The gens Canidia was a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 family of the late Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

. It is best known from a single individual, Publius Canidius Crassus

Publius Canidius Crassus

Publius Canidius Crassus was a Roman general and Mark Antony's lieutenant. He served under Lepidus in southern Gallia in 43 BC, and was henceforth allied with Antony. He became suffect consul in 40 BC and then served as a commander in Armenia whence he invaded, in 36 BC, Iberia , and forced its...

, consul suffectus

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 in 40 B.C., and the chief general of Marcus Antonius

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...

. Canidia was also a sobriquet

Sobriquet

A sobriquet is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. It is usually a familiar name, distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real name without the need of explanation...

 bestowed upon Gratidia, a Neapolitan

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 hetaera

Hetaera

In ancient Greece, hetaerae were courtesans, that is to say, highly educated, sophisticated companions...

 who had deserted the poet Horace

Horace

Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...

. He describes her in his fifth and seventeenth epodes, and the eighth satire of his first book. The Palinodia in the sixteenth ode of the first book is supposed to refer to these poems.

Origin of the gens

The nomen

Roman naming conventions

By the Republican era and throughout the Imperial era, a name in ancient Rome for a male citizen consisted of three parts : praenomen , nomen and cognomen...

 Canidius may be derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

adjective canus or kanus, meaning "white" or "grey", which could refer to the color of a person's hair. This was certainly the association that Horace intended; Gratidia conveyed the idea of what was pleasing and agreeable, while Canidia was associated with grey hairs and old age.