Otacilius
Encyclopedia
The gens Otacilia, originally Octacilia, was a plebeian
family at Rome
. The gens
first rose to prominence during the First Punic War
, but afterwards lapsed into obscurity. The first of the family to obtain the consulship
was Manius Otacilius Crassus, in 263 BC.
Otacilius may be derived from the praenomen
Octavius
. Octacilius is the correct orthography, but Otacilius is the form most common in later sources. The earliest known member of the family was a native of Maleventum
, an ancient city of Campania
, which according to Plinius
was inhabited by the Hirpini
.
, Titus
, and Gaius
. The earliest known Otacilius bore the praenomen Numerius
, which passed through his daughter to the Fabii. In later times, Gnaeus
and Lucius
are found.
Plebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
family at 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...
first rose to prominence 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...
, but afterwards lapsed into obscurity. The first of the family to obtain the consulship
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...
was Manius Otacilius Crassus, in 263 BC.
Origin of the gens
The nomenRoman 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...
Otacilius may be derived from the praenomen
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...
Octavius
Octavius (praenomen)
Octavius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was never particularly common at Rome, but may have been used more frequently in the countryside. The feminine form is Octavia. The name gave rise to the patronymic gens Octavia, and perhaps also to gens Otacilia...
. Octacilius is the correct orthography, but Otacilius is the form most common in later sources. The earliest known member of the family was a native of Maleventum
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
, an ancient city of Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, which according to Plinius
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
was inhabited by the Hirpini
Hirpini
The Hirpini , were an ancient Samnite people of central Italy. While general regarded as having been Samnites, sometimes they are treated as a distinct and independent nation...
.
Praenomina used by the gens
The early Otacilii favored the praenomina ManiusManius (praenomen)
Manius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. The feminine form is Mania. The name was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gentes Manlia and Manilia...
, 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 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 earliest known Otacilius bore the praenomen Numerius
Numerius (praenomen)
Numerius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, usually abbreviated N. The name was never especially common, but was used throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The feminine form is Numeria...
, which passed through his daughter to the Fabii. In later times, Gnaeus
Gnaeus (praenomen)
Gnaeus is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. The feminine form is Gnaea. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Naevia...
and 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...
are found.
Branches and cognomina of the gens
The only family-names of the Otacilii are Crassus and Naso. Crassus was a common surname, meaning "dull, thick," or "solid." It could refer to appearance, demeanor, or intellect. Naso is thought to refer to a prominent nose.Members of the gens
- This list includes abbreviated praenominaPraenomenThe 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.- Numerius Otacilius Maleventanus, a wealthy native of MaleventumBeneventoBenevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
in the first half of the 5th century BC. - Otacilia N. f., married Quintus Fabius Vibulanus.
- Gnaeus Otacilius Naso, recommended by CiceroCiceroMarcus 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...
to the notice and favor of Manius Acilius Glabro in 46 BC. - Lucius Otacilius Pilitus, a freedmanFreedmanA freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation ....
, who opened a school at Rome, where he taught rhetoric, in 81 BC. Amongst his pupils was Gnaeus Pompeius, and Otacilius wrote a history of his pupil, and of his father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo. - Marcia Otacilia SeveraMarcia Otacilia SeveraMarcia Otacilia Severa or Otacilia Severa was the Empress of Rome and wife of Emperor Marcus Julius Philippus or Philip the Arab who reigned over the Roman Empire from 244 to 249....
, wife of Marcus Julius PhilippusPhilip the ArabPhilip the Arab , also known as Philip or Philippus Arabs, was Roman Emperor from 244 to 249. He came from Syria, and rose to become a major figure in the Roman Empire. He achieved power after the death of Gordian III, quickly negotiating peace with the Sassanid Empire...
, emperor from AD 244 to 249. - Otacilius Severianus, governor of Lower MoesiaMoesiaMoesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
between AD 246 and 247.
- Numerius Otacilius Maleventanus, a wealthy native of Maleventum
Otacilii Crassi
- Manius Otacilius Crassus, grandfather of the consuls of 263 and 261 BC.
- Gaius Otacilius M'. f. Crassus, father of the consuls of 263 and 261 BC.
- Manius Otacilius C. f. M'. n. Crassus, consulRoman consulA 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 263 BC, during the First Punic WarFirst Punic WarThe 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...
. He crossed into SicilySicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
with a large army, and concluded a peace with Syracuse. He was consul a second time in 246. - Titus Otacilius C. f. M'. n. Crassus, consul in 261 BC, continued the war against the CarthaginiansCarthageCarthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
in Sicily. - Titus Otacilius (T. f. C. n.) Crassus, praetorPraetorPraetor 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 217 and 214 BC. - Otacilia, condemned in a judgment of the jurist Gaius Aquillius Gallus, who was praetor in 67 BC. She may have been the wife of Marcus Juventius Laterensis; the phrase ab Otacilia Laterensi[s] occurs in Valerius MaximusValerius MaximusValerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
. - Otacilius Crassus, an officer in the army of Gnaeus PompeiusPompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
, he had the command of LissusLezhëLezhë is a city in northwest Albania, in the district and county with the same name. It is located at and has a population of about 27,500...
in MacedoniaMacedonia (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...
. He massacred two hundred and twenty of Caesar'sJulius CaesarGaius 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....
soldiers, who had surrendered to him on the promise that they should be uninjured. Shortly afterward, he abandoned Lissus, and joined the main body of Pompeius' army.