Nasennia (gens)


The gens Nasennia was an obscure plebeian family at Rome. None of the Nasennii held any of the higher offices of the Roman state, and the family is best known from Gaius Nasennius, a soldier in the time of Caesar. Many other Nasennii are known from inscriptions.

Origin

The nomen Nasennius appears to belong to a class of names ending in -ennius and probably derived from Oscan. Chase compares it with the nomen Herennius, suggesting that each developed from an earlier form with the suffix -endius. An Oscan root points to the Nasennii originally being of Sabine or Samnite extraction.

Praenomina

The only praenomina found among the Nasennii known from existing records are Gaius, Lucius, and Aulus, all of which were very common throughout Roman history. Their prevalence among the Nasennii may be due to the fact that many of those whose names are recorded were freedmen, who assumed the praenomina of their masters when they obtained Roman citizenship.

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