The gens Junia was one of the most celebrated families in Rome

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....

. The gens

Gens

In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...

may originally have been patrician. The family was already prominent in the last days of the Roman monarchy

King of Rome

The King of Rome was the chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 BC, when the last king was overthrown. These kings ruled for...

. Lucius Junius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first consuls in 509 BC. He was claimed as an ancestor of the Roman gens Junia, including Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Caesar's assassins.- Background :...

 was the nephew of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was the legendary seventh and final King of Rome, reigning from 535 BC until the popular uprising in 509 BC that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. He is more commonly known by his cognomen Tarquinius Superbus and was a member of the so-called Etruscan...

, the seventh and last King of Rome, and on the expulsion of Tarquin in 509 BC, he became one of the first consuls

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...

 of the Roman Republic.

Origin of the gens

Scholars have long been divided on the question of whether the Junii were originally patrician. The family was prominent throughout the whole of Roman history, and all of the members who are known, from the early times of the Republic and on into the Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

, were plebeians. However, it seems inconceivable that Lucius Junius Brutus, the nephew of Tarquin the Proud, was a plebeian. So jealous of their prerogatives were the patricians of the early Republic, that in 450 BC, the second year of the Decemvirate

Decemviri

Decemviri is a Latin term meaning "Ten Men" which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic...

, a law forbidding the intermarriage of patricians and plebeians was made a part of the Twelve Tables

Twelve Tables

The Law of the Twelve Tables was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. The Law of the Twelve Tables formed the centrepiece of the constitution of the Roman Republic and the core of the mos maiorum...

, the fundamental principles of early Roman law. It was not until the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia

Lex Licinia Sextia

Lex Licinia Sextia was a Roman law introduced around 376 BCE and enacted in 367 BCE. It restored the consulship, allegedly reserved one of the two consular positions for a plebeian , and introduced new limits on the possession of conquered land.- Authors :It is named for the plebeian tribunes Gaius...

in 367 BC that plebeians were permitted to stand for the consulship.

Still, it has been suggested that the divisions between the orders were not firmly established during the first decades of the Republic, and that as many as a third of the consuls elected before 450 may in fact have been plebeians. Even if this were not the case, the consuls chosen at the very birth of the Roman Republic may have been exceptions. On balance, it seems more likely that the Junii were at first numbered amongst the patricians, and that they afterward passed over to the plebeians; but this question may remain unsettled.

At the end of the Republic, the Junii Silani appear to have been patricians, and one of them even held the office of Flamen Martialis

Flamen Martialis

In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Martialis was the high priest of the official state cult of Mars, the god of war. He was one of the flamines maiores, the three high priests who were the most important of the fifteen...

; but this may be due to the adoption of one of the patrician gens Manlia by one of the Silani. If so, then at least some, if not all, of the later Junii Silani were actually descended from the Manlii, and not the Junii. This hypothesis is supported by the surname Torquatus, the name of a great family of the Manlia gens, which was borne by several of the Silani.

Junius, 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...

of the gens, may be etymologically connected with the goddess Juno

Juno (mythology)

Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...

, after whom the month known as Junius was also named.

Praenomina used by the gens

The praenomina

Praenomen

The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...

favored by the early Junii were Marcus

Marcus (praenomen)

Marcus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Marca or Marcia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Marcia, as well as the cognomen Marcellus...

, Lucius

Lucius (praenomen)

Lucius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Lucia . The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Lucia and Lucilia, as well as the cognomen Lucullus...

, and Decimus

Decimus (praenomen)

Decimus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, usually abbreviated D. Although never especially common, Decimus was used throughout Roman history from the earliest times to the end of the Western Empire and beyond, surviving into modern times. The feminine form is Decima...

. Except for the Bruti Bubulci, who may have been a cadet branch of the family, and favored the praenomen Gaius

Gaius (praenomen)

Gaius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. The feminine form is Gaia. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Gavia...

, The Junii Bruti relied exclusively on these three names. Many of the other families of the Junii also used these names, although some added Gaius and others Quintus

Quintus (praenomen)

Quintus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout all periods of Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Quinctia and Quinctilia. The feminine form is Quinta...

