Asinia gens
Thegens Asiniawas aplebeianfamily atancient Rome,which rose to prominence during the first century BC. The first member of thisgensmentioned in history isHerius Asinius,commander of theMarruciniduring theSocial War.The Asinii probably obtainedRoman citizenshipin the aftermath of this conflict, as they are mentioned at Rome within a generation, andGaius Asinius Pollioobtained theconsulshipin 40 BC.[1]
Origin
[edit]The Asinii came fromTeate,the chief town of theMarrucini,anOscan-speaking people related to theSamnites.Silius Italicusmentions a certainHeriuswho lived around the beginning of theSecond Punic War,who was said to have been an ancestor of the Asinii.[2][3][4][1]ThenomenAsiniusis derived from thecognomenAsina,a she-ass, one of a large class of surnames derived from familiar objects and animals. A related but more familiar name wasAsellus,borne as a cognomen by theCorneliiandClaudii.[5]
Praenomina
[edit]The mainpraenominaof the Asinii at Rome wereGaiusandGnaeus,to which they sometimes added other names, includingMarcus,Lucius,Servius,andQuintus.The earliest of the Asinii bore the Oscan praenomenHerius,which was apparently of long standing amongst their ancestors.[1]
Branches and cognomina
[edit]There were two main families of the Asinii at Rome. The earlier of these bore the cognomenPollio,a surname originally designating a polisher of armour. The sons of Gaius Asinius Pollio, consul in 40 BC, each bore different surnames, includingPollio,Agrippa,Saloninus,Celer,andGallus,some of which were passed on to their descendants. The Asinii Marcelli were descended from Marcus Asinius Agrippa.[6]
Of these names,Agrippawas an old praenomen that came to be a common surname in the laterRepublicand under theEmpire.Saloninuswas derived from theSalonia gens,an ancient but undistinguished family from which this branch of the Asinii may have been descended.Celer,swift, belongs to a large class of surnames describing an individual's habits or physical characteristics.Gallus,a cockerel, is the same type of cognomen asAsina.[7][8]
The otherstirpsof the Asinii, with the cognomenRufus,originally indicating someone with red hair, appears in imperial times, and may well have been related to the Polliones. As with that family, the Asinii Rufi also bore a variety of other surnames, includingBassus,stout, andQuadratus,stocky, as well as names inherited from other gentes, such asFrugi,an agnomen of theCalpurnii,andNicomachus,a surname of Greek origin.[9][10]
Other surnames of the Asinii includeDento,indicating someone with prominent teeth,Lepidus,agreeable, andPraetextatus,probably a reference to thetogapraetexta,a purple-bordered toga worn by magistrates and Roman youths.Lepidusmight allude to the bearer's descent from theAemiliiLepidi, an illustrious family of the Republic. It is unclear how these Asinii might have been related to the two main families of the gens, as is the case with those Asinii who are mentioned without any surnames.[11][12]
Members
[edit]- This list includes abbreviatedpraenomina.For an explanation of this practice, seefiliation.
Asinii Polliones, Galli, et Marcelli
[edit]- Herius Asinius,commander of theMarruciniduring theMarsic War,and perhaps the grandfather ofGaius Asinius Pollio.
- Gnaeus Asinius, only known as the father ofGaius Asinius Pollio.
- Gaius Asinius Cn. f. Pollio,a distinguished orator, poet and historian of theAugustanage,consulin 40 BC.
- Asinius Cn. f. Marrucinus, known for his practical jokes.[4]
- Asinia C. f. Cn. n., wife ofMarcus Claudius Marcellus Aeserninus.[13][14]
- Asinius Pollio,a sophist and philosopher, who succeededTimagenesin his school.
- Lucius Asinius Gallus, celebrated a triumph in 26 BC.
- Gaius Asinius C. f. Cn. n. Gallus Saloninus,consul in 8 BC, and second husband ofVipsania Agrippina.
- Gaius Asinius C. f. C. n. Pollio,consul in AD 23.[15][16]
- Marcus Asinius C. f. C. n. Agrippa,consul in AD 25.
- Gnaeus Asinius C. f. C. n. Saloninus.[17]
- Servius Asinius C. f. C. n. Celer,consulsuffectusin AD 38, apparently put to death by the emperorClaudius.[18][19]
- Asinia Agrippina Ser. f. C. n.
- Lucius Asinius C. f. C. n. Gallus,exiled for conspiring against Claudius.[20][21]
- Marcus Asinius M. f. C. n. Marcellus,son of Marcus Asinius Agrippa, consul in AD 54.
