Gens

This article is about the Roman family unit. For other uses, seeGens (disambiguation).

Inancient Rome,agens(/ɡɛns/or/dʒɛnz/,Latin:[gẽːs];‹ThetemplatePlural formis beingconsidered for merging.›pl.:gentes[ˈgɛnteːs]) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the samenomen gentiliciumand who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of gens, sometimes identified by a distinctcognomen,was called astirps(‹ThetemplatePlural formis beingconsidered for merging.›pl.:stirpes). The gens was an importantsocial structureat Rome and throughoutItaliaduring the period of theRoman Republic.Much of individuals' social standing depended on the gens to which they belonged. Certain gentes were classified aspatrician,others asplebeian;some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of the gens as a social structure declined considerably inimperial times,although thegentiliciumcontinued to define the origins anddynastiesof the ancient Romans, including the emperors.

Origins

The wordgensis sometimes translated as "race", or "nation", meaning a people descended from a common ancestor (rather than sharing a common physical trait). It can also be translated as "clan", "kin", or "tribe", although the wordtribushas a separate and distinct meaning in Roman culture. A gens could be as small as a single family, or could include hundreds of individuals. According to tradition, in 479 BC theFabia gensalone were able to field a militia consisting of three hundred and six men of fighting age. The concept of the gens was not uniquely Roman, but was shared with communities throughout Italy, including those who spokeItalic languagessuch asLatin,Oscan,andUmbrianas well as theEtruscans,whose language was unrelated. All of these peoples were eventually absorbed into the sphere of Roman culture.

The oldest gentes were said to have originated before thefoundation of Rome(traditionally 753 BC), and claimed descent from mythological personages as far back as the time of theTrojan War(traditionally ended 1184 BC). However, the establishment of the gens cannot long predate the adoption of hereditary surnames. Thenomen gentilicium,or "gentile name", was its distinguishing feature, for a Roman citizen's nomen indicated his membership in a gens.

The nomen could be derived from any number of things, such as the name of an ancestor, a person's occupation, physical appearance, character, or town of origin. Because some of these things were fairly common, it was possible for unrelated families to bear the same nomen, and over time to become confused.

Persons could beadoptedinto a gens and acquire its nomen. Alibertus,or "freedman",usually assumed the nomen (and sometimes also the praenomen) of the person who hadmanumittedhim, and a naturalized citizen usually took the name of thepatronwho granted hiscitizenship.Freedmen and newly enfranchised citizens were not technically part of the gentes whose names they shared, but within a few generations it often became impossible to distinguish their descendants from the original members. In practice this meant that a gens could acquire new members and even new branches, either by design or by accident.

Stirpes

Different branches orstirpesof a gens were usually distinguished by theircognomina,additional surnames following the nomen, which could be either personal or hereditary. Some particularly large stirpes themselves became divided into multiple branches, distinguished by additional cognomina.

Praenomina

Most gentes regularly employed a limited number ofpersonal names,orpraenomina,the selection of which helped to distinguish members of one gens from another. Sometimes different branches of a gens would vary in their names of choice. The most conservative gentes would sometimes limit themselves to three or four praenomina, while others made regular use of six or seven.

There were two main reasons for this limited selection: first, it was traditional to pass down family names from one generation to the next; such names were always preferred. Second, most patrician families limited themselves to a small number of names as a way of distinguishing themselves from the plebeians, who often employed a wider variety of names, including some that were seldom used by the patricians. However, several of the oldest and most noble patrician houses frequently used rare and unusual praenomina.

Certain families also deliberately avoided particular praenomina. In at least some cases, this was because of traditions concerning disgraced or dishonoured members of the gens bearing a particular name. For example, theJunia gensavoided the praenominaTitusandTiberiusafter two members with these names were executed for treason. A similar instance supposedly led the assembly of theManlia gensto forbid its members from bearing the praenomenMarcus,although this prohibition does not seem to have been strictly observed.

Social function of the gens

In theory, each gens functioned as a state within a state, governed by its own elders and assemblies, following its own customs, and carrying out its own religious rites. Certain cults were traditionally associated with specific gentes. The gentile assemblies had the responsibility of adoption and guardianship for their members. If a member of a gens diedintestateand without immediate family, his property was distributed to the rest of the gens.

The decisions of a gens were theoretically binding on all of its members. However, no public enactment is recorded as having been passed by the assembly of a gens. As a group, the gentes had considerable influence on the development ofRoman lawand religious practices, but comparatively little influence on the political and constitutional history of Rome.

Patrician and plebeian gentes

Certain gentes were considered patrician, and others plebeian. According to tradition, the patricians were descended from the "city fathers", orpatres;that is, the heads of the family at the time of its foundation byRomulus,the firstKing of Rome.Other noble families which came to Rome during the time of the kings were also admitted to the patriciate, including several who emigrated fromAlba Longaafter that city was destroyed byTullus Hostilius.The last known instance of a gens being admitted to the patriciate prior to the first century BC was when the Claudii were added to the ranks of the patricians after coming to Rome in 504 BC, five years after the establishment of the Republic.

Numerous sources describe two classes amongst the patrician gentes, known as thegentes maiores,or major gentes, and thegentes minores,or minor gentes. No definite information has survived concerning which families were numbered amongst the gentes maiores, or even how many there were. However, they almost certainly included theAemilii,Claudii,Cornelii,Fabii,Manlii,andValerii.Nor is it certain whether this distinction was of any practical importance, although it has been suggested that theprinceps senatus,or speaker of theSenate,was usually chosen from their number.

For the first several decades of the Republic, it is not entirely certain which gentes were considered patrician and which plebeian. However, a series of laws promulgated in 451 and 450 BC as theTwelve Tablesattempted to codify a rigid distinction between the classes, formally excluding the plebeians from holding any of the major magistracies from that time until the passage of theLex Licinia Sextiain 367 BC. Another law promulgated as part of the tables forbade the intermarriage of patricians and plebeians, but this was repealed after only a few years, by theLex Canuleiain 445 BC.

Despite the formalreconciliation of the ordersin 367, the patrician houses, which as time passed represented a smaller and smaller percentage of the Roman populace, continued to hold on to as much power as possible, resulting in frequent conflict between the orders over the next two centuries. Certain patrician families regularly opposed the sharing of power with the plebeians, while others favoured it, and some were divided.

Many gentes included both patrician and plebeian branches. These may have arisen through adoption or manumission, or when two unrelated families bearing the same nomen became confused. It may also be that individual members of a gens voluntarily left or were expelled from the patriciate, along with their descendants. In some cases, gentes that must originally have been patrician, or which were so regarded during the early Republic, were later known only by their plebeian descendants.

By the first century BC, the practical distinction between the patricians and the plebeians was largely symbolic, with only a few priesthoods and ceremonial offices restricted to patricians. However, such was their prestige that, beginning with the administration ofCaesar,and continuing into imperial times, a number of families were raised to the patriciate, replacing older families that had become extinct or faded into obscurity, and which were no longer represented in theRoman senate.By the third century, the distinction between patricians and plebeians had lost its relevance. The emperorConstantineand his successors revived the title as a mark of distinction granted to individuals, rather than a class to which an entire family belonged.

See also

• Genos– a similar concept in Ancient Greece
• Gana– a cognate Sanskrit term referring to a different type of human group
• Gentile
• List of Roman gentes
• List of Roman nomina
• Roman naming conventions

External links

• The dictionary definition ofgensat Wiktionary
• Media related toAncient Roman gentesat Wikimedia Commons