. The Junii Silani also used the praenomen Appius

Appius (praenomen)

Appius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, usually abbreviated Ap. or sometimes App., and best known as a result of its extensive use by the patrician gens Claudia. The feminine form is Appia...

. The Junii were by far the most prominent family to make regular use of Decimus.

The names Titus

Titus (praenomen)

Titus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, and was one of the most common names throughout Roman history. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Titia. The feminine form is Tita or Titia...

and Tiberius

Tiberius (praenomen)

Tiberius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used throughout Roman history. Although not especially common, it was used by both patrician and plebeian families. The feminine form is Tiberia. The name is usually abbreviated Ti., but occasionally Tib.For most of Roman history, Tiberius...

were carefully avoided by the Junii throughout most of their history. According to tradition, these were the names of the sons of Lucius Junius Brutus, the first consul, who joined in a conspiracy by their uncles, the Vitellii, to restore the Tarquins to power. They were condemned and executed by order of their own father, and this disgrace led to the abandonment of their names by future generations. The only noteworthy exception appears to be the orator Titus Junius, who lived in the final century of the Republic.

Branches and cognomina of the gens

The family names and surnames of the Junii which occur in the time of the Republic are, Brutus, Bubulcus, Gracchanus, Paciaecus, Pennus, Pera, Pullus, and Silanus. Norbanus is sometimes considered a surname of the Junia gens, but in fact it seems to have been a gentile name

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...

. A few Junii are mentioned without any cognomen

Cognomen

The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...

. Many Junii appear under the Empire with other surnames, but most of them cannot be regarded as part of the gens; these included many descendants of freedmen

Freedman

A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation ....

, and of citizens

Roman citizenship

Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....

 enrolled during the magistracies of the various Junii.

Brutus was the name of a plebeian family of the Junia gens, which claimed descent from Lucius Junius Brutus. This possibility was denied by some ancient authorities, on the grounds that the first consul was a patrician, and because his two sons preceded him in death. However, one tradition states that there was a third son, from whom the later Bruti were descended. It is not impossible that there were younger sons, or that the elder sons had children of their own. Brutus is also known to have had a brother, who was put to death by his uncle the king, and there may have been other relatives. In any case, it is not entirely certain whether Brutus was a patrician. If he was, his descendants may still have gone over to the plebeians.

The name of Brutus is said to have been given to Lucius because he feigned idiocy after the execution of his brother, in hope of avoiding the same fate. However, his father is also referred to as Brutus by the ancient authorities, and while this may have come about merely for convenience, it is possible that the surname had already been borne by the family for some time. According to Festus

Sextus Pompeius Festus

Sextus Pompeius Festus was a Roman grammarian, who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo in Gaul.He made an epitome in 20 volumes of the encyclopedic treatise in many volumes De verborum significatu, of Verrius Flaccus, a celebrated grammarian who flourished in the...

, the older meaning of the adjective brutus was "serious" or "grave", in which case the surname is much the same as Severus. A less probable explanation suggests a common origin with the name with that of the Bruttii

Bruttii

The Bruttii , were an ancient Italic people who inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra, roughly corresponding to modern Calabria.-History:...

, a people of southern Italy who broke away from the Samnites in the 4th century BC, and whose name is said to have meant, "runaway slaves".

The surname Bubulcus refers to one who plows with oxen. The only persons known to have borne this cognomen also bore that of Brutus, and therefore may have belonged to that family, rather than a distinct stirps of the Junia gens. If so, the Bubulci were the only members of the family to use the praenomen Gaius. They appear in history during the Second Samnite War, at the same time as the other Junii Bruti emerge from two centuries of obscurity, with the agnomen

Agnomen

An agnomen , in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the cognomen was initially. However, the cognomina eventually became family names, so agnomina were needed to distinguish between similarly named persons...

 Scaeva. This suggests that the family may have split into two distinct branches about this time.

