The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at
ancient Rome, which from an early period was divided into
patrician and
plebeian branches. The
gens was of great antiquity. It frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the early years of the
Republic. The first of the family who obtained the
consulship was
Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic. The plebeian members of the family were also numbered amongst the early
tribunes of the people.[1]
Origin
The orthography of the
nomenVerginius or Virginius has been disputed since ancient times; but Verginius is the form usually found in both manuscripts and inscriptions. Modern writers seem to favor Virginius, perhaps by analogy to virgo, a maiden. A similar instance is presented by the nomen Vergilius, which in modern times is often spelt Virgilius.[2] The gens was likely of
Etruscan origins, and may have come to Rome with the
Tarquins.[3]
All of the patrician Verginii bore the
cognomenTricostus, but they were divided into various families with the surnames of Caeliomontanus, Esquilinus, and Rutilus, respectively. The surnames Caeliomontanus and Esquilinus presumably derive from the
Caelian and
Esquiline Hills, where these families probably lived. Rutilus is derived from a Latin adjective, meaning "reddish," and was probably acquired because some of the Verginii had red hair. The general
Lucius Verginius Rufus, who lived in the 1st century AD, may have obtained his cognomen for the same reason. Although the plebeian Verginii are also mentioned at an early period, none of them had any cognomen. Under the
Empire there are Verginii with other surnames.[7][8]
Members
This list includes abbreviated
praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see
filiation.
Verginii Tricosti
Opiter Verginius Tricostus, father of the consul of 502 BC.
Spurius Verginius S. f. A. n. Tricostus Caeliomontanus, a patrician youth who gave testimony against
Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus, during his trial in 454 BC.[29]
Lucius Verginius Opet. f. Tricostus Esquilinus, father of the consular tribune of 402 BC.
Lucius Verginius L. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Esquilinus, tribunus militum consulari potestate in 402 BC; the siege of Veii was entrusted to him and his colleague, Manius Sergius Fidenas, but because of their personal enmity, the Veientes were relieved, and Sergius' force was overpowered. The two tribunes were compelled to resign, and in the following year they were tried and condemned to pay a heavy fine.[34][35]
Aulus Verginius Opet. f. Opet. n. Tricostus Rutilus, consul in 476 BC.[41][42][43]
Others
Publius Verginius, a senator in 494 BC, during the
first secession of the plebs, who advocated that debt relief be granted only to those plebeians who had served in the army.[44]
Lucius Verginius, the father of Verginia, whose tragic fate occasioned the downfall of the
decemvirs, in 449 BC; he was subsequently elected one of the tribuni plebis for that year.
Verginia L. f., was taken into custody by Marcus Claudius, a client of
Appius Claudius Crassus, who claimed her as his slave. According to legend, the judgment of Appius that Verginia was indeed a slave led to the downfall of the decemvirs.
Aulus Verginius, tribunus plebis in 395 BC, together with his colleague, Quintus Pomponius Rufus, opposed a measure to establish a
colony at
Veii. Two years later, the tribunes were condemned and fined for their position.[46]
Aulus Verginius, one of the patrician Verginii; his daughter, Verginia, went over to the plebeians.
Verginia A. f., a patrician by birth, married the plebeian
Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens, who was consul in 307 and 296 BC. She dedicated a chapel in which plebeian women could honor the goddess
Pudicitia, after being excluded from her worship by the patricians on account of her marriage to a plebeian.[47]
Verginius, according to
Plutarchus, the tribunus plebis who accused
Sulla in 87 BC; according to
Cicero, his name was Marcus Vergilius.[49][50]
Verginius, an orator proscribed by the
triumvirs in 43 BC; he escaped to
Sicily by promising large sums of money to his slaves, and then to the soldiers who were sent to kill him.[51]
Verginius Capito, the master of a slave who escaped from the citadel at
Tarracina during the war between
Vitellius and
Vespasian, in AD 69, and betrayed the citadel to
Lucius Vitellius, the emperor's brother.[52]
Verginius Flavus, a rhetorician, who flourished during the first century AD; he was one of the teachers of
Aulus Persius Flaccus.[53][54]
Lucius Verginius Rufus, consul in AD 63, 69, and 97; a general in
Germania at the death of
Nero, he three times refused the demand of his soldiers to claim the imperial dignity.
Verginius Romanus, a contemporary of
Pliny the Younger, was an author of comedies and mimi-iambi, which were much praised by Pliny.[55]