Curia (gens)


The gens Curia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned at the beginning of the third century BC, when the family was rendered illustrious by Manius Curius Dentatus.

Praenomina used

The praenomen most closely associated with the Curii is Manius. However, other members of the gens bore the names Gaius and Quintus. It is uncertain whether the name Vibius, belonging to Vibius Curius, Caesar's general, was his praenomen, or if he was a member of the gens Vibia.

Branches and cognomina

The only cognomen that occurs in the gens is Dentatus, meaning "toothed." It may originally have referred to someone with large or prominent teeth, but Manius Curius Dentatus is said to have derived his cognomen from the circumstance of having been born with teeth in his mouth.

Members