Pennus, also a surname of the Quinctia gens, is probably derived from a Latin adjective meaning "sharp". This family flourished during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

The surname Gracchanus was assumed by one of the Junii on account of his friendship with Gaius Sempronius Gracchus

Gaius Gracchus

Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...

.

Paciaecus or Paciacus, the cognomen

Cognomen

The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...

of another member of the gens, does not appear to be of Roman origin, although it may be that Paccianus or Pacianus is the correct form.

Silanus appears to be a lengthened form of Silus, "snub-nosed", which occurs as a cognomen in the Sergia and Terentia gentes, and is not connected with the Greek name Silanus. In manuscripts the variants Syllanus and Sillanus are found. The Junii Silani first appear in history during the Second Punic War

Second Punic War

The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...

, and for the next four hundred years they occupied the highest offices of the state. They seem to have been patricians, unlike the other Junii, but an early member of the family was adopted into the gens from the patrician Manlii, from whom some of the Silani received the additional surname Torquatus. Additionally, the emperor Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

 raised Marcus Junius Silanus

Marcus Junius Silanus (consul 25 BC)

Marcus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus was consul in 25 BC with Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, the emperor Augustus.-Biography:Silanus was a descendant of the noble Roman house of the Junii Silani. He was probably the son of Decimus Junius Silanus, consul in 62 BC, and Servilia Caepionis, and perhaps...

 to the Patriciate in 30 BC. Many of this family were related to, or even descended from, Augustus and the emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty

Julio-Claudian Dynasty

The Julio-Claudian dynasty normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula , Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the 1st century BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line,...

.

Members of the gens

This list includes abbreviated praenomina

Praenomen

The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...

. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation.

Junii Bruti

• Marcus Junius Brutus, father of the consul of 509 BC, married Tarquinia, sister of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
  Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
  Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was the legendary seventh and final King of Rome, reigning from 535 BC until the popular uprising in 509 BC that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. He is more commonly known by his cognomen Tarquinius Superbus and was a member of the so-called Etruscan...
  
  .
• Marcus Junius M. f. Brutus, put to death by his uncle, the king.
• Lucius Junius M. f. Brutus
  Lucius Junius Brutus
  Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first consuls in 509 BC. He was claimed as an ancestor of the Roman gens Junia, including Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Caesar's assassins.- Background :...
  
  , one of the first consuls
  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 509 BC.
• Titus Junius L. f. M. n. Brutus
  Titus Junius Brutus
  Titus Junius Brutus was the elder son of Lucius Junius Brutus, who was one of Rome's first two consuls in 509 BC. His mother was Vitellia....
  
  , son of the consul of 509 BC, executed for treason.
• Tiberius Junius L. f. M. n. Brutus
  Tiberius Junius Brutus
  Tiberius Junius Brutus was the younger son of Lucius Junius Brutus, who was one of Rome's first two consuls in 509 BC. His mother was Vitellia....
  
  , son of the consul of 509 BC, executed for treason.
• Lucius Junius Brutus, according to Dionysius
  Dionysius of Halicarnassus
  Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...
  
  , one of the first tribunes of the people
  Tribune
  Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
  
   in 493 BC, a plebeian who assumed the surname Brutus in honor of the first consul.
• Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva, consul in 325 BC.
• Decimus Junius D. f. Brutus Scaeva, consul in 292 BC.
• Decimus Junius D. f. D. n. Brutus, with his brother, Marcus, exhibited the first gladiatorial combat at Rome in 264 BC.
• Marcus Junius D. f. D. n. Brutus, with his brother, Decimus, exhibited the first gladiatorial combat at Rome in 264 BC.
• Lucius Junius Brutus, grandfather of the consul of 178 BC.
• Marcus Junius (L. f.) Brutus, praetor
  Praetor
  Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
  
   in 191 BC.
• Publius Junius (L. f.) Brutus, praetor in 190 BC.
• Decimus Junius Brutus, one of the triumvirs for founding a colony in the territory of Sipontum
  Siponto
  Siponto was an ancient port town of Apulia in southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a frazione of the comune of Manfredonia, in the province of Foggia...
  
