The gens Caelia was a plebeian family at Rome. The nomenCaelius is frequently confounded with Coelius and Caecilius, with some individuals referred to as Caelius in manuscripts, while appearing as Coelius or Coilius on coins. Although the Caelii asserted their great antiquity, none of them attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state until the praetorship of Publius Caelius in 74 BC, and the first of this gens who obtained the consulship was Gaius Caelius Rufus in AD 17. The emperor Balbinus was a descendant of the Caelii.
Origin
The Caelii claimed descent from the Etruscan hero, Caelius Vibenna, whose adventures were legendary in Etruria, but largely forgotten at Rome; the emperor Claudius, who was deeply interested in Etruscan culture, described the adventures of Caelius, his brother, Aulus Vibenna, and their companion, Macstarna, whom Claudius maintained was the same person as Servius Tullius, the sixth King of Rome. The famous François Tomb discovered at Vulci includes a fresco depicting one such episode, in which, aided by a companion, the three heroes and their friends escape from captivity, and slay an enemy named Gnaeus Tarquinius of Rome. Subsequently Vibenna and his followers settled at Rome, on the Querquetulan, or oak-covered hill, which in later times was generally known as the Caelian Hill, one of the famed seven hills of Rome.
Praenomina
The main praenomina of the Caelii during the Republic were Marcus, Publius, Gaius, and Quintus, all amongst the most common names throughout Roman history. In imperial times, some of the Caelii used Gnaeus, also a common praenomen, and Decimus, which was somewhat more distinctive.
Branches and cognomina
There only cognomen of this gens under the Republic was Rufus, originally typically given to a person with red hair. A variety of surnames are found in imperial times, including Cursor, a runner, Pollio, originally a polisher of armor, and Sabinus, designating someone of Sabine descent or habits.
Publius Caelius, placed in command of Placentia by the consul Gnaeus Octavius in 87 BC, and when the town was taken by Cinna's army, he caused himself to be put to death, rather than fall into the hands of the Marian party.
Marcus Caelius, an eques, from whom Verres took away several silver vases, in 71 BC.
Gaius Caelius, tribune of the plebs in 51 BC, with several of his colleagues vetoed the senate's decrees directed against Caesar.
Marcus Caelius Rufus, praetor peregrinus in 48 BC, during the Civil War, deprived of his office after deliberately causing a riot, and subsequently slain by the cavalry, whom he attempted to bribe to surrender the city ofThurii.
