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Cominia gens

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The gens Cominia was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears in history from the Republic to imperial times. The first of this gens to hold the consulship was Postumus Cominius Auruncus in 501 BC, and from this some scholars have inferred that the Cominii were originally patrician; but all of the later Cominii known to history were plebeians.[1]

Origin

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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

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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 nomen Postumius. 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

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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

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This list includes abbreviated praenomina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The author of a history of Italy consulted by Plutarch.
  2. ^ A nearly identical story, related by Plutarch together with that of Cominius and his son, was told of Hippolytus, son of Theseus.
  3. ^ Plutarch calls him Gaius Cominius. Here Pontius seems to be a variant of Pompo, the Sabine or Oscan equivalent of Quintus.
  4. ^ Previously read "Cominius Boëthius Agricola Aurelius Aper".

References

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  1. ^ a b c Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, p. 815 ("Cominia Gens").
  2. ^ Valerius Maximus, De Nom. Rat.
  3. ^ Chase, p. 150.
  4. ^ Petersen, "The Numeral Praenomina of the Romans", p. 348 (note 4).
  5. ^ a b PW, "Cominius", No. 10.
  6. ^ a b Edward Bunbury, "Aurunci", in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, vol. I, p. 343.
  7. ^ Chase, pp. 113, 114.
  8. ^ Plutarch, Parallela Minora, 34.
  9. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 23.
  10. ^ Livy, ii. 18, 33.
  11. ^ Dionysius, v. 50, vi. 49.
  12. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 16.
  13. ^ Livy, v. 46.
  14. ^ Plutarch, "The Life of Camillus", 25.
  15. ^ Livy, viii. 30.
  16. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 7.
  17. ^ Valerius Maximus, vi. 1. § 11.
  18. ^ Dionysius, xvi. 4.
  19. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 2.
  20. ^ CIL IX, 439.
  21. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 12.
  22. ^ Appian, Hispanica, 43.
  23. ^ Cicero, In Verrem, iv. 10.
  24. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 14.
  25. ^ Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 36; Brutus, 78.
  26. ^ Asconius Pedianus, In Ciceronis Pro Milone.
  27. ^ a b PW, "Cominius", Nos. 4, 8.
  28. ^ Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 36.
  29. ^ Caesar, De Bello Africo, 44, 46.
  30. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 13.
  31. ^ Frontinus, De Aquaeductu, 99.
  32. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 9.
  33. ^ a b Tacitus, Annales, iv. 31.
  34. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 5.
  35. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 21.
  36. ^ CIL V, 4129.
  37. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 15.
  38. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 6.
  39. ^ Eck, "Die Fasti consulares der Regierungszeit des Antoninus Pius", p. 76.
  40. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 22.
  41. ^ AE 1981, 400.
  42. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 17.
  43. ^ CIL V, 8659.
  44. ^ AE 1890, 151.
  45. ^ Alföldy, "Römische Statuen in Venetia et Histria", 85, 125, 126.
  46. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 19.
  47. ^ CIL XIV, 3626.
  48. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 20.
  49. ^ CIL II, 1085.
  50. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 24.
  51. ^ CIL IX, 2336.
  52. ^ PW, "Cominius", No. 26.

Bibliography

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