  , in 194 BC.
• Marcus Junius M. f. L. n. Brutus, consul in 178 BC.
• Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Brutus, an eminent jurist of the 2nd century BC.
• Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Brutus, a jurist, described unfavorably by Cicero
  Cicero
  Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
  
  .
• Decimus Junius M. f. M. n. Brutus Callaicus
  Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus
  Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus was a Roman politician and general of the 2nd century BC. He was the son of the consul Marcus Junius Brutus and brother of the praetor Marcus Junius Brutus; he himself was appointed consul in 138 BC...
  
  , consul in 138 BC.
• Decimus Junius D. f. M. n. Brutus, consul in 77 BC.
• Marcus Junius Brutus, praetor in 88 BC.
• Lucius Junius Brutus Damasippus, a partisan of Marius
  Gaius Marius
  Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
  
  .
• Marcus Junius Brutus
  Marcus Junius Brutus the Elder
  Marcus Junius Brutus, sometimes referred to by modern historians as Marcus Junius Brutus the Elder to distinguish him from his more famous son, was a tribune of the Roman Republic in 83 BC and the founder of the colony in Capua. He was the first husband to Servilia Caepionis, the elder half-sister...
  
  , tribunus plebis in 83 BC.
• Marcus Junius M. f. Brutus, the tyrannicide, praetor urbanus in 44 BC.
• Decimus Junius D. f. D. n. Brutus
  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus
  Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus was a Roman politician and general of the 1st century BC and one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination...
  
  , one of the conspirators against Caesar
  Julius Caesar
  Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
  
   in 44 BC.

Junii Bubulci

• Gaius Junius C. f. C. n. Bubulcus Brutus, consul in 317, 313, and 311 BC, censor in 309, and dictator
  Roman dictator
  In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
  
   in 302.
• Gaius Junius C. f. C. n. Brutus Bubulcus, consul in 291 and 277 BC, triumphed over the Lucani
  Lucani (ancient people)
  The Lucani were an ancient people of Italy, living in Lucania, who spoke an Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages.-Society:...
  
   and Bruttii
  Bruttii
  The Bruttii , were an ancient Italic people who inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra, roughly corresponding to modern Calabria.-History:...
  
  .

Junii Perae

• Decimus Junius D. f. D. n. Pera, consul in 266 BC, and censor in 253, triumphed over the Sassinates, and a second time over the Sallentini and Messapii
  Messapii
  thumb|220px|Messapic ceramic, Archaeological Museum of [[Oria, Italy|Oria]], Apulia.The Messapii were an ancient tribe that inhabited, in historical times, the south-eastern peninsula or "heel" of Italy , known variously in ancient times as Calabria, Messapia and Iapygia...
  
  .
• Marcus Junius D. f. D. n. Pera
  Marcus Junius Pera
  Marcus Junius Pera was a Roman politician during the Second Punic War. He was consul in 230 BC and censor with Gaius Claudius Centho in 225 BC. He was appointed dictator in 216 BC, rei gerundae causa, for the purpose of repelling the Carthaginian forces under Hannibal from Italy. In order to raise...
  
  , consul in 230 and censor in 225 BC, nominated dictator in 216 BC, after the Battle of Cannae
  Battle of Cannae
  The Battle of Cannae was a major battle of the Second Punic War, which took place on August 2, 216 BC near the town of Cannae in Apulia in southeast Italy. The army of Carthage under Hannibal decisively defeated a numerically superior army of the Roman Republic under command of the consuls Lucius...
  
  .

Junii Penni

• Marcus Junius M. f. Pennus, praetor urbanus in 201 BC.
• Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Pennus, consul in 167 BC.
• Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Pennus, tribunus plebis in 126 BC.