- Lucius Asinius Gallus, consul in AD 62.[22][23]
- Asinius Pollio, the commander of a regiment of horse, serving underLucceius AlbinusinMauretania,was slain in AD 69, when the troops espoused the side ofVitellius.[24]
- Lucius Asinius Pollio Verrucosus, consul in AD 81.[25]
- Quintus Asinius Marcellus, consulsuffectusin an uncertain year after AD 97.[26]
- Marcus Asinius M. f. M. n. Marcellus,consul in AD 104.
Asinii Rufi et Quadrati
[edit]- Asinius Rufus, a friend ofTacitusandthe younger Pliny,the latter of whom recommends Asinius Bassus, the son of Rufus, to Fundanus.[27]
- Asinius Bassus, son of Asinius Rufus, recommended to Fundanus byGaius Plinius Secundus.[27]
- Gaius Asinius Frugi,triumvir monetalisinPhrygiabetween AD 98 and 116.
- Gaius Asinius Rufus,perhaps the son of Gaius Asinius Frugi, became asenatorin AD 136.
- Gaius Asinius C. f. Nichomachus, b.circaAD 135.
- Gaius Asinius Protimus Quadratus,proconsulofAchaeacircaAD 211, and consul designate.[28]
- Gaius Asinius Rufus, brother of the proconsul Quadratus.[29]
- Gaius Asinius Nicomachus Julianus,proconsul of AsiacircaAD 220.[30]
- Gaius Asinius C. f. C. n. Julius Quadratus.
- Gaius Asinius Quadratus,a historian of the third century. He may be the same person as the proconsul Protimus Quadratus.
Others
[edit]- Asinius Dento, a person whom Cicero callsnobilis sui generis,was acenturionprimus pilusunderMarcus Calpurnius Bibulusin 51 BC, and was killed near Mount Amanus.[31]
- Asinius, a friend ofMarcus Antonius,who surreptitiously crept into thesenateafter the death ofCaesar,44 BC.[32]
- Marcus Asinius Atratinus, consul in AD 89.
- Gaius Asinius Lepidus Praetextatus,consul in AD 242.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcDictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,vol. I, p. 385 ( "Asinia Gens").
- ^Silius Italicus,Punica,xvii. 453.
- ^Livy,Epitome73.
- ^abCatullus,Carmina,12.
- ^Chase, pp. 112, 113, 126.
- ^Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,vol. III, pp. 437–439 ( "Gaius Asinius Pollio",No. 1).
- ^Chase, pp. 109, 146, 147.
- ^New College Latin & English Dictionary,s. v. Gallus.
- ^Chase, p. 110.
- ^New College Latin & English Dictionary,s. v. quadratus.
- ^Chase, pp. 109, 111.
- ^New College Latin & English Dictionary,s. v. praetextatus.
- ^Tacitus,Annalesiii. 11, xiv. 40.
- ^Suetonius, "The Life of Augustus", 43.
- ^Tacitus,Annalesiv. 1.
- ^Pliny the Elder, xxxiii. 1. § 8.
- ^Tacitus,Annalesiii. 75.
- ^Pliny the Elder, ix. 17.
- ^Seneca the Younger,Apocolocyntosis Divi Claudii.
- ^Suetonius, "The Life of Claudius", 13.
- ^Cassius Dio, lx. 27.
- ^Tacitus,Annalesxiv. 48.
- ^Vita Persii.
- ^Tacitus,Historiaeii. 59.
- ^Cassius Dio, lxvi. 26.
- ^Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft,II. 2, col. 1588 ("Asinius", No. 20).
- ^abPliny the Younger,Epistulae,iv. 15.
- ^Leunissen,Konsuln und Konsulare,p. 294.
- ^CIG,III. 3866.
- ^CIG,III. 6498.
- ^Cicero,Epistulae ad Atticum,v. 20.
- ^Cicero,Philippicae,xiii. 13.
Bibliography
[edit]- Marcus Tullius Cicero,Epistulae ad Atticum,Philippicae.
- Gaius Valerius CatullusCarmina.
- Titus Livius (Livy),History of Rome.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger),Apocolocyntosis Divi Claudii(The Gourdification of the Divine Claudius).
- Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder),Historia Naturalis(Natural History).
- Tiberius Catius Silius Italicus,Punica.
- Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (Pliny the Younger),Epistulae(Letters).
- Publius Cornelius Tacitus,Annales,Historiae.
- Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus,De Vita Caesarum(Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars).
- Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Cassius Dio),Roman History.
- August Böckhet alii,Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum(The Body of Greek Inscriptions, abbreviatedCIG), Königliche Akademie der Wissenschaften (1828–1877).
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,William Smith,ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849).
- August Pauly,Georg Wissowa,et alii,Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft(Scientific Encyclopedia of the Knowledge of Classical Antiquities, abbreviatedREorPW), J. B. Metzler, Stuttgart (1894–1980).
- Paul M. M. Leunissen,Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander,J.C. Gieben, Amsterdam (1989).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1870).Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)