 BC, the year that the lex Licinia Sextia was passed into law, admitting plebeians to the consulship, and abolishing the consular tribunate.[30][31]
Lucius Geganius, together with Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, was killed in the unrest instigated by
Lucius Appuleius Saturninus in 100 BC.[32]
Sextus Geganius P. f. Galle, buried at
Tuscania in
Etruria, aged seventy, in a tomb dating from the second quarter of the first century BC.[33]
Lucius Geganius Philargyrus, named in an early first-century inscription from Rome.[34]
Lucius Geganius Romulus, one of the curatores sociorum at Rome, along with Publius Decimius Tritus, dedicated a gift of six pots, according to an inscription dating from the first half of the first century.[35]
Gegania L. l. Sopatra, a freedwoman who built a tomb at
Fundi in
Latium, dating to the first half of the first century, for herself and Diodorus, the overseer of Vipsanius.[36]
Quintus Geganius L. f., a
haruspex and one of the
seviri Augustales, buried at
Florentia in Etruria, in a mid-first century tomb built at public expense, along with his wife, Vibia Tertulla, and mother, Vettia.[37]
Lucius Geganius Anthus, named in a sepulchral inscription from Rome, dating from the early or mid-first century.[39]
Lucius Geganius Hymenaeus, named in a mid-first century sepulchral inscription from Pompeii.[40]
Aulus Geganius Ma[...], named in an inscription from Pompeii.[41]
Geganius Romulus, named in a first-century inscription from Pompeii.[42]
Geganius Nicomachus, named in a first-century inscription from Rome.[43]
Gegania Prima, buried in a first-century sepulchre at Rome, built by her husband, Gnaeus Pompeius Olympicus, for their family.[44]
Geganius Facundus, an
eques named in a dedicatory inscription from
Fanum Fortunae in
Umbria, dating from the late first or early second century.[45]
Lucius Geganius, named in a first- or second-century sepulchral inscription from Rome, along with Gerinia Tertia.[46]
Sextus Geganius Sex. f. Festus, a boy buried at
Pisaurum in Umbria, aged eleven years, fifty days, in a tomb dedicated by his parents, Gaius Mutteius Eurus and Disidia Lanthanusa.[47]
Lucius Geganius Philargyrus, buried in a first- or second-century tomb at Rome, built by Lucius Geganius Stephanus for himself and his family.[48]
Lucius Geganius Stephanus, dedicated a first- or second-century tomb at Rome for himself and his family, including Lucius Geganius Philargyrus.[48]
Lucius Geganius L. l. Eros Crispus, a freedman who dedicated a tomb at Rome for himself, the freedwoman Gegania Hierissa, and their family, dating to the late first or early second century.[49]
Gegania L. l. Hierissa, a freedwoman buried at Rome, in a tomb built by Lucius Geganius Eros Crispus.[49]
Sextus Geganius Chrstus, buried at
Praeneste in Latium, in a tomb built by his sister, Gegania Vitalis, dating to the first half of the second century.[50]
Gegania Vitalis, dedicated a second-century tomb at Praeneste for her brother, Sextus Geganius Chrestus.[50]
Sextus Geganius Gegula, a native of Praeneste, was leader of the first cohort of
Lusitanianauxiles, a cavalry unit serving in an uncertain province in AD 151, during the reign of
Antoninus Pius.[51]
Lucius Geganius Victorinus, a soldier in the ninth cohort of the
Praetorian Guard, buried at Praeneste, aged twenty-nine, in a tomb built by his parents, and dating from the second century, or the second half of the first.[52]
Undated Geganii
Clesipus Geganius, master of the
Luperci, a priestly order, buried at
Ulubrae in Latium.[53]
Lucius Geganius, a potter whose maker's mark was found at
Antium in Latium.[54]
Sextus Geganius, the former master of Palladius, a freedman mentioned in an inscription from Etruria.[55]
Lucius Geganius Acutus, built a sepulchre at Rome for the child Lucius Geganius Primus, on behalf of Lucius Geganius Hilarus.[56]
Gegania Arsine, named in a sepulchral inscription from Rome.[57]
Marcus Geganius M. l. Demetrius, a freedman, dedicated a tomb at Rome for the freedwoman Caesia Prima.[58]
Sextus Geganius Fimbria, one of the municipal
duumvirs at Praeneste, where he served alongside Publius Annius Septimus.[59]
Gegania Graphe, named in a sepulchral inscription from Rome.[60]
Gegania L. l. Hilara, a freedwoman named in a sepulchral inscription from Rome, along with the freedman Gaius Julius Tertius.[61]
Lucius Geganius Hilarus, named in a sepulchral inscription from Rome, from a tomb built by Lucius Geganius Acutus for the child Lucius Geganius Primus.[56]
Lucius Geganius Ɔ. l. Januarius, a freed child buried at Rome, aged two.[62]
Lucius Geganius Ɔ. l. Primus, a freed child buried at Rome, aged two years, six months, in a tomb built by Lucius Geganius Acutus on behalf of Lucius Geganius Hilarus.[56]
Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità (News of Excavations from Antiquity, abbreviated NSA), Accademia dei Lincei (1876–present).
René Cagnat et alii, L'Année épigraphique (The Year in Epigraphy, abbreviated AE), Presses Universitaires de France (1888–present).
George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII (1897).
T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952–1986).
Olli Salomies, “Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire—Some Addenda”, in Epigrafie e Ordine Senatorio, 30 Anni Dopo, Edizioni Quasar, Rome, pp. 511–536 (2014).