Junii Silani

• Marcus Junius Silanus, praetor in 210 BC, during the Second Punic War
  Second Punic War
  The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
  
  .
• Decimus Junius Silanus, commissioned by the senate circa 146 BC to translate the agricultural writings of Mago
  Mago (agricultural writer)
  Mago was a Carthaginian writer, author of an agricultural manual in Punic which was a record of the farming knowledge of Carthage. The Punic text has been lost, but some fragments of Greek and Latin translations survive....
  
   into Latin.
• Decimus Junius Silanus Manlianus, praetor in 141 BC, obtained Macedonia
  Macedonia (Roman province)
  The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
  
   as his province.
• Marcus Junius D. f. D. n. Silanus, consul in 109 BC, defeated by the Cimbri
  Cimbri
  The Cimbri were a tribe from Northern Europe, who, together with the Teutones and the Ambrones threatened the Roman Republic in the late 2nd century BC. The Cimbri were probably Germanic, though some believe them to be of Celtic origin...
  
  .
• Junia, the wife of Gaius Claudius Marcellus, and mother of Gaius Claudius Marcellus
  Gaius Claudius Marcellus Maior
  Gaius Claudius Marcellus Maior was a Roman consul in 49 BC.He is frequently confused with his cousin of the same name, Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a consul a year before in 50 BC. Gaius was also the brother of the Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the consul of 51 BC.Little is known of him before his...
  
  , consul in 50 BC.
• Decimus Junius M. f. D. n. Silanus, consul in 62 BC, and stepfather of Marcus Junius Brutus, the tyrannicide.
• Marcus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus
  Marcus Junius Silanus (consul 25 BC)
  Marcus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus was consul in 25 BC with Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, the emperor Augustus.-Biography:Silanus was a descendant of the noble Roman house of the Junii Silani. He was probably the son of Decimus Junius Silanus, consul in 62 BC, and Servilia Caepionis, and perhaps...
  
  , consul in 25 BC.
• Junia D. f. M. n., married Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
  Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)
  Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , was a Roman patrician who rose to become a member of the Second Triumvirate and Pontifex Maximus. His father, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, had been involved in a rebellion against the Roman Republic.Lepidus was among Julius Caesar's greatest supporters...
  
  , the triumvir.
• Junia D. f. M. n. Tertia, married Gaius Cassius Longinus
  Gaius Cassius Longinus
  Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius Brutus.-Early life:...
  
  , the tyrannicide.
• Gaius Junius C. f. Silanus, consul in 19 BC.
• Marcus Junius M. f. D. n. Silanus, son of the consul of 25 BC and father of the consul of AD 19.
• Gaius Junius M. f. (D. n.) Silanus, father of the consuls of AD 10 and 15.
• Gaius Junius C. f. M. n. Silanus, consul in AD 10, and Flamen Martialis
  Flamen Martialis
  In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Martialis was the high priest of the official state cult of Mars, the god of war. He was one of the flamines maiores, the three high priests who were the most important of the fifteen...
  
  .
• Marcus Junius C. f. M. n. Silanus, consul suffectus in AD 15.
• Decimus Junius C. f. M. n. Silanus, exiled in AD 8 for his affair with Julia
  Julia the Younger
  Julia the Younger or Julilla , Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
  
  , the granddaughter of Augustus.
• Junia C. f. M. n. Torquata, a Vestal Virgin
  Vestal Virgin
  In ancient Roman religion, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins , were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome, as embodied by their cultivation of the sacred fire that could not be...
  
  , interceded on behalf of her brother, Gaius Junius Silanus, the consul of AD 10, after he was condemned for treason in AD. 22.
• Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Silanus
  Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus (consul AD 19)
  Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Silanus Torquatus was consul in AD 19 with Lucius Norbanus Balbus.-Biography:Silanus was a descendant of the noble Roman house of the Junii Silani. His grandfather was Marcus Junius Silanus, consul with the emperor Augustus in 25 BC...
  
  , consul in AD 19.
• Junia M. f. M. n. Claudilla
  Junia Claudilla
  Junia Claudilla , also known as Junia Claudia, was the first wife of the Roman Emperor Caligula before he came to power. They were married at Antium in 33. Her father was a distinguished senator named Marcus Junius Silanus...
  
  , wife of the emperor Caligula
  Caligula
  Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
  
  .
• Junia Silana, the wife of Gaius Silius
  Gaius Silius
  Gaius Silius was the name of two consuls of the Roman Empire, during the 1st century. The elder was a consul and commander in the Roman Army during the reign of Emperors Augustus and Tiberius and the younger a consul in the reign of Emperor Claudius....
  
  .
• Appius Junius Silanus, consul in AD 28, put to death by the emperor Claudius
  Claudius
  Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
  
  .
• Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Silanus
  Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus
  Marcus Junius M. f. M. n. Silanus Torquatus , was the eldest son of Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus and Aemilia Lepida. His mother was the great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. As a member of the imperial family, Silanus could therefore be considered a possible candidate for the succession...
  
  , consul in AD 46, and later poisoned by Agrippina
  Agrippina the Younger
  Julia Agrippina, most commonly referred to as Agrippina Minor or Agrippina the Younger, and after 50 known as Julia Augusta Agrippina was a Roman Empress and one of the more prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
  
  .
• Lucius Junius M. f. M. n. Silanus
  Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus
  In the 1st century, lived two noblemen uncle and nephew, that shared the name Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus who were two descendants of Roman Emperor Augustus....
  
  , praetor in AD 48.
• Decimus Junius M. f. M. n. Silanus
  Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus
  Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus was a Roman noble who lived in the Roman Empire during the 1st century. He served as a consul in 53...
  
  , surnamed Torquatus, consul in AD 53.
• Junia M. f. M. n. Calvina
  Junia Calvina
  Junia Calvina was a noble Roman woman. She was the first born daughter and among the children of Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, a member of the Junii Silani, a family of Ancient Rome. Her maternal grandparents were the princess Julia the Younger and consul Lucius Aemilius...
  
  , married Lucius Vitellius
  Lucius Vitellius the younger
  Lucius Vitellius was a Roman who lived in the 1st century. He was the second son of Lucius Vitellius the elder and Sextilia and younger brother of emperor Aulus Vitellius....
  
  .
• Junia M. f. M. n. Lepida
  Junia Lepida
  Junia Lepida was a Roman noble woman that lived during the Roman Empire in the 1st century. Lepida was the second born daughter and was among the children born of Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, a member of the Junii Silani, a family of Ancient Rome...
  
  , married Gaius Cassius Longinus, consul suffectus in AD 30.
• Lucius Junius M. f. M. n. Torquatus Silanus, put to death by the emperor Nero
  Nero
  Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
  
   in AD 65.
• Gaius Junius Silanus, consul suffectus in AD 92.
• Junius Silanus, consul in AD 189.
• Junius Silanus, consul suffectus in AD 237.

Junii Blaesi

• Quintus Junius Blaesus
  Junius Blaesus
  Quintus Junius Blaesus was a Roman novus homo who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius...
  
  , consul suffectus in AD 28, triumphed over Tacfarinas
  Tacfarinas
  Tacfarinas was a Numidian deserter from the Roman army who led his own Musulamii tribe and a loose and changing coalition of other Ancient Libyan tribes in a war against the Romans in North Africa during the rule of emperor Tiberius .Although Tacfarinas' personal motivation is unknown, it is...
  
  .
• Junius Q. f. Blaesus
  Junius Blaesus
  Quintus Junius Blaesus was a Roman novus homo who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius...
  
  , served under his father during the war against Tacfarinas.
• Junius Blaesus
  Junius Blaesus
  Quintus Junius Blaesus was a Roman novus homo who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius...
  
  , governor of Gallia Lugdunensis
  Gallia Lugdunensis
  Gallia Lugdunensis was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul. It is named after its capital Lugdunum , possibly Roman Europe's major city west of Italy, and a major imperial mint...
  
   in AD 69, a supporter of the emperor Vitellius
  Vitellius
  Vitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
  
  , who had Blaesus poisoned.

Junii Rustici

• Junius Rusticus, appointed to draw up the acta of the senate in AD 29, during the reign of Tiberius.
• Lucius Junius Arulenus Rusticus
  Arulenus Rusticus
  Quintus Junius Arulenus Rusticus, , is more usually called Arulenus Rusticus, but sometimes also Junius Rusticus. He was a friend and follower of Thrasea Paetus, and, like the latter, an ardent admirer of Stoic philosophy...
  
  , praetor in AD 69, a pupil of Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus
  Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus
  Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus, Roman senator, lived in the first century CE. Notable for his principled opposition to the emperor Nero and his interest in stoicism, he was the husband of Arria the daughter of A...
  
  , put to death by Domitian
  Domitian
  Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
  
  .
• Quintus Junius (L. f.) Rusticus, consul in AD 119 with the emperor Hadrian
  Hadrian
  Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
  
  .
• Quintus Junius (Q. f. L. n.) Rusticus
  Junius Rusticus
  Quintus Junius Rusticus , probably a grandson of Arulenus Rusticus, was one of the teachers of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and the most distinguished Stoic philosophers of his time...
  
  , consul suffectus in AD 133, and consul in AD 162.

Others

• Quintus Junius, tribunus plebis in 439 BC, endeavored to excite the people against the murderers of Spurius Maelius
  Spurius Maelius
  Spurius Maelius , a wealthy Roman plebeian, who during a severe famine bought up a large amount of wheat and sold it at a low price to the people.-Biography:...
  
  .
• Lucius Junius C. f. C. n. Pullus, consul in 249 BC during the First Punic War
  First Punic War
  The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...
  
  .
• Decimus Junius, stationed with a force at the mouth of the Volturnus
  Volturno
  The Volturno is a river in south-central Italy.-Geography:It rises in the Abruzzese central Apennines of Samnium near Rocchetta a Volturno and flows southeast as far as its junction with the Calore River near Caiazzo and runs south as far as Venafro, and then turns southwest, past Capua, to...
  
   by the consul Appius Claudius Pulcher
  Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 212 BC)
  Appius Claudius Pulcher was a Roman general of the 3rd century BC, active in the Second Punic War.-Life:...
  
  , in 212 BC, during the Second Punic War
  Second Punic War
  The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and The War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the participation of the Berbers on...
  
  .
• Marcus Junius Gracchanus, a noteworthy legal historian, and scholar of the Roman constitution and magistracies.
• Titus Junius L. f., a skilled orator in the time of Sulla
  Lucius Cornelius Sulla
  Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
  
  , obtained the condemnation of Publius Sextius, praetor designatus, for bribery at the elections.
• Marcus Junius, the previous defender of Publius Quinctius, whose defense was subsequently assumed by Cicero
  Cicero
  Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
  
  .
• Gaius Junius, one of the judges in the case against Oppianicus, accused of corruption and compelled to retire from public life.
• Gaius Junius C. f., son of the Judge in the case against Oppianicus.
• Marcus Junius, a praetor, before whom Cicero defended Decimus Matrinius.
• Junius Saturninus, a historian during the time of Augustus, quoted by Suetonius
  Suetonius
  Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
  
  .
• Junius Otho, a rhetorician, and praetor in AD 22.
• Junius Otho, tribunus plebis in AD 37, banished by Tiberius for interceding in the question of the reward that was to be given to the accuser of Acutia, the wife of Publius Vitellius
  Publius Vitellius the Younger
  Publius Vitellius was a 1st century Roman commander under Germanicus, with whom he was friends. He was the son of the eques Publius Vitellius the Elder and belonged to the gens Vitellia - the future emperor Vitellius was Publius the Younger's nephew...
  
  .
• Lucius Junius Moderatus
  Columella
  Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella is the most important writer on agriculture of the Roman empire. Little is known of his life. He was probably born in Gades , possibly of Roman parents. After a career in the army , he took up farming...
  
  , surnamed Columella, an important historical writer, author of De Re Rustica.
• Lucius Junius Gallio, a rhetorician and friend of the elder Lucius Annaeus Seneca
  Seneca the Elder
  Lucius or Marcus Annaeus Seneca, known as Seneca the Elder and Seneca the Rhetorician , was a Roman rhetorician and writer, born of a wealthy equestrian family of Cordoba, Hispania...
  
  , whose son he adopted.
• Lucius Junius Annaeus Gallio
  Junius Annaeus Gallio
  Junius Annaeus Gallio , son of the rhetorician Seneca the Elder and the elder brother of Seneca the Younger, was born at Corduba about the beginning of the Christian era....
  
  , son of the elder Seneca, adopted by the rhetorician Lucius Junius Gallio.
• Junius Cilo, procurator
  Procurator
  Procurator may refer to:*Procurator , the title of various officials of the Roman Empire...
  
   of Bithynia et Pontus
  Bithynia et Pontus
  Bithynia et Pontus was the name of a province of the Roman empire on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia . It was formed by the amalgamation of the former kingdoms of Bithynia and Pontus ....
  
   during the reign of Claudius, brought Mithridates
  Tiberius Julius Mithridates
  Tiberius Julius Mithridates Philogermanicus Philopatris, sometimes known as Mithridates III of the Bosporan was a Roman Client King of the Bosporan Kingdom....
  
   of Bosporus
  Bosporan Kingdom
  The Bosporan Kingdom or the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus was an ancient state, located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus...
  
   to Rome.
• Junius Maximus, a contemporary of the poet Statius
  Statius
  Publius Papinius Statius was a Roman poet of the 1st century CE . Besides his poetry in Latin, which include an epic poem, the Thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic, the Achilleid, he is best known for his appearance as a major character in the Purgatory...
  
  , from whom we learn that he madean epitome of the histories of Sallust
  Sallust
  Gaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust , a Roman historian, belonged to a well-known plebeian family, and was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines...
  
  ius and Livius
  Livy
  Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
  
  .
• Titus Junius Montanus, consul Ex Kal. Mai. in AD 81.
• Junius Mauricus, a senator, and friend of the younger Gaius Plinius
  Pliny the Younger
  Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
  
  .
• Decimus Junius Juvenalis
  Juvenal
  The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
  
  , a poet of the late 1st and early 2nd centuries.
• Kanus Junius Niger, consul in AD 138.
• Junius Mauricianus, a jurist in the time of Antoninus Pius
  Antoninus Pius
  Antoninus Pius , also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne...
  
  .
• Aulus Junius Rufinus, consul in AD 153.
• Marcus Junius Rufinus Sabinianus, consul in AD 155.
• Gaius Junius Faustinus Postumianus, governor of Britannia Superior
  Britannia Superior
  Britannia Superior was one of the provinces of Roman Britain created around 197 AD by Emperor Septimus Severus immediately after winning a civil war against Clodius Albinus, a war fought to determine who would be the next emperor. Albinus was the governor of Britannia during that civil war...
  
   during the first half of the 3rd century.
• Gaius Junius Donatus, consul in AD 260.
• Marcus Junius Maximus, consul in AD 282.
• Junius Quartus Palladius, consul in AD 416.
• Junius Philargyrius
  Junius Philargyrius
  Junius Philargyrius was an early commentator on the Bucolica and Georgica of Vergil, dedicated to a certain Valentinianus. He was a member of the Junia gens, active in Milan....
  
  , an early commentator on Publius Vergilius Maro
  Virgil
  Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
  
  .

Junii in fiction

• "Servilia of the Junii
  Servilia of the Junii
  Servilia of the Junii is a character from the HBO/BBC/RAI original television series, Rome, played by Lindsay Duncan. The mother of Marcus Junius Brutus, lover of the married Julius Caesar and enemy of Atia of the Julii, Servilia is depicted as a sophisticated and regal Roman matron who follows her...
  
  ", a character in the historical drama Rome
  Rome (TV series)
  Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
  
  , loosely based on Servilia
  Servilia Caepionis
  Servilia Caepionis was the mistress of Julius Caesar, mother of one of Caesar's assassins, Brutus, mother-in-law of another Caesar assassin, Cassius, and half-sister of Cato the Younger.-Life:...
  
  , the mother of Marcus Junius Brutus.